SCENE INFORMATION
Outdoor Scene / Indoor Scene?
Business or Residence?
Type of Residence: (Single family Home – one story)
Exterior Construction: (Brick, wood)
Primary Color: (Orange)
Trim Color: (Brown)
Direction Facing: (South)
Side of Roadway: (North)
Available Light: (Daylight)
Exterior Lighting: (No)
Interior Lighting: (Most lights turned off.) (Ceiling fan light in living area on.)
Electric Service: (On)
Thermostat: (AC)
Temperature Setting: (75°)
Ceiling Fans: (On in living area; all others off)
Forced Entry: (Yes/No)
Doors Secured?: (Front door locked. Back door unlocked. )
Windows Secured?: (Yes)
Window Treatments: (Mini blinds, open)
Telephone Service: (Yes)
Phone(s) Type: (Cordless)
Answering machine: (Yes)
Television/s: (Off)
Television Description: (52 in. “Show-Teeba” television, gray)
Radio: (Off)
SCENE SKETCH
PHOTOGRAPHY RANGES
The main goal of midrange photography is to show the contextual relationship between pieces of evidence and between evidence and the scene itself.
Midrange photographs are taken from distances of 10–20 feet away from the subject. To comprehensively capture the scene, the best practice is to take photographs from each compass direction.
When photographing the decedent, document the body in sections from multiple angles:
•Head
•Chest
•Arms/hands
•Abdominal/pelvic area
•Legs/feet
Photograph anything that may
be relevant:
•Pockets turned out
•Clothing brands/logos
•Damage to clothes such as cuts
or tears
•Placement of possible weapons on, in, or near the body
•Animal activity
•Insect activity
Close-up photographs are taken five feet or less from the subject. These photographs provide detail not visible in overall or midrange photographs. This documentation is meant to show and identify individual pieces of evidence such as:
•Fired projectiles and cartridge cases
•Fingerprints
•Bloodstain patterns
•Wounds/injury
The subject matter in close-up photographs should fill the frame of the viewfinder and be taken without a scale and then with a scale next to the subject.
Examples of close-up
photographs of decedents
include:
•Visible injuries and wounds
•Visible blood evidence on
the body and clothing
•Biological evidence
•Trace evidence
•Presence/absence of jewelry
After the decedent has been rolled over, the newly visible side of the body, as well as the area where the decedent had been laying, should be photographed as well.
Macrophotographs are taken inches away from the subject and are considered examination quality. They are scale photographs meant for comparison purposes and must be photographed in the RAW image capture mode. RAW images are uncompressed- unprocessed images.
Macrophotographs will receive the most scrutiny and
cross-examination in court, so it is imperative that they are:
•Sharply focused
•Accurately exposed
•Well illuminated
Perspective is a major issue
with macrophotographs. Regardless of whether the
subject is on a horizontal,
vertical, or inclined surface,
the camera must be
perpendicular (90º) to the
subject. Some examples of macrophotographs are:
•fingerprint impressions;
•footwear and tire wear impressions;
•tool marks;
•glass fractures;
•bullet strikes (angle determinations);
•blood impact spatter, and bloodstain patterns.
Note: A “fracture match” joins pieces of the same object, like pieces of a puzzle, to show that they were once whole
BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA
Blunt force trauma injuries result from the application of force to the body by a blunt instrument over a generalized (large) or localized (small) surface area or when the body strikes a secondary surface such as a wall or the ground.
Generalized injuries occur in
motor vehicle accidents, airplane or helicopter crashes, structure collapses, and falls from heights. Localized injuries involve a smaller part of the body and may be a result of a series of blows to one location.
The extent of blunt force injury is dependent on four factors:
•The amount of force applied
•The length of time the force is applied
•The size of the area over which the force is applied
•The elasticity of the area receiving the force
Blunt force trauma can be classified into the following categories (click on each for more information):
Contusions, Lacerations, Abrasions, Fractures
A contusion occurs when small blood vessels break and leak blood into surrounding tissue (bruising). Contusions can be an external indicator of more serious internal injury and can also allow inferences to be drawn about the nature and shape of the object used; however, you should not assume what type of instrument caused the injury. Instead, your report should only use wording such as “the evidence is consistent with” or “appears to be” unless there is solid forensic evidence at the scene.
