17. The Application of Forensic Soil Science in Case Work and Legal Considerations

Forensic soil science is now an accepted discipline in many nations worldwide such as the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Russia, Italy, Japan and the USA. Other nations are adopting the approach suitable for their own types of soils, crimes and land cover. There are a range of methods which can be used, with new methods being researched, developed and tested all the time. This chapter will not discuss the specific analytical methods used but instead outlines suggested strategies for examination and analysis and the presentation and communication of these results in court. The methods adopted for analysis in case work will often depend on the case in question, the examiner, the soil type and the individual country and legal system involved. Forensic soil science application can in general be divided into two main areas: (1) for intelligence gathering, such as providing information on search and narrowing down areas of interest, or in crime reconstruction and (2) for trace evidence comparison, evidence provision, evaluation of data and presentation in court. As the area of forensic soil science is relatively well established, this chapter concentrates on legal aspects of the use, acceptance and application of new methods, particularly acceptance and admissibility in court.