Science and the Criminal

oning in Criminal Cases-Scientific Evidence-Scientific Assistance for the Accused-

t organised itself into communities and has existed ever since, every new invention or practical applicat

now available it is surprising how many crimes remain undetected, or how frequently in suspicious cases it is impossible to discover the truth. T

recently been put forward on many sides that a department speciall

the uniformed policemen, contains many men of acute intellect and reasoning capacity, but it cannot be do

r knowledge of medicine in the early part of last century. Their mistakes

at," nor does the facility for breaking up a tangle in traffic which the constable acquires as the outcome of his daily duties, nece

stigation might conceivably have led to the detection of the criminal. As a rule, it is only after the first examination is over and the case appears l

without having to go through the routine work of a police constable, which will probably add nothing to his powers of following up

the highest type of brain to the work of criminal investigation, and yet there is no reas

mystery is afforded by the strange story of a shooting accident, that, accord

upon the wall, and there were no indications of any struggle having taken place. All the circumstances apparently pointed to the man having been murdered in his sle

ch had been smashed by some of the shot, had been stopped early in the afternoon, and that at exactly the same moment the sun was focus

the sofa, and as soon as the sun's rays passed through this unintended burning-glass and were

ded upon fact it is not impossible, for there are undoubtedly cases where papers have been

sive proof that a crime has been committed is afforded by the

ed had broken into the house. But an examination of the grass outside the house showed that although dew had fallen heavily through the night there were no indi

est of Courvoisier in 1840, for the murder of Lord Wi

hat on the night before the murder he had left his master reading in bed, as was his freque

t the room, and various articles of value tied up in bundles, as though

diately, fully dressed, and going into the room of

owed that the damage had been done from the inside. In addition to this, any burglars entering the house through th

the premises, some of the money was found hidden behind the skirting in the pantry of the accused, while

ese facts the prisoner was convicted; after

h, and had hoped to escape detection. It was noticed, however, that some of the bullets, after having passed through the windows, had left a mark upon the wall opposite. By drawing a straight line between these marks and

or has called attention to some slight point which would otherwise have bee

he room, and from the position of the wound concluded that the shot had been fired by a left-handed person. This inference drew suspicion upon a gentleman named Patch who was the only left-handed person who had been seen with Mr. Blight. He was

t is strong presumptive evidence that it is a case of suicide, since it is impr

the suggestion of suicide. Experiments were made in which the hand holding the pistol was lifted into the position in which it must have been held if it had been a case of suicide, and in each instance the hand, when allowed to fall, did not retain the pistol. For the defence medical evidence was given that the spasmod

d suicide could possibly have made use of the degree of f

h its blade notched, and public opinion was strongly divided as to whether he had committed suicide or had been murdered. The medical men who supported the former view explained the no

en asked to state whether a gun or pistol found lyin

of potassium sulphide (formed from the powder) adhering to the barrel would indicate that the gun had recently been fired, whereas after a short time this sulphide

ions based upon such data as these, and at best

point being overlooked may be strong presumptive evidence of attempted fraud. A family of the name of, say, Aben

ary in which Miss Abendessig lost several valuable pieces of je

jeweller from whom she stated she had bought these

he first being made out to Miss Abendessig and the last to Mrs. Lab, she havin

had an address but no shop, was in league with the Abendessigs, and

mine these documents to see whether any evide

s, but the fact that the ink and paper were of the same

ith the left-hand side of the other stamp. That is to say, the little projections of paper left when two stamps are torn apart across th

e result of chance, and the stamps on the two receipts must ther

on the earlier receipt and the other on the later one at the same time, or he must have

of which is related in Lord Brampton's "Reminiscences." The fire broke out on the premises of a firm of tailors, an

nt-out building, instructed a number of their

it was strange that in a fire in which so many pairs of trousers ha

as too late to be convincing, for the ashes had been thoroughly sifted before the claimants at

