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989 Questions

Last Answer on July 21, 2022

What is the cost to a criminal defendant to have a print run through the FBI's AFIS system? Has that cost remained the same from 1999 through the present?

Asked by MsM almost 5 years ago

I'm sorry but I have absolutely no idea. I didn't know there was a cost. I would have guessed that their attorney could request a court order to do so from the judge and the police agency that has the print would take care of it, but I really don't know. Sorry I can't be more help.

396 Votes

Can a coroner make a arrest? People like to always make the point about a “citizens arrest” but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.

Asked by Richard almost 6 years ago

I don’t really know, but at the coroner’s office I worked at I was told that our coroner was actually the highest law enforcement officer, technically, in the county. She was the only person who could arrest the sheriff if necessary. That never became necessary though so I don’t know how it would actually work.

395 Votes

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At a postmortem crime scene where hair has fallen out from the victim, over time, is all the loose hair collected for evidence or just some of it

Asked by Leesa about 5 years ago

That would depend a great deal on the circumstances. Any hair actually on the victim that does not appear to belong to the victim would likely be collected. If there was obviously a struggle, if the victim was beaten or strangled, hairs on their hands or caught in their fingers would warrant special attention or any clumps of hair nearby. If the victim's lying on a carpet that apparently hasn't been vacuumed for the past decade, then single hairs might be disregarded. If the person is outside and shot from a distance, then hairs would likely be disregarded.

I hope that helps!

395 Votes

If a attacker OC sprayed someone and robbed them is there chemical tests to see if the spray that was on the victims face and the Pepper spray on the suspect to see who did it

Asked by Question about 5 years ago

That’s a good question that I’m afraid I can’t answer. I’m sure there is some way to determine the chemicals used in pepper spray. But this would be affected by a) how long does it remain on the skin before the skin absorbs it and b) most forensic chemistry labs are set up to detect illegal drugs in urine, blood or gastric contents. Identifying any kind of poison or other substance may require equipment or reference databases they don’t have.

Proving it’s the same batch of pepper spray may or may not be possible. I”m not personally involved in this kind of testing, but I can assure you it is not like television. We had a series of cases and wanted to determine the exact composition of drugs with percentages of fentanyl, heroin etc. Turned out while nearly every crime lab can determine if a drug is present, there were only one or two labs in the entire country we could find that could determine percentages, and they charged an arm and a leg.

Sorry I can’t be more help.

395 Votes

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Also, is it possible to specifically detect that the DNA is from saliva and nothing else?

Asked by AJ over 5 years ago

I don't believe so, but I haven't done DNA analysis in 20 years so I'm not the best person to ask. I know there's an amylase test for saliva, but I don't know if it's used any more. And if you have a mixture I doubt it would be possible to tell what DNA is from what bodily fluid.

394 Votes

Since my finance passed away a month ago and there's been something eating at me now and I don't want anyone to think I'm going crazy. I found him on the floor but how can his legs bend perfectly and his knees
directly on top of each other perfectly

Asked by Shell almost 6 years ago

I’m sorry for your loss. What was the cause of death?

394 Votes

I am back to school to complete some science and math courses, like Organic Chemistry and Physics. I then plan on going onto graduate school for a master's program in forensic science. Will that increase my chances of getting a job in the field?

Asked by Yuna over 4 years ago

I think it would absolutely help your chances. But all agencies might not be looking for the same things. I would check the websites for all the agencies you’re interested in to see their job postings.

Best of luck to you!

394 Votes

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Forensic Scientist

Ask me anything!

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What is the cost to a criminal defendant to have a print run through the FBI's AFIS system? Has that cost remained the same from 1999 through the present?

Can a coroner make a arrest? People like to always make the point about a “citizens arrest” but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.

So you wanna be a Forensic Scientist?

At a postmortem crime scene where hair has fallen out from the victim, over time, is all the loose hair collected for evidence or just some of it

If a attacker OC sprayed someone and robbed them is there chemical tests to see if the spray that was on the victims face and the Pepper spray on the suspect to see who did it

Also on Jobstr...

Also, is it possible to specifically detect that the DNA is from saliva and nothing else?

Since my finance passed away a month ago and there's been something eating at me now and I don't want anyone to think I'm going crazy. I found him on the floor but how can his legs bend perfectly and his knees
directly on top of each other perfectly

I am back to school to complete some science and math courses, like Organic Chemistry and Physics. I then plan on going onto graduate school for a master's program in forensic science. Will that increase my chances of getting a job in the field?

Forensic Scientist

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

What is the cost to a criminal defendant to have a print run through the FBI's AFIS system? Has that cost remained the same from 1999 through the present?

Can a coroner make a arrest? People like to always make the point about a “citizens arrest” but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.

So you wanna be a Forensic Scientist?

At a postmortem crime scene where hair has fallen out from the victim, over time, is all the loose hair collected for evidence or just some of it

If a attacker OC sprayed someone and robbed them is there chemical tests to see if the spray that was on the victims face and the Pepper spray on the suspect to see who did it

Also on Jobstr...

Also, is it possible to specifically detect that the DNA is from saliva and nothing else?

Since my finance passed away a month ago and there's been something eating at me now and I don't want anyone to think I'm going crazy. I found him on the floor but how can his legs bend perfectly and his knees directly on top of each other perfectly

I am back to school to complete some science and math courses, like Organic Chemistry and Physics. I then plan on going onto graduate school for a master's program in forensic science. Will that increase my chances of getting a job in the field?

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Since my finance passed away a month ago and there's been something eating at me now and I don't want anyone to think I'm going crazy. I found him on the floor but how can his legs bend perfectly and his knees
directly on top of each other perfectly