FORENSICS & CRIMESCENE

RECONSTRUCTION
CANDIDATO SERAD MANGANDOG, LPT,
RCrim
MSCRIM Student
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. TO GRASP INFORMATION ON FORENSICS AND CRIMESCENE
RECONSTRUCTION.
2. TO KNOW THE IMPORTANCEC OF FORENSICS AND
CRIMESCENE
RECONSTRUCTION
3. TO UNDERSTAND THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE GOOD CRIME
SCENE RECONSTRUCTION.
WHAT IS FORENSICS?
The term forensic stems from the Latin word, forēnsis
meaning "of a forum, place of assembly“.
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the
application of science principles and methods to
support legal decision-making in matters of criminal
and civil law.
Some of the Field Practices Analysis:
1.DNA,
2.Fingerprints,
3.Bloodstain patterns,
4.Firearms/ballistics,
5.Toxicology, and
6. fire debris analysis.
 In addition to laboratory role, forensic scientists testify as
expert witnesses in both criminal and civil cases and can work
for either the prosecution or the defense.
MAIN AREAS OF FORENSIC SCIENCE
1. FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY
2. FROENSIC ENGINEERING
3. FORENSIC ODONTOLOGY
4. FORENSIC PATHOLOGY
5. FORENSIC ENTOMOLOGY
6. FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY/PSYCHOLOGY
7. QUESTIONED DOCUMENT ANALYSIS
8. FORENSIC TOXICOLOGY
9. FORENSIC PODIATRY
CRIME SCENE RECONSTRUCTION
Crime reconstruction or crime scene reconstruction is the
forensic science discipline in which one gains "explicit
knowledge of the series of events that surround the commission
of a crime using deductive and inductive reasoning, physical
evidence, scientific methods, and their interrelationships".
 Gardner and Bevel explain that crime scene reconstruction
"involves evaluating the context of a scene and the physical evidence
found there in an effort to identify what occurred and in what order it
occurred.“
Chisum and Turvey explain that "holistic crime
reconstruction is the development of actions and circumstances based
on the system of evidence discovered and examined in relation to a
particular crime.
In this philosophy, all elements of evidence that come to
light in a given case are treated as interdependent; the significance of
each piece, each action, and each event falls and rises on the backs of
the others.
 In forensic science, there are three areas of importance in
finding the answers and determining the components of a crime scene:
(1) specific incident reconstruction,
(2) event reconstruction, and
(3) physical evidence reconstruction.
Specific incident reconstruction deals with road traffic
accidents, bombings, homicides, and accidents of any severity. Event
reconstruction looks at connections between evidence, sequence of
events, and identity of those involved. Physical evidence reconstruction
focuses on such items as firearms, blood traces, glass fragments, and
any other objects that can be stripped for DNA analysis.
CONCLUSION:
In the advent and occurrence of crime scene investigation, the investigator-on-case should
ensure the preservation of the area considering its prone to contamination from various sources
who may discredit the credibility of the crime scene. In order to make it more reliable, the
following principles must be established by the one handling the case as to the legal
considerations, personnel safety and security, scientific reliability and validity, preserving context
and/or circumstances, maintaining evidence integrity, transparency and ethics, and managing bias.

Likewise, the crime scene would be more appealing and credible when it is free from any
distortion as to its presentation and reconstruction in the legal proceedings. However, it can only
be attained when the reconstruction of the crime scene involved with various forensic fields that
would help the resolution of the case. For example, in crime scene processing and documentation,
the investigator-on-case should utilize his expertise in forensic photography, note taking and
sketching to preserve and serve as a permanent record of the scene whenever necessary it may use
in the future, especially in its portrayal in crimescene reconstruction.
RECOMMENDATION:
Based on my experience as a member of the Philippine National Police, when heinous crimes
like rape, murder and homicide are involved, forensic chemistry and toxicology oftentimes
administered by the forensic unit to justify and qualify the evidences as admissible in the court of
law and it must also adhere with the standards of criminal reporting surrounding the
circumstances of the crime scene. Notably, all relevant specimens found in the crime scene would
serve as evidence as it may deem useful against or in favor of a person with the help of scientific
examination, analysis and interpretation by the forensic experts.
Likewise, using different methods in crime scene processing and investigations would
preserve the reliability and credibility of the area considering the critical part of the investigator-
on-case and forensic examiner as to extracting invisible or latent prints, marks, and other
evidences not visible to our naked eyes that would be useful in identifying and locating suspects
and/or perpetrators with the aid of physical and chemical tests in forensic. By doing so, the crime
scene reconstruction would maintain its credibility and reliability in the court of proceedings
because it will portray how the crime scene occurred and committed with the use of different
forensic sciences.
REFERENCES:
https://www.britannica.com/science/forensic-science/Questioned-document-analy
sis
Forensic science – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_reconstruction