Abstract

The legal admissibility of scientific tools, such as dendrochemistry providing forensic evidence for criminal or civil cases, critically relies on the quality of fundamental and applied scientific research. The “Daubert” and “Frye” criteria that federal courts in the U.S.A use for determining legal admissibility requires publication of the scientific basis for the tool, and general acceptance by the scientific community. The field of dendroforensics is rapidly evolving, with new methods constantly being developed. In this manuscript we investigate how this dendrochemical evidence has been used successfully in the courtroom. The study of tree rings using physical anatomical and dendrochronological methods has been used as evidence in courts for over 150 years. From these beginnings in dendroecology dendrochemical and biological methods have matured enough to allow it to be used in forensic investigations, finding applications as a new independent line of evidence around the world, supporting cases involving murder, trafficking of protected species, and pollution crimes. We summarize some of the key applications of dendrochemistry in forensic cases and illustrate them with courtroom examples. The basic analytical methods discussed (e.g., PCR, GC-MS, LIBS, LA/ICP-MS, EDXRF) are all conventional. However, for findings to be relevant to judicial cases, the data is normally applied with additional lines of evidence gathered such as tree physiology and relevant statistics. This can allow us to gain more powerful data to help age date a specific event or to spatially identify a source material. The purpose of this article is to show how recent research has paved the way for the use of dendrochemical evidence in courts. It shows how dendrochemistry can be useful for forensic investigations including: murder cases, trafficking of protected species, and pollution crimes. The applications are illustrated by several summarized legal cases, but due to the confidential nature of some of these cases it was not always possible to provide full details or references.

摘要

科学工具的法律可接受性，例如为刑事或民事案件提供法医证据的树状化学，关键取决于基础和应用科学研究的质量。美国联邦法院用于确定法律可接受性的“Daubert”和“Frye”标准要求公布该工具的科学依据，并得到科学界的普遍接受。树木法医学领域正在迅速发展，新方法不断被开发出来。在这份手稿中，我们调查了这种树状化学证据是如何在法庭上成功使用的。150 多年来，使用物理解剖学和树木年代学方法对树木年轮进行的研究已被用作法庭证据。从这些树木生态学的开端开始，树木化学和生物学方法已经足够成熟，可以将其用于法医调查，在世界范围内作为新的独立证据应用，支持涉及谋杀、走私受保护物种和污染犯罪的案件。我们总结了树状化学在法医案件中的一些关键应用，并用法庭实例加以说明。讨论的基本分析方法（例如，PCR、GC-MS、LIBS、LA/ICP-MS、EDXRF）都是常规方法。然而，对于与司法案件相关的调查结果，数据通常与收集的额外证据一起应用，例如树木生理学和相关统计数据。这可以让我们获得更强大的数据，以帮助对特定事件进行年代测定或在空间上识别源材料。本文的目的是展示最近的研究如何为在法庭上使用树木化学证据铺平道路。它展示了树状化学如何可用于法医调查，包括：谋杀案、受保护物种的走私和污染犯罪。这些应用程序通过几个总结的法律案例进行了说明，但由于其中一些案例的机密性，并不总是能够提供完整的细节或参考。