NCJ Number
209223
Journal
Forensic Magazine Volume: 2 Issue: 1 Dated: February/March 2005 Pages: 8-11
Date Published
February 2005
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Following Part I's background discussion of the discipline of digital evidence, both of the ASCLD/LAB's accreditation programs, and what should be considered evidence in this growing discipline, Part II suggests practices for complying with select essential ASCLD/LAB standards and criteria for digital evidence.
Abstract
Both of ASCLD/LAB's accreditation programs can ensure the promotion, encouragement, and maintenance of the highest standards of practice in managing evidence submitted to a forensic crime laboratory, including digital evidence. This article presents the author's view on compliance with these standards regarding the management of digital evidence. The article first discusses how general ASCLD/LAB criteria for marking, sealing, and protecting evidence apply specifically to computers and digital and analog media. Examples illustrate marking, sealing, and packaging evidence related to computers, hard drives, optical discs, floppy diskettes, analog videotapes, and digital audiotapes. The protection of digital forensic images is also discussed. The article then reviews validation/verification procedures for forensic tools used in casework, followed by a discussion of the use of appropriate standards and controls. Their use must be specified in the analytical procedures and documented in the case record. The determination of the proper working order and calibration of instruments is addressed in the article's concluding section. Two criteria of ASCLD/LAB standards state that instruments are to be maintained in proper working order and be properly calibrated. Both of these criteria are applicable to the digital evidence discipline. In most forensic disciplines where analytical instrumentation is used, maintenance/calibration logbooks are maintained for each instrument.