TRAUMA TYPES
AND POSSIBLE CAUSE OF DEATH
1.Gunshot
wounds
a. Entrance Small and Circular
b. Exit is damaging and large- bullet flattened
c. Entrance wounds small and roundish, radiating cracks
d. Beveling of the edges on side of direction of travel
e. Beveling goes in opposite direction on exit wounds
f. keyhole damage showing direction of bullet from oblique angle
2. CAT Scan
Trauma
Sharp trauma--Knives and axes
Both cause of death and disposal--dismemberment
Lizzie Borden--Andrew and Abby Borden-father
and stepmother
August 1892 Fall Rivers Massachusetts
James E. Starrs Profewssor of Forensic
Science at George Washington University
COMPOSITION: Glass is a hard brittle amorphous material
1.silicon oxides + metal oxides
2.sand is melted
3.soda (Na2CO3) is added to lower melting point
4. lime is added (CaO) so does not dissolve in water
Common glass metal oxides
1.sodium, calcium, magnesium and aluminum.
auto headlight and pyrex
- boron oxides
2.borosilicates
Glass must be identified by its physical properties--chemical signatures and composition are of little value.
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES DESCRIBE A SUBSTANCE WITHOUT REFERENCE
TO ANY OTHER SUBSTANCE - WEIGHT,VOLUME, COLOR, MELTING POINT ETC.
1.Associate one piece or fragment of glass with
another and eliminate or minimize its possible association with all other
possible pieces of glass.
2.Must be able to go beyond class characteristics
to
individual characteristics.
METRIC SYSTEM
grams, kilograms
DENSITY
Mass = amount of matter
Weight = m X g
m = mass
g = acceleration force of gravity
1.Mass is the same every where
2.Weight varies by the distance from the center of the earth
3.Mass determined by comparison to known standards - balances
VOLUME
1.Metric system can be measured by lengths
1 liter is defined by the volume of 10 centimeters
on a side
10x10x10=1000cc
cc=cubic centimeter
milliliter = ml 1/1000 of a liter
1,000 cc = 1 liter or 1,000 milliliters
2.Volume IS sensitive to temperature-- expands and contracts
EXAMPLE-
One gram of water at a room temperature of 20 degrees
centigrade has a volume of 1.002 milliliters (ml) and density of 0.998
g/ml
DENSITY OF GLASS
1. FORMULA METHOD
1.Measure vol. in graduated cylinder
2.Determine mass on a scale
3.Obtain density
DENSITY = MASS/VOLUME
2. FLOATATION METHOD
Mixtures of bromoform and bromobenzene until glass
floats.
Same density to within 0.001 g/ml.
REFRACTIVE INDEX
1.Light is traveling at about 300,000,000 meters/second
in air
2.glass or water it is slowed down
3.results in bending prism
4.prism can separate the light into its component
colors
5.Each color different wave length and different
speed
REFRACTIVE INDEX
REFRACTIVE INDEX =VELOCITY OF LIGHT IN VACUUM
VELOCITY OF LIGHT IN MEDIUM
IMMERSION METHOD
MICROSCOPE WITH HOT STAGE
1.Heat silicone oil at rate of 0.2 degree centigrade
2.Reveals different refractive indices can see the
line where the light bends -
BECKE LINE- See 2. above
FBI have been collecting data
variation in density and variation in refractive index to determine
the probability of two pieces of glass being the same by chance alone.
density ranges from 2.47-2.55 and measured to within +/- 0.002
refractive index varies 1.515 - 1.535
can be measured to within +/- 0.001
then 2.55-2.47/0.002 X 1.535 - 1.515/0.001 = 800
800 to one chance.
not independent of each other-- actual odds closer to 100 or 200
to 1
possibility of 2 pieces that fit together not being associated is
very remote
physical matching of edges is INDIVIDUALIZED TO ONE SOURCE.
oxidized - proves low beam hot when broken so at night
PHYSICAL MATCHING DEMONSTRATES ABSOLUTE INDIVIDUALIZATION
GLASS FRACTURES
First bends in the direction of the force
splintering and cracking and breaking.
Radial cracks -
Concentric cracks.
3 Rs - RADIAL - RIGHT ANGLES - REVERSE
PROJECTILES AND BULLETS
If does not penetrate get the ejection of a small
cone of the glass
Bullets edge will be wedged
hole wider in the direction of travel
size of the bullet holes
laminated glass and plastic sheet
size of bullet and distances
COLLECTION OF EVIDENCE
Sample every
10 to 100 meters
Check clothing,
the shoes, pant cuffs,floor of car, tire treads, and wheel wells
Place into plastic
vials or plastic bags.
1. VISUAL APPEARANCE INCLUDING
COLOR
Munsell Color
Book
oven dry samples
1100 distinguishable
colors.
soil categories:
along White River
- Allegheny, Apison, Cherokee, Leesburg
SOIL
1. VISUAL APPEARANCE INCLUDING
COLOR
2. PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION
3. MINERALOGICAL IDENTIFICATION
4. INCLUSIONS
5. PARTICLE-DENSITY DISTRIBUTION
6. CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
7. NATURE OF THE CLAYS
COLLECTION OF EVIDENCE
sample every
10 to 100 meters
clothing, the
shoes, pant cuffs,
floor of car,
tire treads, and
wheel wells
plastic vials
or plastic bags.