A laceration is a wound with irregular edges that results from the application of blunt force that causes tearing or splitting of the skin. The torn edges of the skin will be ragged and have an associated abrasion, and bridges of connective tissue may be stretched across the gap. Lacerations occur when the elasticity of the surface of the skin being deformed is exceeded.
Abrasions are superficial injuries to the skin in which the outer layer of the skin is scraped or rubbed off, and include:
•scrapes;
•scratches;
•rug burn;
•road rash.
Fractures from blunt force trauma occur when the force applied to the bone surpasses the strength of the bone. Typically, a considerable amount of hemorrhaging or bleeding occurs when fractures result from blunt force trauma.
SHARP FORCE INJURIES
Sharp force injuries are caused by items that are edged or pointed such as a knife, razor blade, pitchfork, scissors, tool, or a piece of glass.
Sharp force injuries can be classified into the following categories (click on each for more information): Incised wounds; Stab wounds; Chopping wounds; Puncture wounds.
Incised wounds, also known as cuts or slices, are longer on the skin than they are deep in the body. These types of wounds are created by drawing a sharp-edged instrument across the skin.
Characteristics of an incised wound are:
•No bridging of tissue
•Clean wound edges
•Deep tissues are divided cleanly and bleed freely
•Little or no signs of bruising into adjacent skin
•Deeper wound depth at the beginning than at the end of the wound
A stab wound is a penetrating wound produced by pushing or thrusting an instrument into the skin and/or organs. The wound is deeper than it is long with the edges possibly having contusions or abrasions. The length of the instrument used to inflict a stab wound may not necessarily be determined by the depth of the wound itself, as the wounding instrument may or may not have been fully inserted.
Depending on the wound location, the elasticity of the tissue may have allowed the object to travel further into the tissue due to the force used during insertion.
Moreover, the width of a stab wound may not accurately indicate the width of the wounding instrument. The movement of the instrument and/or victim can result in a wound that exceeds the width of the blade that created it. Also, during stabbings the instrument blade typically enters and exits at an angle, resulting in a wound that appears larger than the wounding instrument
A chopping wound is produced by a heavy, edged instrument moving toward the object. Examples of such instruments include:
•Axe
•Machete
•Hatchet (wound pictured)
•Cleaver
A puncture wound is created when an instrument pierces the skin. Instruments that create these types of wounds, such as screw drivers and ice picks, have a sharp point but no sharp edges. These wounds typically look like small holes. Wound depth will vary from a surface wound to one that is deep and penetrating.
Puncture wounds may have characteristics similar to gunshot wounds. In the investigator’s report, puncture wounds should be described as a “circular defect not yet confirmed to be a puncture wound” unless there is solid forensic evidence at the scene to support a puncture wound.
GUNSHOT WOUNDS
It is important for an investigator to understand the process of firearm discharge when examining trauma on the body caused by a gunshot. This process has a particular sequence.
1.When the gun’s trigger is pulled, the firing pin is released.
2.The firing pin strikes the primer of the cartridge, and a flame is created that ignites the gun powder.
3.The ignition creates a large amount of gas and heat. The pressure of the gas propels the bullet forward out of the gun’s barrel, along with:
•Flame
•Gas
•Powder
•Soot
•Primer residue
4.As the materials exit the barrel, they spread out like a funnel. Depending on the distance between the muzzle and the target, the materials exiting the barrel will affect the appearance of the resulting wound. For example:
•Flame emitted from a gun’s barrel can cause searing or a yellow singed effect.
•Heat from the muzzle blast can result in charring of the skin.
•Pressure of the gas emitted can create star or stellate-shaped wounds.
•Powder grains striking the body can create reddish-brown or orange-red pinpoint abrasions known as tattooing or stippling.
•Soot may be deposited around the wound; whether the soot is removable depends on the type of gunshot wound inflicted.
When a fired bullet strikes the body, it will cause either a penetrating wound or a perforating wound.
Penetrating wounds result when a bullet enters the body, creating an entrance wound, and does not exit the body.
A perforating wound results when a bullet enters and exits the body; thus, this type of wound has an entrance wound and an exit wound. This type of wound is sometimes referred to as a through-and-through wound.