Question

Imagine that you’ve been working with the CSI and Police Department in your local area as lead forensic scientist for quite a few years now. The department has recently put a young, brand new forensic scientist to work on a case with you, so they can better learn the ropes from a seasoned vet like yourself! The two of you are on your way to investigate a crime scene where a dead body was found just a few hours ago. Of course, it’s imperative that you teach the new forensic scientist the proper way to handle evidence and an investigation!
Crime Scene:
You walk up to the crime scene. A dead body is lying on the bank of the river, just a few miles outside of the city. There is a bullet wound on the victim’s chest where it appears a bullet entered the body. There are a few bullets that have been found scattered near the body of the victim. You can see that a gun is resting on the bottom of the river in the shallow end near the shore.

Do some online research regarding what should be done first at any crime scene and how evidence should be processed. Based on your research, and what you learned in the unit, answer the questions.

Discuss the first things you should teach your new partner to do as you approach the crime scene.
Explain how you and your partner should go about handling the gun found at the bottom of the river? What are some things to keep in mind?
How should you and your partner go about handling the bullets found near the body of the victim?
What information might you be able to find from the gun and bullets found at the crime scene?
As we know, it is very important to handle evidence at a crime scene properly. If clues and evidence are mishandled, it could ruin an entire investigation! Conduct some additional online research on your own. Find an article that describes a crime scene where evidence was mishandled. Share the link to the article you found and write a paragraph or two to describe how the scene was mishandled and how this impacted the case. Include advice on how the investigation could have been better managed and how the scene and evidence should have been handled.

Answer 1

1.

Answer:

As the first responder, you should:

Explanation:

Protect the crime scene.

This means that the first responder should protect the public and the crime scene and also control the changes made to the crime scene to the best of their ability.

Protection of the public means the evacuation of the public from the crime scene to a safer area.

The crime scene should be protected against evidence distortion.

The control of changes made to the crime scene maintains the original evidence present at the crime scene.

2.

Answer:

Fire arm safety measures shall be taken

The gun should not be transported by placing a pencil in the barrel or inside the trigger guard.

There shall be documentation of the location of the gun.

Photos of the location of the gun should be taken.

There after the gun shall be retrieved from the river safely.

Since the gun shall be wet at the time of collection, it shall be kept in a plastic bag.

The gun shall then be transported to the evidence receiving area.

The gun should not be held in the plastic bag for more than two hours since this could lead to the growth of microorganisms which can destroy evidence.

3

Answer:

Things to keep in mind

• Fire arm safety mechanisms should be put in place.

• Evidence packed in plastic material should not be held in the packing material for more than two hours.
• Only large quantities of dry powder should be collected and stored in plastic bags.
• Any items which may cross contaminate each other must be packaged separately to avoid evidence contamination
• The containers should be closed and secured to avoid the mixture of evidence during the transportation process.
• Each container should have:

1. The collecting person's initials
2. Date and time it was collected
3. Complete description of the evidence and where it was found
4. The investigating agency's name and their file number.

4

Answer

Bullets from near the body of the victim should:

• Be packaged separately and placed in paper envelopes or small cardboard pillboxes.
• Handled carefully to prevent alter of evidence such as fingerprints.
• The bullets have to be submitted to the crime lab for identification of any evidence present on them that could help in investigation.
• Be kept safe and separate from the gun.
• The container should be labeled to warn that the contents are precautions should be taken to prevent anyone from being injured.

5

Answer:

The gun and bullet might help us out in finding out:

1. The fingerprints of the user: The gun can be checked to retrieve the fingerprints of its handler if any.
2. The bullet cartilages shall reveal the owner of the bullets, this shall lead to the identification of a suspect.
3. Blood, hair that might be found on the gun and bullets might help in DNA analysis. This shall in turn lead us to a suspect.
4. The guns registration number shall lead us to the owner of the gun used thereby the suspect in the crime.

6

Answer:

The officer who arrested Oscar Pistorius on the night Reeva Steenkamp was killed last year testified Friday that police at the crime scene mishandled evidence, including a ballistics expert who handled the murder weapon without gloves.

This in turn led to confusion in evidence of the case.

The police should have instead used gloves in handling the pistol at the crime scene.

This would have prevented the intoxication of evidence.