Processing the Crime Scene

Summary

This script offers an in-depth guide to processing a homicide crime scene, emphasizing the importance of thorough evidence collection and crime scene reconstruction. It outlines various search methods, including lane, grid, zone, and spiral searches, and stresses the need for careful consideration before evidence collection to avoid disrupting potential reconstruction scenarios. The script also highlights the significance of maintaining evidence integrity and the consequences of overlooked evidence, as illustrated by a real-world example of a missed gun at a shooting scene.

Takeaways

• 🔍 Start the crime scene investigation by documenting the exterior and general vicinity before moving inside to process the scene.
• 📸 Photograph and measure any points of entry, such as windows or doors, and use these as starting points for indoor processing.
• 👥 Prioritize the collection of evidence with the team, and consider crime scene reconstruction before collecting to avoid disrupting the scene.
• 🔬 Use tent numbers to mark and identify pieces of evidence before collection, which is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the scene.
• 🔎 Different search methods like lane, grid, zone, and spiral searches are used depending on the size and nature of the area to be searched.
• 🏠 For indoor scenes, zone search is preferred for its thoroughness, while spiral search is less common indoors.
• 💡 Use a flashlight at an oblique angle to highlight evidence, especially in small, detailed areas, ensuring a comprehensive search.
• 🚫 Remember to turn on lights to aid in the search, as darkness can obscure evidence.
• 🔑 Collect, preserve, inventory, package, transport, and submit evidence carefully to maintain its integrity and prevent contamination.
• 👀 Listen to the evidence; it can provide insights and theories about the crime that may not be immediately apparent.
• 🔮 Crime scene reconstruction uses scientific methods and deductive reasoning to understand the sequence of events, which can be vital for proving or disproving witness and suspect statements.

Q & A

What is the initial step in processing a homicide scene?

The initial step in processing a homicide scene is to start outside the residence, document any signs of evidence outside, photograph it, and add it to the sketch along with measurements of the general vicinity.

Why is it important to document the outside of a crime scene before entering?

Documenting the outside of a crime scene is crucial as it can provide valuable evidence, such as points of entry, escape routes, or any signs that could link to the crime, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the crime scene.

What is a common method used to mark and identify evidence at a crime scene?

A common method used to mark and identify evidence at a crime scene is by placing tent numbers around each piece of evidence before collecting anything.

Why is crime scene reconstruction considered before collecting evidence?

Crime scene reconstruction is considered before collecting evidence to ensure that the collection process does not disrupt the scene in a way that could hinder the understanding of the events that occurred, such as bullet trajectory or blood stain patterns.

What are the four types of crime scene searches mentioned in the script?

The four types of crime scene searches mentioned are the lane or strip search, the grid search, the zone search, and the spiral search.

Why is the zone search preferred for indoor crime scenes?

The zone search is preferred for indoor crime scenes because it involves dividing the area into smaller zones and searching each one thoroughly, which helps in being meticulous and ensuring no area is missed.

How does the grid search differ from the lane or strip search?

The grid search differs from the lane or strip search in that it involves changing direction and double backing, ensuring the area is covered twice for a more thorough search.

What is the purpose of using a flashlight during the zone search?

Using a flashlight during the zone search helps to focus attention on smaller areas at a time and use an oblique angle to create shadows that can reveal evidence that might blend in with the surroundings.

Why is it crucial to consider the integrity of evidence during its collection and handling?

Maintaining the integrity of evidence is crucial to ensure that it remains uncontaminated and effective for the investigation, as compromised evidence could be deemed inadmissible in court.

What is an example of a situation where thorough searching is critical, as illustrated in the script?

An example where thorough searching is critical is the situation where a gun was missed at a shooting scene near Georgia State University, highlighting the importance of careful and comprehensive searches to avoid missing crucial evidence.

Outlines

00:00

🔍 Crime Scene Investigation: Initial Steps and Evidence Collection

This paragraph outlines the initial steps in processing a homicide scene. It emphasizes starting with an examination of the exterior for any evidence, then moving to a point of entry or a chosen entryway to begin interior processing. The importance of documenting the scene through photography, measurements, and sketches is highlighted. The paragraph also stresses the need for crime scene reconstruction before evidence collection, suggesting a walk-through to understand the scene's narrative. The use of tent numbers for marking evidence before collection is mentioned, along with the need for a collaborative approach among investigators to theorize and interpret the evidence.

