7990. Law and Forensic Science

Is a review and a discussion of traditional and modern legal doctrines governing the admissibility and proper uses of scientific evidence, the criminal defendant's right to discover and challenge the results of government-sponsored procedures for the collection and analysis of scientific evidence, and the indigent defendant's right to hire his own scientific experts at government expense. In addition, students receive training in the forensic techniques and procedures used to develop several of the more common forms of scientific evidence, including fingerprinting, hair and fiber analysis, ballistics, body fluid analysis, toxicology and forensic pathology, and are instructed in the methods by which such evidence is prepared and presented at trial. A paper is required.