What Role Does Fiber Evidence Play In The Case Of Wayne Williams

In this position paper I have chosen Bloodsworth v. State ~ 76 Md.App. 23, 543 A.2d 382 case to discuss on whether or not the forensic evidence that was submitted for this case should have been admissible or not. To understand whether or not the evidence should be admissible or not we first have to know what the case is about.

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

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.

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

“In United States v Davis, Earl Davis was shot and while being treated for his gunshot wound, the Howard County Police Department (HCPD) in Maryland collected his clothing and logged it along with records of Davis’s arrest. The next year the nearby Prince George’s County Police Department (PGCPD) suspected Davis of a murder and obtained the clothes that HCPD had previously collected. PGCPD then

The Louisiana State Police Crime Laboratory was developed to provide the highest quality of professional forensic services to the State of Louisiana. The commitment of the agency includes applying sound scientific principles in all analyses, being responsive to our customers, conducting our operations in a fair and objective manner, and being a leader in advancing forensic science. The mission of the laboratory is to assist all of the local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in Louisiana in the investigation of criminal activity (Office of Public Safety Services, 2015). The agency is also committed to providing accurate and timely scientific analysis of items of physical evidence and reporting the results of those analyses to appropriate entities in the criminal justice community.

Forensic evidence has been shown to be reliable due to many factors of evidence such as DNA, blood, fingerprints, etc.; however, many cases have shown that

Tashanna N Garcia is currently enrolled in the Masters of Criminal Justice, with a concentration in Forensic Science, program at Saint Leo University. Tashanna comes from a military background where she served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. Her military training was essential to her transition into law enforcement, where she spent the last ten years working for two police departments as a patrol officer and then for the Alabama Department of Public Safety as a Traffic Homicide Investigator for the State Troopers. Tashanna hopes to return to the law enforcement field in an administrative capacity and has a passion for forensic disciplines. Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Tashanna N Garcia,

In my opinion, I do not think Wayne Williams would have gotten caught without Fiber Evidence. However, Wayne father testified stating that carpet squares used to link Wayne to the slaying of a young black man were not purchased until after the victim's body was found. Also, a defense fiber expert testifying that the fibers used to link the defendant to the slayings of two young blacks matched fibers taken from a lawyer's office and a fabric store. Wayne’s farther stated, while Wayne was home there was very little privacy at home and could not have done anything wrong there without his knowing it.

There are some key facts that are surrounding the murder case of JonBenet Ramsey, who was 7 years old at the time she was murdered. She was found murdered between the 25th and the 26th day of December 1996. The body of JonBenet had both lethal head injuries as well as blood located in the crotch area as well as in her crotch area of her underwear. The DNA sample had indicated that she was sexually assaulted by a male assailant. The testing consisted of methodology including modern advances in science. The police department profiled anyone who had any dealings with the family. The Boulder, Colorado police used new methods in trying to gather new evidence in JonBenet’s murder, but to no avail. The District Attorney’s office of Boulder does not suspect John Ramsey, nor any members of his

Early the next morning of December 8th, the lifeless body of Debbie Carter was found strangled in her small apartment. The murder of Debbie Carter flipped this small, rural, bible-belt, town on its head. People were outraged, overwhelmed, and stunned that such a thing could happen in this town to a young, beautiful girl whom everyone had known. This gruesome act put enormous pressure on local law enforcement to find the atrocious criminal. Finger prints, hair, and blood spatter was carefully collected from the scene.

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

Well those are some basic facts everyone should know about hair for this case. Now that everyone has back round information about hair I can explain why I believe a particular suspect is a match to the hair found at the crime scene. I received four different pieces of hair from each of the suspects, which I labeled A-D. Then I analyzed them all under a microscope on wet, latex and water mounts. After that, I actually got the hair from the crime scene and labeled it “Evidence” and analyzed it under a microscope on wet, latex and water mounts just like I did to the suspects hair.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss and analyze the practices conducted by law enforcement during the investigation of the murder of Ashley Smith. The following pages will discuss the crime scene investigation, the evidence collection, the investigative steps following the initial crime scene investigation, the interviews of witnesses and suspects, and other strategies performed by the acting case investigators. Constitutional challenges have surfaced regarding specific pieces of critical evidence and a section of this paper will analyze the admissibility of this evidence. Lastly this case’s law enforcement processes will be contrasted with textbook processes in an effort to determine the validity of the case’s outcome.

Recent advancements in DNA technology have improved law enforcement’s ability to use DNA to solve old cases. Original forensic applications of DNA analysis were developed using a technology called restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Although very old cases (more than 10 years) may not have had RFLP analysis done, this kind of DNA testing may have been attempted on more recent unsolved cases. However, because RFLP analysis required a relatively large quantity of DNA, testing may not have been successful. Similarly, biological evidence deemed insufficient in size for testing may not have been previously submitted for testing. Also, if a biological sample was degraded by environmental factors such as dirt or mold, RFLP analysis may have been unsuccessful at yielding a result (Turman).