05:02

🔎 Crime Scene Search Methods: Strategies for Evidence Discovery

The second paragraph delves into various search methods used in crime scene investigation, including the lane or strip search, grid search, zone search, and spiral search. It explains the circumstances in which each method is most effective, such as the zone search being the preferred method for indoor scenes. The paragraph also discusses considerations for choosing a search strategy, such as the size of the area and whether the scene is indoors or outdoors. It highlights the importance of thoroughness in evidence search, ensuring that all potential evidence is accounted for.

10:03

🔦 Zone Search Technique and Its Application in Indoor Crime Scenes

This paragraph focuses on the preferred zone search technique for indoor crime scenes, detailing how to divide the area into smaller zones for thorough examination. It describes the use of a flashlight at an oblique angle to reveal evidence that might blend into the surroundings. The importance of turning on lights to facilitate the search and the methodical approach of searching each zone carefully before moving on to the next is emphasized. The paragraph also touches on the use of the zone search in vehicles, dividing them into distinct areas for systematic searching.

15:04

🌀 Spiral Search Method and Its Outdoor Crime Scene Application

The fourth paragraph introduces the spiral search method, which can be used to start from the center of a scene and move outward or from the outside in. It discusses the suitability of this method for outdoor scenes, such as bombing incidents, where the search begins at the point of explosion and expands in a spiral pattern. The paragraph advises caution to avoid walking over potential evidence and maintaining a tight search pattern to ensure no gaps are left. It also mentions the use of flags to mark evidence found during the spiral search for easy collection and documentation.

20:06

🚓 The Importance of Thorough Evidence Collection and Crime Scene Reconstruction

The final paragraph discusses the critical nature of detailed evidence collection and the consequences of missing crucial evidence, as illustrated by a real-life example where a gun was found near a shooting scene after the initial investigation had concluded. It underscores the necessity of being meticulous and considering odd places for evidence. The paragraph also explains crime scene reconstruction, which involves using scientific methods and deductive reasoning to understand the sequence of events in a crime. It highlights the role of reconstruction in corroborating or refuting witness and suspect statements and mentions blood stain pattern analysis and firearms examination as examples of reconstruction techniques.

Keywords

💡Homicide Scene

A homicide scene refers to the location where a murder has occurred. It is the central focus for forensic investigation to collect evidence and understand the sequence of events. In the video, the diagram of a residence with a body indicates a homicide scene, which is where the investigation process begins, highlighting its importance in the theme of crime scene processing.

💡Evidence Collection

Evidence collection is the systematic gathering of physical evidence from a crime scene. It is crucial for reconstructing the events and potentially solving the crime. The script emphasizes the importance of documenting and collecting evidence both outside and inside the scene, such as photographing a potential point of entry like a window, and the meticulous process of tagging and documenting each piece of evidence with tent numbers.

💡Crime Scene Reconstruction

Crime scene reconstruction is the process of using scientific methods and physical evidence to deduce the sequence of events of a crime. It is vital for understanding what transpired and can corroborate or refute witness statements. The script mentions the need to consider reconstruction before collecting certain evidence, such as a bullet's trajectory through an object, to avoid disrupting the scene's integrity.

💡Search Methods

Search methods are the strategies used to scour a crime scene for evidence. The script outlines four types: lane or strip search, grid search, zone search, and spiral search. Each method is suited to different scenarios and environments, and the choice of method can affect the thoroughness and effectiveness of the search, as illustrated by the preference for zone search indoors and spiral search for outdoor scenes like bombing incidents.

💡Zone Search

A zone search involves dividing the crime scene into smaller areas or zones and meticulously searching each one. It is the preferred method for indoor scenes due to its thoroughness. The script describes using a flashlight at an oblique angle within each zone to reveal evidence that might blend into the surroundings, such as blood stains or small items.

💡Spiral Search

A spiral search is a method where investigators start at the center of the scene or from the outside and work their way outward in a spiral pattern. It is less common indoors but can be useful for outdoor scenes, particularly for events like explosions where the point of impact is the starting point. The script mentions the importance of careful stepping to avoid trampling evidence.

💡Preservation of Evidence

Preservation of evidence is critical to maintaining the integrity and admissibility of evidence in court. It involves proper handling, packaging, and transport to prevent contamination or degradation. The script stresses the importance of this process, noting that improper handling could jeopardize an investigation, as seen in the example of a gun found in the street after the initial investigation had concluded.

