Wayne Williams: Fiber And Hair Evidence

African American women's health, hair politics, and physical activities. Studies show that African American women tend to pay more attention to their hair instead of their health issues. Researches came up with a theoretical argument to figure out why hair matter for some women. They discover that hair presents a barrier to exercise in that the time and economic restrictions involved in maintaining a hairstyle post exercise for physical activity as prohibitive. This study provides some perception about the relationship between hair and health for African American women and suggests that extra attention is justified to address views about beauty ideals and hairstyles as a barrier to exercise (Versey, 2014, p. 2015)

There has been a notable amount of conversation on the internet on the rebirth of the natural hair movement. Cherise Luter (2014) states that despite afros and the natural hair movement not being a new concept (i.e. the Black Power Movement), it has gone under what she calls a “refreshing change”. Furthermore, what used to be “I’m black and I’m proud”, has been replaced with “I’m me and I’m proud” (Luter 2016). So, what is the natural hair movement? It is defined as a movement where black women decide to not conform to the social norms of chemically altering their hair and wearing it in its natural, kinky, or curled state (Joignot 2015). The movement could also be considered as an outlet for black women to display their racial and cultural pride or to articulate their “political position (Brown 2014:297). However, simply the terminology “movement” is something that should be shocking to many. There is a great amount of historical context behind the continuous influence Eurocentric beauty ideals have had on black women for centuries. According to Nadia Brown (2014), Black natural hair throughout history has proven to be recognized as “either unintended or intended personal and political statements” (298). the beauty standard in Western society which praises European hair textures, has influenced many black women to be critical of other black women who choose to chemically straighten their hair, accusing them of being subservient to the dominant and pervasive racist

The problem with fiber evidence is that fibers are not unique. They are not like fingerprints. They are not considered solid evidence, because there are a lot of what ifs? The fibers linked this case in the first place, but who’s to say they make Williams the murderer. Personally, I think there is too much play room with fibers. Apparently the matching fibers were taken only from victims. Only one individual red cotton fiber was found at the Williams home. Could this be found in somewhere else, also? I think so. Not one fiber from any victim was found anywhere near the carpet in the Williams' house. After studying this case, I do think that Wayne Williams committed the murders, but I do not think that the fiber evidence is reliable. Unfortunately, the fibers could be found elsewhere so how does that pin point Williams as the

A second item was found, a sock as stated from the article (O.J Simpson civil trial, 10/18/96), they found DNA genetically marking Simpson and ex-wife’s. But as defense spoke, they were not convinced for the fact that t could have been framed, just like the bronco with a blood stain. The bronco was vied by numerous unauthorized people and could have stained the carpet. Studies say, when the vehicle was first seen, there was no blood stains until after. Same goes for the sock, as mentioned (William C. Thompson, professor, Department of Criminology, law &society, university of California, Irvine, California) received Simpsons reference tube. Oddly given information from the tube, there had seem to had been missing a percentage of the blood, tube containing between 7.9 and 8.1 ml, when the LAPD laboratory received, it had been dawned up to eight milliliters (ml), containing 6.1ml inside the tube.

However, back in the 1980s, detailed studies were done to try to accomplish this task. One specific comprehensive study was done in 1984 by Peterson et al. In this study, the analysts found that physical evidence was discovered in only about twenty to thirty percent of serious crimes (Peterson, 2013). When each of the crimes were studied separately, however, they found that only crimes such as homicide, drug, or rape resulted in a large chance of physical evidence being found at the crime (Peterson, 2013). Cases such as attempted murder, burglaries, and robberies yielded lower chances of the retrieval of physical evidence from the crime (Peterson, 2013). When considering all of these possible crimes, the most commonly collected evidence were controlled substances, and then in lesser amounts, there was other physical evidence such as blood, hair, firearms, and fingerprints (Peterson, 2013).

At the scene of the crime a hair was found near Anna Garcia. After viewing and testing the hair, we concluded that the hair belonged to Erica. The unknown hair had the exact same thickness and color of Erica’s hair. The hair at the crime scene had a similar cuticle to Erica’s. Both Erica’s hair and the one at the crime scene had the same cortex as well. We believe that Erica’s hair was brought to the crime scene on a piece of clothing by Alex Garcia(Anna’s ex-husband). When Alex came to murder Anna a hair of Erica’s must have fallen off when Alex was doing his deed.

