Completed Unit 3 Controlled Assessment Notes- from crime scene to courtroom. Has all assessment criteria with cases and evaluation (very detailed and predicted an A, over 60+ hours of work). Created using textbooks, class notes and the 2021 specification.
AC 1.1 (50)
Crime scene investigators (CSI)
● civilians employed by police
● Role- collect, preserve + protect scenes/locate E
● liaise police/respond calls (what E collected/best to)
● Gather biological+physical E-specialist techniques
● Photograph scenes/E/people
● Package/store/document material/E- essential E collected reliable/uncontaminated
● E handled incorrectly- risk not admissible in court (miscarriage of justice/no justice)
S:
● Crucial role (prove innocence/guilt)-cases couldn't stand court without them
● Low salary, lowers cost of investigation
● Highly trained professionals- unlikely for contamination
W:
● emotionally difficult (long hours, high pressures +violent crime scenes)
● Available out of hours-long shifts + long travel times
● Human error/contamination
Amanda Knox:
● Small Italian police force- didn’t specialise murder investigations
● ‘Series of glaring errors throughout investigation’
● Failed to wear correct protective equipment/wasn’t collected correctly
● vital bra clasp-floor for 3 months
● Lead cross contamination- doubts in validity (overturned)
Cost
● salary depends role/experience- starting £17,000, experienced £28,000, senior CSI
up to £35,000
● low salary for high responsibility+level expertise-explain shortage
● Lowers cost of investigation
Expertise
● Extensive training-handling E correctly
● Highly trained professionals- unlikely for contamination
● Role meticulous- 1 mistake,guilty person goes free
● Most degrees-science, crim/psych
● Educated+knowledgeable
● Different forces,different requirements to be CSI- inconsistencies in quality of work
across country
Availability
● Most forces employ 12 CSI
● 1,300 employed by Government
● Largest private provider-500
● Not many jobs in profession- role highly competitive to get into
● work efficiently/effectively-best in business
, ● Difficult to get one when needed ( long distance to reach scene)- lose E/ become
contaminated)
Forensic specialists and scientists
● Science techniques + knowledge- apply to scenes
● Role- Sample E collected+Liaise with police
● E.g. body fluids analysed in lab DNA, interpreted-compared to suspect
● Forensic specialists=forensic scientists specialise in particular areas with expertise
e.g. toxicology, fires, computing
S:
● Help CPS build strong prosecution case- justice served
● Expertise help cold cases
● Crucial to investigations- concrete E (show guilt/innocence)
W:
● DNA analysis of person- against human ethics (reveals private information)
● human error-lead to miscarriages of justice
Stephen Lawrence (strength):
○ Attacked+murdered- white gang
○ 18 years to secure justice
○ Found microscopic matters of suspects blood
○ eventually led to conviction
Sally Clark (weakness):
○ Accused killing 2 children
○ EW- paediatrician Roy Meadows false statistic
○ 1 in 73 million chance 2 children dying sudden infant death syndrome
○ Led to conviction- no forensic E
○ Forensic pathologists eventually provided E helped acquit
○ Found one baby had bacteria lung infection at time of death
○ SC released after 3 yrs in prison- following appeal hearing (deemed conviction
unsafe)
Adam Scott (Weakness):
○ wrongfully accused of rape in Manchester-never been
○ DNA mix up in lab
○ human error had lead to contamination
Cost
● Role ranges £20,000-£45,000 at senior levels
● Now privately owned labs-police control over budget for forensics
● budget cut-spending on forensic services cut by 50% since 2008 (report by House Of
Lords in 2019)
● 80% all forensics carried out in police labs (save money)- lead to cognitive bias
● US report 2009 -forensics kept independent of police-avoid bias
● police selecting fewer items for analysis (save money)-E missed (miscarriages of
justice)
, ● very expensive + time-consuming
Availability
● only 3,400 FS in UK-enough to fill the roles available
● bigger problem funding of services + budget cuts being made
Expertise
● very highly trained-beyond degree level
● Expertise help with cold cases
Crown Prosecution Service
● Independent prosecution service-operates across E+W
● Made up 2,000+ crown prosecutors- fully qualified solicitors, barristers + support staff
(large workforce required due to demand)
● Handles half million cases each year (take cases in public interest)
● Work with police-reviews cases + decide if appropriate to prosecute
● Police refer cases,files, E collected
● Decide if E strong enough to proceed to court
S:
● Offer unbiased view-no emotional attachment to case
● national organisation- ensures consistency in how prosecutions handled across
country
● Before CPS set up police made prosecution decisions-not always objective+cost
taxpayers money in wasted legal fees when cases lost
● Ensure taxpayers money spent wisely on cases with good prospect of conviction
W:
● Only afford to take certain cases to court- lack of justice for some V’s
● Accused not taking domestic violence/rape cases to court because difficult to prove
Damilola Taylor:
● Reputation of CPS was damaged
○ Young boy stabbed with glass-two older brother
○ Heavy reliance on E from 14 yr (motivated by £50,000 reward)
○ E thrown out of court
○ Criticised lies obvious+little time spent cross checking her E against known
facts/videotaped interviews with her
Abu Hamza:
● Relationship with police sometimes difficult
○ Hate preacher AH-guilty of inciting murder+supporting terrorism
○ Police put E to CPS multiple occasions- they refused to prosecute
○ Danger to society
Costs
● Funding +staff cuts- resulted growing burden in cases
● Higher workload- lower quality of work
Availability
, ● CPS Direct (service provide) on call 24 hours (advise police in investigations)
● 14 regional offices-contactable 24/7 (always available)
● Increases efficiency + effectiveness-prevent release criminals back into society
● employ 2000 lawyers + deal 500,000 cases per yr (Lots jobs to be filled)
Expertise
● Staff highly qualified in legal matters-undergo training (knowledge+understanding in
role)
● 5 GCSEs+2-3 A Levels degree preferred- science/social science
Pathologists
● Medical doctors-specialise in studying causes of disease + death
● Perform postmortems (autopsies)
● Establish cause/time of death
● After examinations- produce report for coroner+W statement for police
● Give E court -supports P
● May provide advice to police + P throughout investigation (e.g. how to recover dead
body from scene+avoiding E being lost)
S:
● Provide information in investigations where reason death unclear
● Home office registered forensic pathologists work 6 regional group practises-
independent from police/coroners (ensures objectivity + lack of bias)
W:
● Fewer doctors opting to specialise in area- work on several cases at one time-human
error (miscarriages of justice)
Anthony Hardy (Camden Ripper):
● pathologist Freddy Patel decided V died natural causes
● Body found in locked room in Hardy’s flat+bloodstains on her clothes
● Hardy killed two other women as police had no crime to investigate
● Patel suspended from role after comments made by General Medical Council
Disciplinary Panel ‘actions irresponsible+not of standard expected of competent
pathologist’
Cost
● £80,000-£110,000 per year
● High paid salary- incentive to go into line of work
● Expensive-significantly increasing costs of investigation
Expertise
● Highly trained-Study medicine+ another 4+ years for specialist study
● Well qualified-experts in roler
Availability
● 35-40 Home Office registered pathologists
● Available 24/7
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