💡Blood Stain Pattern Analysis

Blood stain pattern analysis is a specialized forensic technique used to interpret the behavior of blood droplets at a crime scene. It can provide insights into the location of victims and perpetrators, the number of blows struck, and other violent actions. The script mentions this as an example of how evidence can be used for crime scene reconstruction, emphasizing its role in understanding the dynamics of a crime.

💡Firearms Analysis

Firearms analysis involves the examination of evidence related to guns and their use in a crime. This can include determining bullet trajectory, shooting distance, and the presence of gunshot residue. The script points out that such analysis is crucial for understanding the mechanics of a shooting incident and can be integral to the reconstruction of events.

💡Contamination

Contamination refers to the unintentional introduction of foreign substances or matter into a crime scene or evidence, which can compromise its integrity. The script warns against contamination during the collection and handling of evidence, emphasizing the need for careful and sterile techniques to ensure that the evidence remains reliable for legal proceedings.

Highlights

Documenting the outside of a crime scene for evidence before processing the interior.

The importance of photographing and measuring the crime scene's entry points.

Starting the interior processing from the front door and moving towards the body.

Prioritizing the collection of evidence based on its importance and potential for reconstruction.

Considering crime scene reconstruction before collecting evidence to avoid disrupting the scene.

Using tent numbers to mark and organize evidence for collection.

The necessity of photographing and sketching evidence before collection.

The role of evidence in telling a story and the investigator's role in listening to it.

Different crime scene search methods: lane, grid, zone, and spiral searches.

Choosing the right search strategy based on the size and nature of the crime scene.

The zone search method's effectiveness for indoor crime scenes.

The use of a flashlight for focused and thorough searching of evidence.

The importance of turning on lights to aid in the search for evidence.

The spiral search method's application in outdoor scenes, such as bombing incidents.

Ensuring thoroughness in crime scene searches by considering environmental factors.

The process of collecting, preserving, packaging, transporting, and submitting evidence.

The critical role of maintaining the integrity of evidence during its handling.

The case study of a missed gun at a shooting scene near Georgia State University.

The necessity of careful and repeated searching to avoid missing crucial evidence.

The concept of crime scene reconstruction and its importance in understanding the sequence of events.

Techniques such as blood stain pattern analysis and firearm trajectory in reconstruction.

