Was a Crime Committed?

THE CRIME SCENE

Normal observation: When sprayed with luminol

no unusual features (presumptive test for blood):
apparent appears that a large quantity
of blood was a one time on
wall

Physical Evidence
Crime Object/Suspect Object
• Physical evidence
– any and all objects that can establish that a crime has been
committed or can provide a link between a crime and its victim
Crime Object
or a crime and its perpetrator.
– an item arising from the crime scene
• If physical evidence is to be used to aid the investigator,
its presence first must be recognized at the crime scene. – questioned (unknown) sample
• Forensic science begins at the crime scene. – the object for which we would like to establish
• If the investigator cannot recognize physical evidence
or cannot properly preserve it for laboratory an origin and associations to help in
examination, no amount of sophisticated laboratory reconstructing the time
instrumentation or technical expertise can salvage the
situation.
• Investigators must recognize and properly preserve
evidence for laboratory examination.

Crime Object Crime Object/Suspect Object

Examples
Suspect Object
– fibers on a victim body – a known comparison object
– fingerprints at the scene – a reference sample for which the origins are
– bullet recovered from a body known
– fibers found on a body – used to establish the identity, source,
individuality and associations of the crime
object

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Suspect Object Crime Object/ Suspect Object
Suspect object

Examples |
The forensic scientist
– reference blood sample from a suspect tries to establish the
– carpet fibers from a house or car relationship between
– fingers of a person the crime object &
suspect object
– gun recovered from an individual

Is the suspect object
the source of the crime
object?
|
crime object

Crime Scene Procedures Secure the Scene

Foremost in evidence
Establish the functional perimeter of the
collection scene
– DO NO HARM
– may encompass more than one geographical
– prevent any further
location
compromise of the
evidence than has • Simpson case
already happened as a Investigator fitting a tool into – his house (Rockingham)
result of the crime – her house (Bundy)
crime scene mark runs risk of
and its aftermath – Bronco
altering the impression &
dislodging trace evidence
Limit access to essential personnel

The Crime Scene Team The Crime Scene Team

The Detective
– law enforcement representative
– usually in charge of the crime scene

The Criminalist or Evidence Technician
– collects evidence

The Photographer
– documents the scene before anything is
removed
– may use both still photography & video

Latent Print Analyst
– usually a specialist with the police department
– looks for both visible and invisible (latent)
fingerprints

Firearms Expert
– may be called if a firearm is believed to have
been discharged
– collects bullets, shells, casings, wads
– collects & examines weapons found

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The Crime Scene Team The Crime Scene Team

Bloodstain Pattern Expert
Coroner/Medical Examiner
– bloodstains often are located on immovable – declares a body to be dead
objects (walls, floors) – transports body to morgue for autopsy &
evidence collection
– measures & documents patterns at scene
– medical examiner
– takes photos for later study
• holds a medical degree
• appointed to position
– coroner
• need not have a medical degree
• often an elected office

Conducting the Investigation Conducting the Investigation

Review your role with the detective
– Why were they called?
– Why were YOU called?

Help formulate the questions
– find out as much as possible about what
happened (includes police speculation or
hypotheses)
– help the detective understand the scientific
questions generated by the legal question

Determine what you are looking for
– impractical to collect everything

Consider what questions might have future
relevance
– Example
• semen on a vaginal swab does not prove rape
(penetration)
• common defense is consensual intercourse
• other evidence indicating forced penetration needed

Conducting the Investigation Record the Scene

Document the scene

Formulate a plan – failure to properly document evidence in context may negate its probative
value
– choose areas to be searched • need proof that evidence was where you said you found it

Investigators have a limited amount of time to work a crime site in its
– the order of the search untouched state.
– methods of preservation appropriate
The opportunity to permanently record the scene in its original state
must not be lost.
– determine if specialists or special equipment are
Such records are also required for presentation at a trial in order to
document the condition of the crime site and to delineate the location
needed of physical evidence.

Every step of the investigation should be documented thoroughly with

Keep an open mind an appropriate method.

