Dr. Oscar Amoëdo—The Bazar de la Charite, 1898

Considered by many to be the father of forensic odontology, Dr. Oscar Amoedo
was born in Matanzas, Cuba, in 1863. He began his studies at the University
of Cuba, continued at New York Dental College, and then returned to Cuba
in 1888. He was sent as a delegate to the International Dental Congress in
Paris in 1889. Paris was very appealing to him and he decided to stay. He
became a dental instructor and teacher at the Ecole Odontotechnique de
Paris in 1890 and rose to the rank of professor, writing 120 scientific articles
on many topics (Figure 2.1). A tragic fire at a charity event, the Bazar de
la Charité, stimulated his interest in dental identification and the field of
forensic odontology.

Winfield Goss—Mr. Udderzook

In 1873 outside of Baltimore, Maryland, a body was found in the ashes of
a burned cottage. The body was tentatively identified as Winfield S. Gross,
who was known to have used the cottage for his chemistry experiments.
His widow and ten witnesses were certain that the body was that of Gross.
Mr. Gross had insured himself for $25,000 eight days prior to the fire. The
insurance companies refused to pay the widow’s claim.

Dr. John Webster—Dr. George Parkman

Dr. George Parkman, a respected professor at Harvard University, failed to
return from dinner on November 23, 1849. Dr. Parkman was a physician, but
also a real estate speculator and moneylender. He was sixty-four years of age and
a man of very regular habits. When he failed to appear as expected, suspicion
of foul play fell on his colleague, John White Webster, a professor of chemistry
at the same university. Dr. Webster had been behaving somewhat irregularly
of late, and it was known that he owed Dr. Parkman a considerable sum of
money.

The Law

Expert testimony is a common and essential component in both civil and
criminal trials. Every forensic scientist who is called into court to give the
results of his or her study must first be qualified as an expert witness. Courts
allow expert testimony out of necessity to assist the fact finder. A witness
qualifies as an expert by reason of “knowledge, skill, experience, training,
or education.”1 The trial judge determines if a witness is qualified as an expert
and in what field of areas of science the expert may testify.2 The forensic scientist
may qualify as an expert on the basis of education, background, or study.3
Evidence being offered by a qualified forensic expert is subject to admissibility
standards for the specific scientific evidence being presented. A judge
must determine admissibility of that scientific evidence.

Science

The essence of any scientific study involves developing an alternative hypothesis,
devising an experiment or series of experiments to test the accuracy of
the hypothesis (question presented), and finally, carrying out the scientific
experiment so as to yield an unbiased result. Science meets the law only to
the extent that the legal system must look to science to help resolve a legal
dispute. Scientists in today’s world no longer maintain the fiction that all
science is equal. This inequality is often played out in courtrooms throughout
the United States.

Introduction

Forensic science is simply defined as the application of science to the law or
legal matters. In today’s CSI and Forensic Files world, this area of science
is much more widely known to the general public. However, it is also misunderstood
due to Hollywood’s resolve to complete every case within the
context of a one-hour, commercials included, pseudo-real-life crime drama.
When the actual real-life judicial system needs science to resolve a question,
the person who is called upon to bring science into the courtroom is often a
forensic scientist.