Glossary

Adversarial Criminal Justice System

A legal system where two sides present their cases to a neutral judge or jury, who determine pass judgement.

Amygdala

An area of the brain responsible for processing emotions.

Analytical

There is an error in the science, e.g., machine calibration error leads to incorrect chemical analysis of forensic evidence.

Attachment theory

The theory that young children seek comfort from their carers in times of uncertainty.

Cell tower data

Data collected from cellular towers to identity where a phone was at a particular time.

Cognition research

Studying how people perceive, learn, remember, think, reason, and understand.

DNA

DNA can be from one person or multiple. DNA of people who were never in a room could be recovered because of transfer and persistence of DNA on items carried into the room. DNA can also be airborne.

Fingermark

Fingermarks come from an individual who’s identity is not known. Fingerprints come from an individual who’s identity is known and as such can be attributed to them.

IoT devices

Internet of Things (IoT) These are objects using the internet to connect and exchange information.

Neuroscience research

Studying the brain and behaviour.

Practitioner

The science is sound but the scientist’s judgement introduces error, e.g., a suspect has confessed and the scientist finds fingerprint evidence that matches the suspect even though it is ambiguous.

Social capital

A resource enhancing collective action and economic efficiency.

Systemic failures

There is a problem in the way the system handles the evidence, e.g., evidence is contaminated by other evidence from another crime scene due to inadequate lab procedures.

Traces

Remnants of a crime such as DNA. Fingerprints, semen, text messages.