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 The Preliminary Exam
• A lead investigator will start the process of Record The Scene
evaluating the area.
– First, the boundaries of the scene must be
Sketch
determined. – advantage of selective seeing
– Second, establish the perpetrator’s path of • emphasize items of importance
entry and exit.
Photography
– The investigator then proceeds with an
initial walk-through of the scene to gain an – Photography records essentially everything in
overview of the situation and develop a the scene
strategy for the systematic examination and – factors such as lighting and angle, may cause
documentation of the entire crime scene. misinterpretation
• This is done before processing the crime scene
for physical evidence. – written documentation of lighting & angle
needed

Record the Scene

Videography
– can provide running commentary
– can record in extremely low light
– inappropriate comments can appear on tape

Notes
– record of actual measurements of the scene,
evidence and relationship between them
Sketches
• Once photographs are taken, the crime-scene
investigator will sketch the scene.
• Rough Sketch—A draft representation of all
essential information and measurements at a
crime scene. Drawn at the crime scene, it shows
all recovered items of physical evidence, as well
as other important features of the crime scene.
• Finished Sketch—A precise rendering of the
crime scene, usually drawn to scale. This type is
not completed at the crime scene.
• Unlike the rough sketch, the finished sketch is
drawn with care and concern for aesthetic
appearance.

The Search
• The search for physical evidence at a crime
scene must be thorough and systematic.
Fold down or cross- • The search pattern selected will normally
projection sketch. depend on the size and locale of the scene and
Room is unfolded as if the number of collectors participating in the
it is a cardboard box. search.
Each wall is represented
as a flap extending from • For a factual, unbiased reconstruction of the
the floor. crime, the investigator must not overlook any
pertinent evidence.
• Physical evidence can be anything from
massive objects to microscopic traces.

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 The Search
• Often, many items of evidence are clearly
Search Patterns
visible but others may be detected only
through examination at the crime
laboratory.
• It is important to collect possible carriers
of trace evidence, such as clothing,
vacuum sweepings, and fingernail
scrapings, in addition to large items.
– Buccal swab: swab of inner portion of
cheek; cheek cells are usually collected to Grid Search Strip Search
determine the DNA profile of an individual

Search Patterns Search Patterns

Wheel Search Zone Search

Spiral Search

Evidence Collection Rules of Evidence Collection

Documentation essential
Maintain the physical integrity of the
– description of item sample
– location in crime scene from which collected
Limit degradation
– case number – particularly for biologicals
– data & time collected
Prevent contamination
– signature or initials of collector

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 Chain of Custody
• Chain of Custody—A list of all persons who
On-Site Analysis
came into possession of an item of evidence.
• Continuity of possession, or the chain of
Most evidence analysis is done in the lab
custody, must be established whenever
Simple on-site testing can assist in
evidence is presented in court. determining if something is evidence
• Adherence to standard procedures in recording
the location of evidence, marking it for
identification, and properly completing
evidence submission forms for laboratory
analysis is critical to chain of custody.

On-Site Analysis On-Site Analysis

Visible prints on
Presumptive Tests
immovable objects – blood
will be photographed – semen

latent prints will be – hydrocarbons (arson)
dusted or fumed for
Substances collected
visualization based on presumptive
– lifted tests MUST be
– photographed confirmed by more
specific tests in lab

On-Site Analysis On-Site Analysis

Bullet trajectory
Bloodstain pattern
– best established at – measurements of
crime scene pattern help establish
– direct measurement of the direction & angle
distances between of impact
holes – standing in 3-D space
– investigator can stand gives useful impression
in the 3-D space of how the pattern was
to get sense of created
relationship of the
holes to one another

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Sample Analysis Outcomes Sample Analysis Outcomes

True Result
False Positive Result
– correctly associates evidence sample with – incorrectly associates an evidence sample with
reference sample if such an association exists a reference sample when no association exists

False Negative Result
Inconclusive Result
– incorrectly fails to associate evidence sample – no more is known after the test than before the
with reference sample when an association test
exists
No Result
– no info about evidence/reference relationship

Large Items

Direct Collection
Non-Biological Evidence – transport as carefully
as possible
• vehicles towed (flatbed)
• wall or floor (boxes /
Collection paper bags)
– packaging should
allow recovery of any
trace particles
dislodged during
transport

Trace Evidence Trace Evidence

Individual particles
– forceps or brush coin
envelope)

Area Collection
– Tape lift
• single small area
• Multiple adjacent areas
may be sampled

Area Collection
– Vacuum Sweeping
• dust & debris
• dimensional
relationship of particles
is lost
– Scraping
• ruler or spatula
• dimensional
relationship destroyed
• some particles lost as
aerosol

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 Trace Evidence Evidence Collection

