Forensic Studies
FORENSI CS
Invigilation – Imposing strict temporary controls on an activity implicated in a
fraud. The purpose of imposing strict controls is to stop the fraud during the
control period. Detailed records are kept during this period as well as before and
after. Comparing the activities before, during, and after invigilation can provide
evidence about whether or how the fraud is being conducted.
FACULT Y PROFI LE
Motion in Limine - A motion typically in criminal trials requesting that the judge
rule that certain evidence may not be introduced at trial.
Materiality – The concept that some information or action is important enough
to have an impact or influence on a decision or event. It is not the same as relevance.
Materiality is a measure of the impact the presence or absence of the information
or action has on the decision or event. For a lie to be a federal crime it must be
material to the decision; if not, it is just a lie.
Understanding the meaning of these words and how to use them is an important
skill for a forensics professional.
Sue Schenning
Home: Baltimore, Md.
100 YEARS AGO
IN 1914…
Question: Which Country in North America
Established the First Crime Lab?
Answer: Not the United States.
Many people might guess that the FBI opened the first crime lab in North
America. After all, the FBI is a world-leader in forensics. But it turns out that
the FBI lab, which was established in 1932, was not even the first crime lab in
the United States. Chicago established the first crime lab in the United States
in 1929, but the first crime lab in North America was the Laboratoire de
Recherches Médico-Légales established 15 years earlier in 1914 in Montreal,
Canada.
Forensic scientist Wilfred Dérôme established the Montreal lab. Prior to starting the crime lab he had worked in a hospital pathology lab where he examined
evidence and then walked across the street to the courthouse to give testimony.
Fascinated with forensics, Dérôme took advanced training in 1908, travelling to
Paris, France, to study at the University of Paris with two famous forensics
experts, Professors Bertillon and Balthazard.
Dérôme returned to Montreal with newly developed skills in such fields as ballistics,
criminal psychology, and fingerprint analysis. He directed the laboratory from 1914
until his death in 1931. During those years a famous law enforcement official
from the United States visited the laboratory twice before opening his own
agency’s crime lab. The official was FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.
Profession: Lawyer, Associate Professor
of Forensic Studies
Hobbies: Knitting, reading, exercise
Last Book Read: The Mockingbird
Next Door by Marja Mills (on living
next door to Harper Lee) and The
Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Last Accomplishment: Survived, but
not fully recovered from, a week of
entertaining our 7-year-old granddaughter at the beach.
Quote: “If you do something you love,
you will never work a day in your life.”
Profile: Successfully made the transition
from a 30-plus year career as a trial
lawyer to teacher and found both
professions have much in common.
Love to read and always open to new
ideas. Watch entirely too much TV!
Courses Taught: Mock Trial, Criminal
Justice, Evidence, Forensic Journal