Single Blood Spatter

Forensic science is a key aspect of Criminal Justice that helps rid the streets of lunatics and murderers. One of the most important fields of forensic science is blood spatter analysis. Under the Crime Scene Investigation, analysts gather the information that could eventually lead to a victim’s killer. Basic and complex information can be found when analyzing blood. We can learn what kind of weapon was used, the time of death of a victim and other important facts that can help a case. The pattern that the blood gives off give forensic scientists the tools that they need to help solve cases.

Physical evidence left behind at a crime scene plays a crucial role in reconstructing the events that took place involving the crime. Bloodstain pattern analysis (BPA) is a discipline which utilizes the sciences of biology, physics, and mathematics. Bloodstain interpretation may be accomplished by direct scene evaluation and/or careful study of scene photographs in conjunction with detailed examination of clothing, weapons, and other objects regarded as physical evidence. The location, spreading, and appearance of bloodstains and spatters can be useful for interpreting and reconstructing the events that produced the bleeding. An investigator or bloodstain pattern analyst can decipher from individual bloodstains the direction and angle

In this video Correspondent LOWELL BERGMAN questions the scientific validity of forensic science. He also expresses that it is not as simple as it appears on television shows. Detective. Joanna Grivetti who is a crime scene investigator in Richmond, California explains that the real life CSI is getting dirty, smelling things you don’t want to smell, seeing things you don’t want to see and dealing with blood in order to collect evidence that may seem small at the time, but will ultimately (possibly) be a big deal in solving the case.

Bloodstain pattern analysis (BPA), known in the criminal justice field as blood splatter analysis, has been studied since the 1890s. Blood splatter, or bloodstain pattern constructional readings, is a technique that seeks to piece together the incident that caused an individual’s bleeding. Understanding blood splatter on a wall or various surfaces can be instrumental in formulating if a crime was committed and if the blood discovered at the crime scene can be used as evidence. The first documentation of blood splatter research occurred at the Institute for Forensic Medicine in Poland, by Dr. Eduard Piotrowski . During Dr. Piotrowski’s research and documentation period, where he used live bunnies to research blood splatter from head

The challenges and opportunities of using forensic science in television are not new to the development of visual media. In fact, the origin of modern crime fiction is closely connected to the expansion of forensic science. Forensic techniques started being developed in the nineteenth century including; fingerprints, mug shots, crime photography, lie detectors, forensic profiling, and forensic pathology (Kirby, 2012). Forensic science is the utilization of science in both criminal and civil

The popular television show, CSI: Crime Scene Investigations has been on the air for 12 years, and it has brought forth the behind-the-scenes actions of criminal investigations, even if its portrayals are not always scientifically accurate. This has caused an interest in the forensic sciences that has led most people to a skewed view of how a criminal investigation actually works. The reality of a criminal investigation is that it is generally more tedious and difficult than the theory of criminal investigation would have you believe. By examining the forensic and investigative procedures of the case of Pamela Foddrill, it is apparent that the theory of criminal investigation was not representative of the procedures concerning examination

16. You have become a member of a hot shot Criminal Investigative Team in the Phoenix police department. You are asked to lead your first murder investigation, but the only clues are old blood spots of the victim found near his body and blood on the clothes of a suspect. Because the main suspect is about ready to leave the country, you are asked to at least provide preliminary evidence that the blood found on his shirt could match that found at the crime scene so an arrest warrant can be issued quickly. You amaze your colleagues by simply looking through a microscope and determining from the nuclei of the red blood cells on the suspect’s shirt that, based on this evidence, he is unlikely to be guilty. How could you be so sure of this conclusion?

The understanding of blood spatter patterns is not a widely recognized forensic practice. Bloodstain pattern interpretation (BPI) is commonly used in murder investigations, but could be utilized in everything from simple assault to mass murders if the number of trained professionals increased. BPI can reveal critical information into reinventing a given crime scene. Everything from the number of blows, stabs or shots a victim was given, the movement that was undergone by the victim and assailant after bloodshed began, position of objects at the crime scene and the type of weapon, if any, that was used can be uncovered.

While on scene I observed blood droplets in the kitchen, dining room, Living room, laundry room and a long hallway leading into the residence from the backyard. Once outside of the residence I observed further evidence of a physical confrontation, including additional blood spatter and droplets scattered throughout the yard near a burning fire where it appeared, due to multiple empty alcoholic beverage containers the subjects had been drinking.

Upon our arrival, Officer Thebeau and I searched the north parking lot. We did not locate a suspect or any witnesses in the parking lot. Officer Thebeau and I located a blood trail inside of the parking lot. We saw a blood trail at a parking spot located along the northeast portion of the parking lot. I followed the blood trail which continued in a southwest route

I have always loved suspenseful whodunit television shows, movies, and books that use forensic science to crack the cases. My favorite television show is The First 48, my favorite movie is The Silence of the Lambs, and my favorite book is The Body Farm. Therefore, I was excited to have the opportunity to take this course and learn even more about the subject of forensics. This essay gives a summary of N. E. Genge’s book, The Forensic Casebook: The Science of Crime Scene Investigation, and includes the things I disliked and liked about the book.

DNA is one of the main and important evidence to find in a crime scene. DNA evidence can be anything like blood, bone, hair and body fluids. Crime scenes that contain this type of evidence comes with an advantage that, “no two people have the same DNA” (Dutelle, 2017). Therefore, it can be matched to a specific suspect or can also eliminate someone from being involved in a crime. Documenting DNA has a slight difference on how it is collected, documented and preserved. For example, blood has to be recorded by its physical state and if it is moist or dried. The amount present has to be recorded, for example, if there is a few drops or a small pool of blood. The shape of the blood has to be recorded if it is smeared or round drops, the location also needs to be recorded. The pattern of the stains, atmosphere conditions, date and time observed. Lastly, scaled and unscaled photographs of stains need to be recorded.

For years, American TV shows have featured crime scene investigators using forensic evidence to find perpetrators. Often, however, these fictional depictions present unrealistic portrayals of the capabilities of forensic science. The reality is that not all forensic evidence is backed up by scientific research, meaning it doesn’t always give a definitive answer to who did it. A study in 2009 by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) highlighted the tools that work and those that fall short, fingerprinting being ones of those that fell short (Jones, 2012).

Blood is the most common type of biological fluid found at crime scenes. Blood consists of plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets (Houck & Siegel, 2015, Chapter 10, p. 240). Red blood cells transport oxygen and carbon dioxide throughout the body and is accomplished by hemoglobin. That being said, when a presumptive test is done to test for blood, the presumptive test will react with the hemoglobin that is present in blood. One thing that might happen is the stain

Tools like spectral camera are used to visualize blood traces on objects or surfaces that might contain blood in a homicide’s crime scene, blood stains that might be overlooked by the human eye. Perpetrator will sometimes try and cover their tracks by cleaning out the scene, but with the new technology like of the spectral cameras, new evidence always be discovered.