1. VISUAL APPEARANCE INCLUDING
COLOR
Munsell Color
Book
oven dry samples
1100 distinguishable
colors.
soil categories:
along White River
- Allegheny Apison, Cherokee, Leesburg
2. PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION
sorting screen
stack.
particles between
two screens are bigger than the lower one and smaller than the upper one
standard volume
and weight
3. MINERALOGICAL IDENTIFICATION
1.STANDARD COMPOUND
MICROSCOPE
2.TRANSMITTED
WHITE LIGHT
3.ILLUMINATOR
4.CONDENSER
5.SUBSTAGE CONDENSER
6.STAGE
7.OBJECTIVE LENSES
8.EYEPIECE LENSES---virtual
image
POLARIZING MICROSCOPE
1.PRINCIPAL OF
POLARIZED LIGHT ---WAVES - LINED UP PASS THROUGH MINERAL AND
CHANGES ANGLE OF DIFFERENT COLORS
2.CHANGE THE
ANGLE OF ANALYZER
3.MEASURE ANGLE
BETWEEN POLARIZER AND ANALYZER
4.CIRCULAR, GRADUATED
CIRCULAR STAGE
5.EACH MINERAL
HAS A STANDARD ANGLE OF EXTINCTION OF STANDARD COLOR
schist into its basic minerals
including free mica.
4. INCLUSIONS
foreign particles
STEREOSCOPIC MICROSCOPE
5. PARTICLE-DENSITY DISTRIBUTION
density gradient
tube technique
different proportions
of tetrabromoethane density 2.96g/ml and ethanol density 0.789g/ml
layers of 6 to
8 different densities
Not definitive
and must do supplemental tests.
6. CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
trace elements
7. NATURE OF THE CLAYS
Dozen clay types:
most common groups kaolinite and montmorillonite
Sheet like crystals
and ions of various metals can replace the aluminum
X-ray diffraction widely
used straight forward and well-established
Frye principle.
atoms organized
in planes
X-rays penetrate the
substance
some bounced off of
each plane
waves are retarded
in specific ways
dark and light bands
diffraction pattern
"finger print"
must also take
CONTROL SAMPLES FROM VICTIM
HEAD HAIR AT LEAST 25
BODY HAIR (BEARD IF MALE)
AXIAL HAIR
PUBIC HAIR
Hair Sampling Method
when sampling
either pull hair or cut off close to skin on both living and dead.
hairs must be
kept separate, handle as little as possible never tape it down to a paper
or piece of card board
clothing or other
items need to be packaged separately and sealed with tape and sent to the
crime lab
RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT, COMB PUBIC HAIRS OF VICTIM AND SUSPECT BEFORE COLLECTING CONTROL SPECIMENS SO NO CHANCE OF MIXING THE TWO IN THE CONTROLS
WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF HAIR ANALYSIS?
Tie suspect to victim, crime scene,
other places and vehicles.
HAIR MORPHOLOGY
Cortex
Cuticle
Medulla
Follicle
Root
Scanning Electron
Microscope--SEM
Scale pattern of cortex determines species by the scale pattern
Medullation - continuous
Interrupted fragmented
most human head hair not medullated and when so is fragmented,
exception is Mongoloids including Native americans
Continuous medulla
Medullary index = Diameter medulla/diameter Shaft
Human 1/3 animals 1/2 or Greater
Light Microscope - mounted in media with same refractive index as hair on glass slide.
RACE--
African american -Heavy pigment distributed unevenly, tightly
curled, marked variations in diameter
cross section flat to oval
Mongoloid -dense pigment distributed evenly, cross section round,
hair shaft coarse and straight
little variation diameter, heavy continuous medulla
European -fine to coarse pigment, evenly distributed, cross
sections oval/round, straight to wavy
NON BIOLOGICAL TRAITS
Dyed - see pigments also natural color at root /bleached &
natural color at root
Body locations:
Head hair
Less diameter variation
Constant pigment distribution
Beard
Coarse curved, often triangular cross section
Other face hairs
Short, stubby, wide medullas,taper rapidly to fine point
Limb hair
Taper, granular medulla,
Arc shaped
Axillary
Long, uneven pigment
Distribution, vary in diameter,
Often appear bleached,
Fine pointed tips
Pubic hairs
Similar to axilla, but coarser,
Do not appear bleached,
more wiry,
More constrictions and twists,
Often continuous broad medullas
COMPARISON MICROSCOPE
2 microscopes with joined at the body tube enables one to see two items
at the same time in the same field. can do matches. enables one to
see if the features line up.
CANNOT INDUVIDUALIZE FROM HAIR----CLASS TRAIT
Royal canadian mounted police study of head hair shows probability
of one hair not belonging to its original source is 4500 to 1.
Pubic hairs 800 to 1.
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