Page 1 - Forensic Science

Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter you
should be able to:
● Explain how alcohol is
absorbed into the blood-
stream, transported through-
out the body, and eliminated
by oxidation and excretion
● Understand the process by
which alcohol is excreted in
the breath via the lungs
● Understand the concepts of
infrared and fuel cell breath-
testing devices for alcohol
testing
● Describe commonly employed
field sobriety tests to assess
alcohol impairment
● List and contrast laboratory
procedures for measuring the
concentration of alcohol in
the blood
● Relate the precautions to be
taken to properly preserve
blood in order to analyze its
alcohol content
● Understand the significance of
implied-consent laws and the
Schmerber v. California case
to traffic enforcement
● Describe techniques that
forensic toxicologists use
to isolate and identify drugs
and poisons
● Appreciate the significance
of finding a drug in human
tissues and organs to assessing
impairment
National Science
Content Standards
Scientific Science and
Inquiry Technology
Science in
Physical Personal
Science and Social
Perspective
History and
Life
Science Nature of
Science
Harold Shipman,
Dr. Death
Kathleen Grundy’s sudden death in 1998 was shock-
ing news to her daughter, Angela Woodruff. Mrs.
Grundy, an 81-year-old widow, was believed to be
in good health when her physician, Dr. Harold Ship-
man, visited her a few hours before her demise.
Some hours later, when friends came to her home to
check on her whereabouts, they found Mrs. Grundy
lying on a sofa fully dressed and dead.
Dr. Shipman pronounced her dead and informed
her daughter that an autopsy was not necessary. A
few days later, Mrs. Woodruff was surprised to learn
that a will had surfaced leaving all of Mrs. Grundy’s
money to Dr. Shipman. The will was immediately
recognized as a forgery and led to the exhumation
of Mrs. Grundy’s body. A toxicological analysis of the
remains revealed a lethal quantity of morphine.
In retrospect, there was good reason to suspect
that Dr. Shipman was capable of foul play. In the
1970s, he was asked to leave a medical practice
because of a drug abuse problem and charges
that he obtained drugs by forgery and deception.
However, Dr. Shipman was quickly back to practic-
ing medicine. By 1998, local undertakers became
suspicious at the number of his patients who were
dying. What is more, they all seemed to be elderly
women who were found sitting in a chair or lying
fully clothed on a bed. As police investigated, the
horror of Dr. Shipman’s deeds became apparent.
One clinical audit estimated that Dr. Shipman killed
at least 236 of his patients over a 24-year period.
Most of the deaths were attributed to fatal doses of
heroin or morphine. Toxicological analysis on seven
exhumed bodies clearly showed significant quanti-
ties of morphine. Convicted of murder, Dr. Shipman
hanged himself in his jail cell in 2004.