The city of Atlanta had experienced over a two year period from 1979-1981 of egregious acts of murders committed on more than twenty African American adolescent males. However, Wayne Williams, a native of Atlanta, was the center of law enforcement investigation, which implicated his involvement in at least two of the children murders around that time. Nonetheless, law enforcement linked Wayne Williams to those murders because of detailed evidence found on the victims, which was later discovered that evidence was from Williams apartment (Curriden, 1992). Furthermore, the evidence which was found was a unique fiber from the carpet of Williams apartment and the number of people having this fiber was very small in number (Curriden, 1992)). The fiber evidence was the main part of the case to associate Williams with

The expert testimony in the Wayne Williams case was vital in explaining the evidence to the jury (Imwinkelried, 1983). It is reasonable to concede that jurors have no prior knowledge of forensic science. Additionally, jurors will most likely have no prior knowledge of the different variations, color spectrums, moreover the uniqueness of various items presented as evidence in this case. As a prosecutor, it would important to include the testimony of fiber experts with extensive knowledge of the article presented. This expert would be able to articulate to the jury the unique qualities as well as characteristics of the fibers.

There was evidence on the body of Colette MacDonald. She was holding a brown hair in her hand, and it wasn’t Dr. MacDonald’s or of their two little girls. It was reported that it was too small to be given to the government. She also had skin under her fingernails, which was lost and not reported. Colette also had some black wool in her mouth and on her shoulder. These fibers were misrepresented in court. It was told to the jury as blue fibers from his pajamas, later used to convict him. This piece of fiber was relevant because Helena Stoeckly, at the time, had a closet full of black clothes. There was a blue fiber found in her left hand, and it could not be traced to any thing in the house. The same kind of blue fiber was found where Dr. MacDonald reported he was knocked unconscious.

Durning the case, much of the DNA evidence found on scene traced back to O.J Simpson. On scene there was a glove found that matched the glove found in O.J Simpsons yard. Robitaille states that the glove was huge evidence, “One dark, cashmere-lined Aris Light leather glove, size extra large, was found at the murder scene,

Dr. Voss testified in the Anthony case that the odor on the carpet was in fact the odor of human decomposition and noted his 20 years experience as credentials. The truth is Casey

Through mistakes made within the investigative process of the case, the outcome of the case was affected. On the collection of evidence many pieces were contaminated causing flaws in this evidence. When packaging blood swabs the cotton swatches used were packed in plastic bags and then left in a hot truck. This blood was also contaminated as the technician who handled it still had the blood voluntarily given by Simpson on his gloves (Jones, 2009). Degradation of missed blood, which was left for three weeks after the initial run through, may have turned unusable by the time investigators examined it. It was weeks after finding the socks at O.J. Simpson’s house that the police noted the blood on them. Destruction of evidence may have been caused through the bodies not being taken to be autopsied till 10 hours after they were found. During evidence collection the majority was compiled by a Junior Detective, who was taped dropping blood swabs as well as wiping tweezers with dirty hands, this made the evidence highly contaminated (Deutsch, 1995). To conceal the body of Nicole Simpson a police officer place a blanket over the body, this was done to

d) The hair strand that matched Leanne Holland was unfound by the officer collecting evidence at the scene. The piece of hair that was on the sponge, was found when evidence was being examined in the lab and it had been on the floor.

We analyzed 3 pieces of evidence for hair. We collected hair from the Victim, the Victim’s Car, and the Cabin. The Victim

Trichology is the study of hair. Interestingly, this study dates back to mid-1800s. However, hair analysis in forensic science began in 1930. During which time, a forensic scientist by the name of Edmond Locard introduced the Locard Exchange Principal. This principal hinges on the fact that any time there is contact between two surfaces an exchange of material will take place. (Oien, 2009) In this paper, I will prove how Forensic Hair Analysis and Forensic Hair comparison and studies if properly performed and correctly interpreted hair analysis meets all the scientific method standards.