Area Collection
Area Collection
– Casting
– Photography or videography
• impressions &
toolmarks – blood spatter patterns & prints
• used when transport to
lab not feasible
– gives spacial relation to the scene
• Plaster of Paris poured – prints & blood spatter may be visualized or
into mold enhanced with chemicals
• cast can be compared to
reference samples

Preservation

Large Items
– gloves Biological Evidence
• reduces introduction of prints, fibers, particles
• gloves must be changed appropriately to prevent
cross-contamination Collection
– restricted mechanical contact
• prevents alteration of impressions
– tools are never fitted into the impression at the crime scene
to prevent compromising the evidence

Beyond The Crime Scene Crime Scene Safety

• The following are to be collected and sent to • The increasing spread of AIDS and hepatitis B
the forensic laboratory: has sensitized the law enforcement community
1. Victim’s clothing to the potential health hazards at crime scenes.
2. Fingernail scrapings • Law enforcement officers have an extremely
3. Head and pubic hairs small chance of contracting AIDS or hepatitis
4. Blood (for DNA typing purposes) at the crime scene.
5. Vaginal, anal, and oral swabs (in sex • The International Association for Identification
related crimes) Safety Committee has proposed guidelines to
6. Recovered bullets from the body protect investigators at crime scenes containing
7. Hand swabs from shooting victims (for potentially infectious materials.
gunshot residue analysis)

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 Large Items
Trace Evidence

Direct Collection
– transport entire object
containing stain to lab

Swab (swatch)
– stain collected with moistened cotton swab
– rehydration may reinitiate degradative processes

Trace Evidence Preservation

Scraping
Avoid storage in plastic bags
– avoids rehydration
Reduce exposure to moisture and warm
• eliminates activation of DNA-destroying enzymes temperatures
– small chips are easily lost

Liquid or wet samples dried asap

Long term storage in frost-free freezer

Beyond The Crime Scene

• The search for physical evidence also extends to
the autopsy room of a deceased victim.
• The medical examiner or coroner will carefully
examine the victim to establish a cause and
manner of death.
Contamination
• As a matter of routine, tissues and organs will
be retained for pathological and toxicological
examination. Any Substance inadvertently introduced
• Arrangements must be made between the into or onto an item of evidence after its
examiner and investigator to secure a variety of
items that may be on the body for laboratory recognition by a responsible party
examination.

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Mixed Sample
– bed sheets that show
the genetic type of
more than one person
Types of Impurities

Contaminated Sample
Non-biological Impurities
– a blanket from Nicole’s – storing improperly sealed volatiles in the same
bedroom was reported
physical space
to have been used to
cover her body • cross-contamination
– rendered trace – crime scene investigator tracking soil from
evidence on body outside a crime scene into crime scene or from
useless one scene to another

Types of Impurities Types of Impurities

Non-biological

Non-biological Impurities
Impurities
– chemicals which also react in a test – don’t produce false
• paraffin test for nitrate residue on hands (firearm positives in biological
discharge) tests
– tobacco & fertilizer give positive tests • may prevent treactions
from working properly
• blue dye in denim inters
with enzymes in DNA
tests
• remove during sample
prep

Types of Impurities Types of Impurities

Non-biological Impurities
Biological Impurities
– chemicals may be introduced in an attempt to – normally not a problem in the analysis &
locate evidence interpretation of non-biological evidence
• dusting for fingerprints
• luminol for detecting non-visible blood
• accommodations can be made in analysis &
interpretation since the presence of these materials is
known

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Types of Impurities

Biological Impurities
– Microorganisms
• Can destroy a sample overnight
– bacteria & fungi grow well in warm moist conditions
– microorganismal spores are ubiquitous
– prevented by drying & freezing (sterile lab equipment)
Types of Impurities

Biological Impurities
– Non-human physiological substances
• generally no effect on human biologicals
• marker systems for human protein or DNA

Types of Impurities

Biological Impurities
– Human physiological substances Contamination
• if source is known a substrate control can be
incorporated into the analysis
Prevention & Detection

Prevention Detection

Starts at the crime scene
Depends on laboratory controls
– strict pathways are – known positive control always included
established
• unexpected results indicate a potential problem
– Access is limited
– negative control
– Protective outerwear worn
& changed intelligently • includes all lab reagents but no testing sample
• should yield no detectable results

In lab
– storing & processing of
evidence & references
separated in time & space

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Explainable Differences

Partial print from scene Inked print

Every sample is individual & will never exactly
resemble another in all aspects
– prints not identical but have 12 points of similarity

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