Transcripts

and we're talking about now processing

the scene and where to begin here we

have this diagram of a residence with

these rooms in it it's a homicide scene

there's the body so what we would do is

normally we would start outside document

the outside if there's any signs of uh

evidence outside we would collect that

evidence uh photograph it add it to our

sketch take the measurements and another

thing other than just the four sides is

the general vicinity itself so this

number five is showing the area so that

would be where we could start outside

then if you have a point of entry you

might go ahead and photograph let's say

that it was the window back here of the

dining room well then you could perhaps

photograph that window and then start

your processing inside inside that

window if you're pretty sure about the

point of entry otherwise you're probably

just going to choose one of the entry

ways so here's a front door here's a

back door to begin your process or your

photographing and processing of the

scene so uh let's say we start here at

the front

door then we could process this this

area the hallway leading up to the

body once we

have process this area and we process

the area of the body then we can move on

to other areas that are less important

so the living room the dining room the

family room and then perhaps upstairs at

a homicide scene you're going to want to

check out the entire

house um

and so that's a that's kind of a a way

to get started further in processing the

crime

scene uh the main points we're going to

prioritize the collection of evidence so

the investigator in charge and the team

members will determine the order in

which evidence is collected and a very

important thing to keep in mind here I

touched on a moment ago is we need to

consider crime scene reconstruction

before we collect evidence so uh what

will often happen is you'll do your walk

through you'll go back in you'll do your

search we'll talk about the search in a

moment and we'll search out

evidence we will then

be placing these tent

numbers we see these all the time on TV

and in the movies we actually do use

these that's accurate and we'll put our

little numbers down around everything

before we start collecting anything

there's other steps we have to

photograph all of our evidence we have

to measure it and add it to our sketch

uh some of it we may have to do samples

of some sort and then we'll be

collecting evidence well before we

collect evidence we need to consider

crime scene

reconstruction as an example let's say

that we have uh a some gun shots were

fired in the in the scene and there is a

bullet hole

in uh an object the bullet passes

through and then goes into a wall well

what we're going to want to do is try

out bullet trajectory analysis showing

the path of the bullet well if this

object that the bullet passed through is

something we're going to collect as

evidence maybe it's a small figurine a

wood carving something like that we

would not want to collect the evidence

and then go gee should we do any

reconstruction because now we have moved

the item that had the bullet hole in it

so before we collect evidence we should

all stop people should get together if

there's more than one of you there and

say now what do we think about this so

far uh what kind of theories do we have

what does the evidence say to us I like

to to say that the evidence is talking

to us it's actually probably screaming

at us it's it's like my grandkids

they're say the evidence is going on

look at me look at me look at me that's

what my grandkids do you know when

they're doing something they want me to

look at them uh and they're showing off

well the evidence is doing the same

thing it's saying look at me but a lot

of times what csis will end up doing is

going okay let's see I've got to uh find

the evidence okay I found it all I got

to photograph it uh now I've got to put

it on my sketch okay I got that I got

those did I get all the measurements

okay now what bags do I put these things

in do I use plastic or paper okay I and

then they collect it all and they're

just focused on the tasks alone and they

just completely missed the opportunity

to listen to the evidence to let the

evidence tell it tell them what happened

so before collecting evidence you stop

you look at it you talk it over and if

there is any evidence that can help you

to do a reconstruction like the bullet

trajectory or blood stain evidence some

items will have blood stain patterns on

them if you collect them and move them

now you have a problem with the with the

Reconstruction so those things need to

stay so we need to consider that as we

prioritize the collection of

evidence now the next thing we want to

talk about is um crime scene search

methods so we need to when we're doing

this process in the scene we need to

find evidence a lot of evidence is in

plain view it's hard to miss uh if we

don't pay attention we'll just trip

right over it it's right there there's

the body there's the the gun uh there is

whatever else but often evidence is hard

to find sometimes it's very small hard

to see sometimes it's invisible such as

DNA and body fluids uh so we have to

search out for our evidence and there

are several different ways to do that so

the investigator in charge is going to

consider the different search strategies

for crime scenes depending upon the

local and the number of officials

available to Aid in searching

so there are four types of

searches and those four types are the

lane or strip search the grid search The

Zone CH search and the spiral search now

there are some things to consider when

choosing a strategy a search strategy or

method uh the size of the area is one

are we indoors or we Outdoors

that sort of thing so let's look let's

just jump into it and look at these

different strategies so the first one is

the lane or strip

search so here's a little

diagram uh couple of them and basically

with a lane or strip search you just

walk along and if you have multiple

Searchers you can actually walk parallel

to each other and cover a large area so

let's say you're Outdoors you have a

large area you can get several Searchers

side by side and just walk through the

area searching as you go now a couple

things to keep in mind if you're going

to do this Outdoors you want to make

sure if you have more than one person

and you're doing like this that they're

not too far

apart uh they need to be close enough to

be able to

see uh a little bit of overlapping area

so that if one person might miss

something right here in between the

other one will pick it up uh and a lot

