Forensics Journal - Stevenson University 2011 | Page 32

STEVENSON UNIVERSITY

Human fallibility remains the greatest challenge facing forensic
investigators. When a mistake is made during the investigation with
regard to evidence collection and processing, it could have an effect
on the entire outcome. For a successful prosecution, the government’s
attorney must ensure that the testimony provided by the technical
expert is8:

cases, the challenges come into play as a result of evidence contamination and conflicting testimony by court-recognized, but inarticulate or inadequately prepared experts. All digital evidence must be
presented in court by an expert witness because digital evidence is
basically hearsay evidence. The expert witness will relay the “existence,
content, and meaning to the investigators” (Cohen, 2006).

• Based upon sufficient facts or data.

• The product of reliable principles and methods.

• Applied to the facts of the specific case in question.

Digital evidence is hearsay evidence because it is presented by an
expert who asserts facts or conclusions based on what the computer
recorded, not what the investigators directly observed themselves.
Identifying digital evidence is an important part of a forensic investigation. There is a vast amount of information resident on a computer
which may result in some evidence being overlooked during the
course of the investigation. Relevant information is located in several
different ar X\