Week 2 Thought Paper

CJE4610

8/31/14

A case starts the moment the call is received. In many cases there is evidence or clues on the call itself. One of the things you can get from the call is a description of the incident, suspect information, and other various clues and information. Then when you get on scene your real investigation will begin. You may or may not have real life suspects or victims on scene. Once you get on scene you have to start processing information and the scene itself. You never know what clues you will get when you show up on scene.

There are different types of evidence to collect when you process a scene. There is trace evidence, which includes hairs, fibers, glass and soil. The second is impression evidence, which includes fingerprints left on objects, and also palms, tires and cloth. The next kind of evidence is biological to include blood, teeth and skeletal remains. The fourth kind of evidence is firearms and weapons including the guns and ammunition. The last is probably the one that most people forget or disregard, are documents to include contracts, currency, passports, and other documents.

In the case that was presented on page 126 there was a lot of evidence to be processed. The call originated as a disturbance from neighbors. The officers arrived and discovered a very disrupted house. From the pictures, there were obvious signs of a struggle with in the residence. So the description stated that when the officer arrived no one was at the scene. The officer of course would have secured the residence and searched for any potentially injured victims, spoken to neighbors and possibly put out a bolo for their vehicle if it was missing. In the pictures that the book shows there were definitely things that would have needed to be processed especially since they found blood. Figure 4.55 and 4.56 shows the house and how it looks wrecked and the condition of how it was left. Pictures, which obviously needed taken, were taken. Everyone needs to be careful once it is decided to collect evidence. Everyone should be aware of their surroundings and what they need to do and what they need to stay away from. Pictures of all the blood splatters would need to be documented along with the blood soaked clothing and areas of the house and furniture items.

Figures 4.57, 4.58 and 4.59 all show the different areas where there was blood or blood splatters. Someone obviously was pretty badly injured due to the pool of blood found on the floor and the overall amount of blood found at the crime scene. Those articles will for sure be entered into evidence and to collect fibers off of them.

Figures 4.60 was of the projectiles found at the scene, these would need to be sent to ballistics and of course try to match it with a weapon if possible. It would also need to be photographed and fingerprinted as well just to see if anything was found. Figure 4.61 was another splatter pattern, which of course could tell you trajectory of where the projectile was fired and where the victim and suspect might have been standing.

Figure 4.62 shows duct tape, which could have been used to hold someone against their will or secure a body for disposal. The other thing is you would want to check it for prints and fibers of any kind. This ups the ante of the crime and may mean it was premeditated if someone was held against his or her will. Next to the duct tape appears to be medical tape of some sort, with may indicate that the suspect was injured and attempted to bandage their wounds before leaving with the victim.
Figure 4.63 showed a broken door, indicating possible point of entry/exit and that force was used on the door, so again prints, fibers and any biological evidence. Figure 4.64 showed the shot through the window. This tells us that someone might have been standing in front of it to be shot at. If we are unable to locate the bullet inside we might need to look outside perhaps it got lodged in a tree or porch.

The other thing we would need to look at in this instance is the documents that might give us a clue to who was there, who lived there, and many other things. The last point that needs to be made when at a scene is the integrity of the scene and evidence itself. We want to make sure that if we pick up anything and gather it we do it properly and professionally.

This scene seemed like it could be a domestic violence scene that ended up with some one getting very hurt or dying. There is a lot going on and a lot of different types of evidence to collect. It’s very important to take your time and preserve the integrity of the scene and the evidence. Also don’t overlook anything, you never know what will be used in court and will become useful in the case later on.

References

1) Lasley, James; Guskos, Nikos; Seymour, Randy. (2014). Criminal Investigation An Illustrated Case Study Approach.