of that depends on the terrain also as

you're going along in a row let's say

there's four people in a row you're

using police Cadets or something like

that uh if somebody finds something the

whole Road the whole line stops

everybody stops they stay where they are

and they don't move any further you want

everybody to stay together that way you

ensure that you're you're going to cover

the whole area if the line starts go

becoming uneven it can actually go you

know stop being straight and you'll have

gaps so everybody stops all right you

can also use this kind of a search

method indoors so here we have uh a

lane thing that you could do indoors all

by yourself you could even do this

indoors with more than one person

probably not but that that would be the

lane or strip

search where I see it used most is

outdoors all right so that's that's one

way of searching a second way is to use

the grid search now grid search is a bit

like a lane search but you change

direction and double back you go across

and back and across and back and then

you do it the other direction

like so that way you're covering every

area

twice and that helps you to be a little

more thorough takes twice as long but it

gives you a much more thorough search of

the area and then the third search

technique is the one I prefer especially

indoors and that is the zone surch now

with a Zone surch basically all you do

is you divide the area to be searched

into smaller areas or

zones and then each one of these zones

is searched one at a time very

thoroughly if this was a room here I

would probably make the Zone even

smaller than what you see on the screen

I take a small area and then I search it

very

carefully I use my

flashlight by the way on television the

way they use a flashlight is they put

the flashlight alongside their head and

they walk around in the dark looking for

evidence that's what they do on TV

that's why I don't watch those CSI

programs because I got tired to

screening at my television turn on the

lights because they never turned the

lights on it was always dark in their

crime scenes well you know what once you

have done your walk through and you've

recorded the which lights are on and

which are off turn on the lights it's

going to be a lot easier to find

evidence and to process your scene when

you have light but still even if there's

a lot of light I'm going to use my

flashlight because what I'll do is use

my light at a low oblique angle on the

floors on

furniture often there will be things

that blend in with the floor I'll have

my little flashlight and you can get

really power ful ones that's what you

want and use an oblique angle and then

see your evidence more clearly also what

that flashlight allows you to do is

focus your attention into a smaller area

if you just walk in and kind of look

around I don't see anything here you'll

never find anything except the big stuff

that you're going to trip over anyway

finding small items you need to be very

focused and look at small areas at a

time by using a flashlight I can paint

the whole area slowly looking carefully

making sure I don't miss any area and in

those small areas use my light at an

oblique angle causing Shadows I'll look

um now this is by the way after we've

taken our overview photographs so now we

can move things this is the search part

uh I've already done that so now I can

move things in my search so I can look

underneath Furniture I can lift cushions

and look under cushions look behind

pillows I can look in lampshades I can

look at the ceiling the walls don't

forget to look at the ceiling um in

drawers whatever I need to do and I'm

very thorough so once I have finished uh

covering one of these zones then I can

move to the next Zone and what is

helpful is if there is more than one of

you there

is somebody else follows you and does

your Zone your first Zone once you're

done and let them see if they find

anything now as you find things again

you're probably going to use your

markers so that is the Zone search and

um that's the that's the search for

indoors that I probably used 99% of the

time zone search is also very helpful in

something like uh a vehicle so you can

just say that the driver's uh seat front

seat area driver's side or left side if

you're if it's not U you right-and drive

car uh the driver's side uh front seat

area would be Zone one the back seat

area on the driver's side or left side

would be zone two zone three passenger

side front zone four back seat and then

zone five the trunk and zone six the

engine compartment so very simple

setting up those zones searching them

one at a time if instead what you did

was just lean in and look at the whole

front area you'd probably miss things so

we take our time and we do it by

zones

then the fourth uh way of searching is

the spiral search so with a spiral

search uh you can do it one of two ways

you can start in the middle of your

scene and work your way

outward or you could actually start

outside the scene and work your way

inward though that seems to be much more

difficult to kind of keep track of where

you are now where would you use this

well I definitely would not use this

indoors um unless we're talking about an

indoor stadium and it's the playing

field something like that maybe that

might be a time to do the spiral search

but typically what we find is we use

that outdoors and for a scene such as a

bombing scene so you have an explosion

you'll have a crater you'll have the the

initial point of explosion and you can

start there and then just start

searching by walk in a spiral fashion

going outward looking for evidence and

then you just keep going until you run

out of evidence and then go some more

and then when you're satisfied you've

covered the area you stop so that's a

spiral search uh now a couple things to

keep in mind there is number one when

you're walking to the center you may be

walking over evidence so you have to be

very careful uh walk

carefully and uh you know see where

you're

stepping uh then second is there's a

tendency when some people do this when

they get further out the spacing gets

larger but keep it nice and tight again

tight enough so that you can

see everything as you go by each time in

that area that you're supposed to see

that there's no gaps you're not too far

away now as far as an outdoor search

those little wire

uh devices that have a flag on them and

you just go ahead as you find evidence

as you are doing the spiral search and

you just stick one of those uh little

Flags in the ground right where your

evidence is and then keep going and then