A farmer who owned upwards of 1,200 acres was accused of burglary, and as evidence against him it was positively stated that certain articles in his possession had been stolen from the house. The witnesses swore that they had identified some sheets by stains upon them and a cask by the fact of its being marked w

such cases, what errors of identification may occur! In far the greater number of crimes the proof must depend to a large extent upon the evidence of circumstances. But these must be so convincing that it is impossible in reason to dra

garded as innocent so long as it is impossible to connect to

he prisoners. In some of these trials proof of guilt has been overwhelming, although the testimony of an eye-witness has been lacking, but in others the Scotch verdict of "Not proven" (a curious equivalent of

of was seen, in 1884, at the trial of a woman name

y one of the wounds might have been inflicted by the man himself, it was extremely improbable that all of them had been. Moreover, some of them were in such a position that they c

ion for a scientific man to be present on behalf of a prisoner at any exa

y scientific witnesses for the defence, and the most recent instance of the kind at the trial of Crippen will be fresh in the mem

ence has assigned to him by the Court a barrister who will represent his int

s the prosecution has unlimited facilities for applying every description of test, but it has not always been easy

flict of honest opinion in civil actions illustrates the possibility of mistakes occ

t case) could express no opinion whether it was human blood, or the blood of an animal. Assuming in this hypothetical trial that the blood stain was really due to rabbit's blood, another chemist representing the prisoner might be ac

is given by more than one witness, and the possibility of mista

would be of much more value than the criticism of the statement of the re

ealing with an unfamiliar subject, and lacks the specialised knowledg

upon the scientific matters put forward in evidence, and is thus able to lay stress on all that will help

idence was that of Spencer Cowper, the grandfather of Cowper, the poet, who was tried

whose remarks having been overheard had suggested th

at the house of Mrs. Stout, the mother of Sarah Stout. The servant-maid stated that she had been told to prepare Mr. Cowper's bed, and that when she came downstairs again, it then

mselves should float upon the water. We have sufficient evidence that it is a thing that never was; if persons come alive into the water, then they sink; if dead, then they swim. At first it was thought that such an accident might happen though they could not imagine any cause for this woman to do so, who had so great prosper

ore being thrown into the water, included that of several local doctors who had examined

s present in the body, death must have been caused in some other way. Two seamen of the Royal Navy were also put into the box, and both wer

amined the medical witnesses and made them admit that they had no knowledge

ntention of becoming prosecutors. "If," said he, "they intended to have prosecuted me or any other gentleman upon this evidence, they ought to have given us notice, that we might have had some surgeons among them to superintend their proceeding. My

een the result of contact with stakes in the bed of the river. Then he brought forward his own expert medical evidence, which was given by ten of the leading doctors of the day, including Sir Hans Sloane and the celebrat

illed and thrown into the water the body sank at first and then rose to the sur

letters of hers were read to the jury, but these her mother and brother would not admit

at he was very much puzzled, and that he perceived that

am sensible I have omitted many things; but I am a litt

fter Queen Anne came to the thron

defence, and after a short discussion found Spen

appearances were not those of arsenical poisoning and that the amounts of arsenic found in the body were not greater than those present in cases where arsenical medicines had been taken months before death, and where there was no sus

er for poisoning in 1856. That case was characterised by many remarkable features, the suspected person, for instance, being allowed access to th

ence of poison in the body, communicated with the papers, while Herapath, one o

ms upon their evidence as having been given with the object of obtaining an acquittal at all costs. "It is indispensable," he

ard by the defence resulted in the prisoner being set free, after having been sentenced to death.

he other hand, Dr. B. W. Richardson, who was called as a witness for the defence, stated that arsenic was a cumulative poison, and that if it had been given for a long period, as alle

ether death might not have been the result of dysentery, the symptoms and appearan

n independent scientific authority should be taken. Accordingly the whole of the chemical and medical evidence was studied by Sir B. Brodie, whose report was that there were six reasons which led to the conclusio

e, immediately granted a free pardon. In this case, but for the conflict of scientifi

fic defence may succeed in breaking down the scientific evidence brought by the prosecution in criminal

d have the same advantages as regards scientific assistance as he now possesse

recognised standing in chemistry and medicine, who would be willin