Forensic Evidence Management: From the Crime Scene to the Courtroom

212 Pages·2018·0.55 MB·English

by  Mozayani

Forensic Evidence
Management

Forensic Evidence
Management
From the Crime Scene to the
Courtroom
Edited by
Ashraf Mozayani and Casie Parish Fisher
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
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For the criminal investigators who work daily
to serve the victims of various crimes

Contents
Foreword ix
Acknowledgements xi
Contributors xiii
1 Crime Scene Dynamics 1
MICHAEL KESSLER AND
CASIE PARISH FISHER
2 Evidence Tracking and Secure Storage 9
CASSANDRA VELASQUEZ
3 Evidence Management of Fingerprints 19
JACK FLANDERS
4 Biological Evidence: Collection, Transportation
and Preservation 29
NATHALIE ZAHRA
5 Sexual Assault Evidence: Collection Techniques 43
LAURIE CHARLES
6 Evidence Management Best Practices in
Medicolegal Death Investigation 55
JASON WIERSEMA, MICHAL PIERCE,
ALLISON WOODY AND MICHELLE SANFORD
7 General Principles and Techniques of Trace
Evidence Collection 75
PATRICK BUZZINI AND JORN CHI-CHUNG YU
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viii Contents
8 Firearms Evidence: Documentation, Collection
and Preservation 99
JAY M STUART
9 Introduction to Drug Evidence Handling
Procedures 117
JASMINE DRAKE
10 Evidence Collection and Management for
Forensic Toxicology Analysis 125
ASHRAF MOZAYANI
11 Questioned Documents 135
CLAIRE WILLIAMSON
12 Forensic Digital Evidence 141
ZENO GERADTS
13 Evidence Collection for Arson Cases 151
KENNETH WILSON
14 Forensic Art and Imaging: Best Practices for
Evidence Handling 163
CATYANA R FALSETTI, ANTHONY B FALSETTI AND
SANDRA R ENSLOW
15 Ethical Issues, Bias and Other Challenges to
Forensic Evidence Management 171
CAROL HENDERSON, RYAN SWAFFORD AND
ADAM H ITZKOWITZ
Index 187
Foreword
Evidence management has become a crucial component for the law enforce-
ment community. As technology and technical applications continue to
advance, the undertakings at crime scenes have become even more critical.
Criminal investigators must ensure evidence is properly documented, col-
lected, packaged and stored in a manner that maximizes the ability of labo-
ratories to glean meaningful evidence.
This work is an international collaboration of subject-matter experts who
have outlined and described the various evidentiary disciplines within the
forensic science community. As the dynamics of a crime scene can vary dra-
matically, every step was taken to ensure all subject areas were addressed. In
line with various regulating bodies, it strives to outline the proper collection
and storage techniques for evidentiary items of crime scenes in categories
familiar to criminal investigators such as biological, fingerprints, firearms
and tool marks, etc. The authors take an additional step by also addressing
digital/electronic evidence, forensic art, evidence within arson investigations
and evidence obtained during sexual assault nurse examinations which to
date does not exist in one comprehensive text. The chapter Ethical Issues, Bias
and Other Challenges to Forensic Evidence Management addresses the issues
regarding the responsibility of the criminal investigator and the challenges
encountered during investigations.
I truly believe this book is invaluable for criminal investigators and can
enhance many types of investigations. It can also be a valuable resource for
managing evidence not often encountered.
Jeremiah Sullivan
Chairman, Board of Directors
Texas Division of the International Association for Identification
Senior Crime Scene Specialist (Retired)
Austin Police Department
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