CharlesBerger

Forensic Scientist

Course overview

Welcome to my online course in forensic science, or criminalistics. It is based on my classes at Leiden University and aimed both at novices and experienced forensic scientists, but also legal practitioners.

After an introduction of criminalistics, and a look at the diversity in areas of expertise we have a brief look at some of the history. The classical princples of forensic science will sometimes turn out to be problematic. We will therefore learn about a scientific approach to evidence interpretation and reporting.

The focus of the course is on interpretation, because this is the area where most improvement is needed. Interpretation is also what the very diverse areas of expertise have in common, forming the core of forensic science. Legal practitioners too can benefit from better knowledge of the interpretation of evidence.

It does not work for Apple hardware yet, because Apple does not adhere to web standards and the rest of us can't wait.

Introduction to forensic science, definition, areas of expertise

Areas of expertise (continued), history, classical principles

Probabilistic reasoning, evidential strength, the likelihood ratio

Forensic reporting, conclusion scales, errors of reasoning