it's easy to come back uh measure where

your evidence is photograph it collect

it so that's the spiral

search so we have the lane or strip

search

the grid search The Zone search and the

spiral search as I said zone is usually

going to be what you use

indoors spiral

search would be the least likely to use

indoors you can do the lane or strip

search and the grid search indoors and

you'll just look at the scene and decide

what is uh most appropriate for what you

have next point on processing the crime

scene we're going to collect preserve

inventory package transport and submit

evidence so the team members that's all

of you are going to ensure that we

collect the evidence colle uh correctly

we preserve it properly we package it uh

in the right materials and then we

transport it to be booked into

evidence and the handling of physical

evidence is one of the most important

factors of the investigation we need to

handle it properly so that we maintain

the Integrity of the evidence we do not

contaminate it and then it will be

effective for our um our our case I want

to show you a video in that shooting

where four people shot near Georgia

State University near J.R crickets

Jennifer Bellamy on the scene our crew

found a gun in the

street our crew not police not

investigators but we did Jen Jennifer

explain to us exactly walk us through

how you guys on the scene were able to

find this gun well Vinnie this happened

about 25 minutes ago and if you look

right here the gun is still here in the

middle of the street what happened is

one of uh uh the vehicles that was

parked along the street moved to get

their state their day started and after

that car moved out of this parking space

my photographer JoJo Johnson noticed

this gun and said whoa what is this out

here uh police have arrived on the scene

they're checking out but the gun is

still where it was found right here in

the middle of the street now this is all

after a quadruple shooting that happened

here last night on cide Street we're

told that this may have all started as

an attempted robbery right now police

still sorting out information and

clearly there's more investigating to be

done with this gun found out here where

finny yeah uh Jennifer so police were

already gone police had left the scene

the investigation was over when you

found the gun well the investigation on

going but the scene had been cleared vny

and we spoke with police overnight and

they told us that there were two guns

recovered but clearly there is a third

out here that we just found that is most

likely connected to what was going on

this is just in the street a few feet

away from the buildings that had their

Windows shot out as a part of the

situation that happened last night all

right Jen if you if you can Jennifer if

you could for us show us where the

shooting was and then where the gun was

found how close in proximity here it's

it's right there can you kind of show us

camera JoJo can we turn around and show

this is the JR Crickets where uh we're

told that the shooting happened just

around you can see the boarded up

Windows there was shattered glass out

here and just a few feet away if you

turn walk with me and you'll see right

here in this parking lot just adjacent

to the building is where we've found

that gun so just a matter of feet

imagine if you were the chief of police

or the CSI

supervisor and you see that first thing

in the morning you're going to be

wondering what what's with my

csis and you noticed how close to the

shooting this gun was it was you know

just a few feet away from the holes in

the windows now obviously what they're

saying is the gun was underneath a park

car but that just shows us that we have

to search carefully Not only was the gun

uh under a park car but over here you

can see there's a cartridge case and the

information that I was able to get said

that there were two additional shell

casings is what it they're cartridge

cases but here's a picture of one of

them and even the gun has blood stain on

it and it was

missed um not acceptable not acceptable

uh can we miss things at a crime scene

well of course it's going to happen a

lot of evidence is small uh there's

environmental factors lighting but

something like a gun you had a shooting

uh wouldn't you be looking for cartridge

cases as well at a shooting scene count

how many bullet holes there are find out

from Witnesses how many shots were fired

see how many cartridge cases you have

found and then maybe there should be

some more and search until you have

looked everywhere uh so that's kind of a

that's a big one all right so I I

certainly would not want to be the csis

that missed that and a lot of times you

have to look in the oddest places for

things often you have to take things

apart to be able to get to where you

want to look at something so we have to

be very

thorough another point in the processing

of a crime scene uh detailed evidence

collection um this is where uh we're

going to collect any and all potential

evidence so that's one of the steps that

we take again we talked about doing this

after we have discussed whether we need

to do crime scene reconstruction and if

we do we leave that evidence alone until

the Reconstruction is finished speaking

of crime scene reconstruction here we

have a little information about that

what is crime scene reconstruction the

use of scientific methods physical

evidence deductive reasoning and their

inter relationships to gain explicit

knowledge of the series of events that

surround the commission of a crime so

this is a very deliberate act or process

we're going to look at our

evidence uh we're going to do some

calculations perhaps as with blood stain

pattern interpretation where we're even

going to measure blood stain and get

angles from that uh we're going to use

our deductive

reasoning and how the evidence all

interrelates

in order to come up with conclusions now

this is very important because a lot of

what we do is prove or disprove

Witnesses and suspects and even victims

statements and so being able to prove

out how things happen is very important

uh blood stain patter analysis is a good

example you can

identify uh where people were uh their

identity who's blood was it the number

of blows that were uh were given

Firearms is another really good example

we can learn about trajectory which is

the path of the bullet you know that

could be very important to our case

shooting distance uh gunshot residue and

so forth crime scene reconstruction is

something that we do uh we at many

scenes not all but when you have an

opportunity hopefully you're not going

to miss

it