NCJ Number
93548
Date Published
1984
Length
288 pages
Annotation
Twenty chapters discuss fundamentals of evidence, verbal evidence, written evidence, physical evidence, and photographing and recording evidence.
Abstract
Fundamentals of evidence are explored from the perspectives of evidence classification, rules of evidence, and investigation. Witnesses' qualifications, competence, and credibility; the importance of witnesses; and investigators' court testimony are discussed in the section on verbal evidence. Chapters on written evidence look at evidential, questioned, and forged documents; obtaining specimen writings for standards of comparison; and documentary evidence and examination. Physical evidence is examined in chapters discussing kinds of physical evidence; impression evidence; transfer and trace evidence; evidence of violence; and collecting, preserving, and presenting physical evidence. A final section considers photography and recording evidence, specifically investigative photography, accident scene photography, arson photography, and presenting photographic evidence in court. Chapter notes, an index, and about 45 references are supplied.