A forensic scientist received an analysis request (discipline not relevant) and was asked to compare a...

  

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A forensic scientist received an analysis request (discipline not relevant) and was asked to compare a set of questioned specimens with a set of reference samples to evaluate, as per the request, whether or not the two sets share a common origin. After conducting a comparative examination, the expert observes some concordances and also some dissimilarities between the compared features of the two sets of items. The expert estimates that the balance between similarities and dissimilarities is expected with a probability of 80% for items actually matching. The expert also consults a database of similar objects and estimates a random match probability of 1/2000. Considering the uncertainties related to her observations, the expert decides to report her findings following the principles of evidence interpretation originally enunciated by Evett. a) Discuss each principle by Evett as specifically applied to the present scenario (note: I am not asking for what the principles say in general, but how you apply them to this scenario) (6 points). b) Based on the present scenario, how is the evidential value expressed numerically? (Note: I am asking for numbers, not theoretical (2 points). explanations) c) Following the logic in a) and b), how should the expert report the evidential value in her report? (2 points). A forensic scientist received an analysis request (discipline not relevant) and was asked to compare a set of questioned specimens with a set of reference samples to evaluate, as per the request, whether or not the two sets share a common origin. After conducting a comparative examination, the expert observes some concordances and also some dissimilarities between the compared features of the two sets of items. The expert estimates that the balance between similarities and dissimilarities is expected with a probability of 80% for items actually matching. The expert also consults a database of similar objects and estimates a random match probability of 1/2000. Considering the uncertainties related to her observations, the expert decides to report her findings following the principles of evidence interpretation originally enunciated by Evett. a) Discuss each principle by Evett as specifically applied to the present scenario (note: I am not asking for what the principles say in general, but how you apply them to this scenario) (6 points). b) Based on the present scenario, how is the evidential value expressed numerically? (Note: I am asking for numbers, not theoretical (2 points). explanations) c) Following the logic in a) and b), how should the expert report the evidential value in her report? (2 points).

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aThe first principle is that the analyst should make no assumption about the hypothesis being tested and should instead base their report only on the ... View the full answer