Blood Splatter Inaccurate Evidence

Physical evidence left behind at a crime scene plays a crucial role in reconstructing the events that took place involving the crime. Bloodstain pattern analysis (BPA) is a discipline which utilizes the sciences of biology, physics, and mathematics. Bloodstain interpretation may be accomplished by direct scene evaluation and/or careful study of scene photographs in conjunction with detailed examination of clothing, weapons, and other objects regarded as physical evidence. The location, spreading, and appearance of bloodstains and spatters can be useful for interpreting and reconstructing the events that produced the bleeding. An investigator or bloodstain pattern analyst can decipher from individual bloodstains the direction and angle

The world of Forensic Scientist is an amazing and fascinating place. There are so many aspects that go into forensic science but in this paper we are only covering bloodstain spatter patterns. Bloodstain spatter patterns are not solely used to solve crimes but I do feel it is one of the most important. Bloodstains never lie.

The understanding of blood spatter patterns is not a widely recognized forensic practice. Bloodstain pattern interpretation (BPI) is commonly used in murder investigations, but could be utilized in everything from simple assault to mass murders if the number of trained professionals increased. BPI can reveal critical information into reinventing a given crime scene. Everything from the number of blows, stabs or shots a victim was given, the movement that was undergone by the victim and assailant after bloodshed began, position of objects at the crime scene and the type of weapon, if any, that was used can be uncovered.

Blood spatter analysts are a crucial part of a homicide investigation. They examine the blood stains left behind at a crime scene with the help of criminal investigators. They try to find a pattern or trail with the blood to figure out what happened at the crime scene. These blood patterns can show where the victim was hit, how they were hit, if they struggled, and what kind of weapon the killer used. They use many techniques to collect evidence that can be analyzed at the lab. Common techniques are measuring the diameter of the blood drop, measuring the spatter zone, and taking pictures. Many analysts try to act out the homicide scene to piece together the crime scene and figure out what happened. They also sketch out the scene to go along

he Blood Spatter Analyst (also known as "Bloodstain Pattern Analyst") uses many techniques to collect and analze blood that has been left behind at a crime scene. They uses swabs and ultraviolet light, as well as photgraphy to collect and analyze trace evidence and recreate spatters. After analyzation of the spatter, they can determine what weapon was used, which direction the suspect or victim went, the number of wounds the victim suffered, the trajectry of a projectile, and what occured during a violent crime.

Bloodstain pattern analysis (BPA), known in the criminal justice field as blood splatter analysis, has been studied since the 1890s. Blood splatter, or bloodstain pattern constructional readings, is a technique that seeks to piece together the incident that caused an individual’s bleeding. Understanding blood splatter on a wall or various surfaces can be instrumental in formulating if a crime was committed and if the blood discovered at the crime scene can be used as evidence. The first documentation of blood splatter research occurred at the Institute for Forensic Medicine in Poland, by Dr. Eduard Piotrowski . During Dr. Piotrowski’s research and documentation period, where he used live bunnies to research blood splatter from head

The stringing method is not useful for certain types of bloodstain events like contact transfer stains, cast off spatter or passive staining. Blood droplets in flight will eventually succumb to gravity and their path of flight will change. Once gravity causes the path of flight to change back tracking occurs that flight path becomes much more difficult There are many unknowns that can affect this such as mass and/or velocity. Another possible “danger” associated with the stringing method is the possibility of someone accidently damaging the strings when they have been set up. Someone untrained in crime scene analysis like a police officer could accidently damage the strings and hours of work could be lost! (Parkinson,

Forensic science is a key aspect of Criminal Justice that helps rid the streets of lunatics and murderers. One of the most important fields of forensic science is blood spatter analysis. Under the Crime Scene Investigation, analysts gather the information that could eventually lead to a victim’s killer. Basic and complex information can be found when analyzing blood. We can learn what kind of weapon was used, the time of death of a victim and other important facts that can help a case. The pattern that the blood gives off give forensic scientists the tools that they need to help solve cases.

In the Molly Wright case she was bludgeoned to death in her home and the blood stain patterns that I analyzed form the experiment where the point of impact was when she was hit there was a lot of blood located at the point Mrs. Wright was hit upon impact the area where Wright was struck the blood splatter did however splatter all around and the killer would have for sure had plenty of blood stains on their clothing along with the splatter landing on everything around where she was hit this would have happened every-time she was hit. After the first impact the blood splatter would have gotten worse and worse with the open wound located on her head where she was hit repeatedly with the blunt object.

First I’m going to look at how blood spatter analysis is used in processing a crime scene. There are many different points to blood spatter analysis such as; The interpretation of blood patterns found on items of clothing, this interpretation can help determine things like; the position of the victim, so whether they were standing,

On the morning of September 2, 2003, Sarah Johnson, at age sixteen, shot and killed both her parents, Diane and Alan Scott Johnson. This crime occurred in Bellevue, Idaho, in the Johnson’s home with a Winchester rifle. At approximately 6:20 am, Sarah came into her parents bedroom and shot her mother in the head through the blankets, killing her. Next, Sarah moved into the master bathroom and shot her father. Investigators believe that Alan Scott Johnson, Sarah’s father, was emerging out of the shower when he was first shot.

For example, the television show may go out their way to test the DNA evidence along with the defendant’s confession, but the DNA evidence would be costly. In that case, the DNA evidence wouldn’t normally be needed if the suspect admits to the crime. More importantly, television shows like CSI mostly uses science as a definite conclusion mainly involving DNA evidence, but it is not always effective. Forensic scientist’s focus on probability calculations and the results are not instant. DNA always is not always guaranteed to have results. To elaborate, specific factors can damage DNA such as age, humidity, heat and sunlight. In addition, television shows occasionally display ultra violet lights in relation to the blood glowing bright blue, but really the color would look dark black. However, a specific chemical called luminol can indeed make blood glow the color blue. It can also be pointed out that

Once the boundaries to a crime scene has been set it is the duty of the first responder to begin a search to locate anything that may be harmful to any other person entering the scene or the crime scene itself. Locating all the risk factors can include many multiple aspects not just the obvious e.g. if the weather is bad the investigator must find a way to protect the scene from losing valuable information. If necessary outside personnel may be needed to control the scene for special circumstances including fires, or biohazardous material. Personal protective equipment is used to keep responders safe from an array of items that could cause bodily harm especially with the instances of blood, “Bloodborne pathogens don’t always die when a person

However, fingerprint can be contaminated if investigators are not careful, in which could lead to false conclusion and could develop false leads. Further, professional criminals would often avoid contaminating their crime by wearing gloves to prevent leaving fingerprints. The introduction of DNA methods has helped provide viable evidence for investigators. This is because DNA can leave traces such as, saliva, hair sweat and dandruff just to name a few. The DNA testing has also been accepted by the courts due to its accuracy and value to support evidence. (Hess, Orthmann, Cho, 2013)

o be able to discover the victim and criminal, blood matching will be done. Although, blood matching and typing cannot specifically say who committed the crime, it will establish a smaller list of possible suspects. The testing will be done by placing antibodies into the blood samples. If a blood sample coagulates it means a positive outcome. Testing the blood samples of the potential perpetrators will help remove the suspects whose blood does not