November 2014: Adelaide Symposium Special Edition

26 Pages·2014·1.63 MB·English

ND
22 INTERNATIONAL
SYMPOSIUM ON THE FORENSIC
SCIENCES
ADELAIDE TWENTY14

Special Edition ANZFSS Newsletter
ANZFSS SYMPOSIUM CHAIRMAN’S WRAP UP
Organising Committee
David Eitzen
Chair: David Eitzen Here we are suffering from conference withdrawal syndrome.
Scientific Program Chair: Not really, but I’m sure I can speak for the whole committee
Adrian Linacre when I say there was a huge build up in the 3 or 4 weeks leading
up to Aug 31. We had things to do that could only be done at the
Darren (Stix) Bails
last minute. We had presentation withdrawals and program
Ted Silenieks changes, we had delivery of our tablets from China with only a
few days spare and we had to pack 850 satchels with the show
Natasha Mitchell
bag goodies. It was a great team effort and well supported by a
group of eager volunteers. Fortunately there were no dramas
Carolyne Bird
with the Trade and Sponsors due to the early ground work we
Kareana Uern
had put in, and that part of it went very smoothly. So the stage
was set, we were all a bit anxious, but with all the planning and
Newsletter compiled and
good communications we just had to wait for the curtain to rise
edited by Dan Butzbach, SA
and the show to begin.
Branch Editor
The Welcoming went well, starting in the foyer overlooking
Adelaide Oval and the Torrens precinct with approximately 600
in attendance. When I announced we were moving into the
Trade Exhibition there was a 30 second delay. Then I felt the
Tsunami building. What was that?? Why the rumbles??
Oh, got it!!!

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Yes the drinks will continue & will accompany us into the new venue. Whew!!! Disaster averted.
The Trade Exhibition was excellent with 54 booths sold, far bigger than previous years and much
better than we expected, but again that came down to hard work by the team. If any of you get the
chance, please support these companies, as they supported us.
The Official Opening by the Chief Justice the Honourable Chris
Kourakis and the Police Commissioner, Mr. Gary Burns set the
stage for the plenary’s to begin. We tried a new initiative by
having a Punchy Plenary, Dr Jason Fox, a motivational speaker
up first and then followed up with the BIG Guns within the
scientific community.
I have had many compliments about the high standard of all 9
plenaries and collectively I believe they were the best for many
a conference.
Similarly, many of our International Speakers commented on
the high quality of the science presented and many of them
have said they will be putting the next ANZFSS 2016 meeting,
into their calendars.
The Social events were fantastic - a lot of fun that allowed
delegates to network and connect up with each other in a
relaxed fashion. Speaking of fashion, the Bonney & Clyde 1920s
Extreme Night Out was a fashionista’s highlight, with nearly

Chair: David Eitzen
everyone getting into the theme. Wow, bring back the roaring
20’s, everyone looked fantastic.
The ANZFSS 22nd International Symposium concluded with the Official Dinner and the presentation
of awards. The presentations were handed out in a very slick manner (well done Adrian) and my
congratulations to all the award winners including our own editor, Dan Butzbach for Best New
Practitioner.
So, here we are post conference, with some debrief meeting scheduled for this week and we await for
the final invoices to come in so we can balance the books. Whilst we await these final tasks, I will
stick my neck out and declare the Adelaide Symposium a roaring SUCCESS.
Success comes with hard work and good team work. I thank the committee, Darren, Nat, Carolyne,
Ted, Adrian and Kareana, for being a good, no, GREAT team and performing their assigned tasks
superbly. I also thank the many people who volunteered to assist in both the hectic build up and
during the symposium. Your contribution made the meeting the success it was.

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Finally, this is the 2nd ANZFSS International Symposium I have had the privilege to be involved with
and they keep building, getting bigger and better. It has been hard work, but it has been a lot of fun
too. If you get a chance to get involved, give it a crack, you will not regret it.
So I strongly recommend you start thinking of projects you can present in Auckland in 2016. I’m sure
that will be just as exciting!!!!
PS- On a personal highlight, I was humbled to be awarded ANZFSS Life Membership during the
AGM. What made it even more special, was that I stood alongside Dr Ross James, my previous boss
and a long time mentor, when he received his. Ross encouraged me to join the Society many, many,
years ago and made me feel very welcome. So welcomed, that I have stayed for my working lifetime &
will continue to be involved for many years yet.

ANZFSS 22nd Organising Committee Chairman (Retired)
David Eitzen.
WELCOMING RECEPTION, SUNDAY
Sunday night's Welcome drinks: From 5pm on Sunday, delegates were entertained by various
performers, including acrobats, gymnasts, baton twirlers and jugglers, plus one girl who used a staple
gun on her own forearm! And after seeing her arm after her performance, I can vouch that she wasn't
faking the staple gun at all! Delegates were provided with a choice of beer, red or white wine,
sparkling wine, and some quite tasty foods, all of which were nicely labelled for those with dietary

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requirements. The wines were supplied from Byrne's Wines. Following an hour of drinks and mixing,
the delegates were brought into the exhibition hall to enable some time to mingle with the trade
partners for another hour. It was a thoroughly enjoyable few hours to warm up for the week ahead
and reconnect with some old friends from previous symposia, and make new friends for the week
ahead.
MONDAY
Official opening, plenaries, scientific sessions and “free night” or Happy Hour at the Publisher’s and
Franklin Hotel
After the welcome from Symposium Chair David Eitzen, the Honourable Chris Kourakis, South
Australian Chief Justice, officially opened the 22nd International ANZFSS Symposium on the Forensic
Sciences. Following the opening, we also heard from the ANZFSS President, Claude Roux and the
South Australian Police Commissioner Gary Burns.
It was highlighted that SA is the only free settlement in Australia, as compared to the other states,
which were settled by convicts. We had over 800 delegates in attendance for the week, with 26
different countries represented, making this a truly international conference. A big part of the theme
for the week was for everyone to connect and build relationships across our various jurisdictions and
fields, in efforts to remove the “silos” within forensic science. It was also acknowledged that many of
the practitioners in Australia and New Zealand have, are, or will be, contributing to the investigation
into the downing of flight MH17, and the identification and repatriation of the remains which is being
performed in the Netherlands.
Another exciting feature for the week was the tablets provided to all delegates. On this, and by using
the wi-fi sponsored by Life Technologies, delegates could access the timetables, abstracts and delegate
lists, among other features. There was also the capability for the attendees to vote on the
presentations and posters presented during the week, and provide questions to be asked of the oral
presenters during the question times. Unfortunately there were reports that some people found it
difficult to access the wi-fi in the session rooms. Overall, it appeared that the tablets were a hit, and
definitely alleviated the hassle of carrying around a big heavy program filled with abstracts.
In an effort to get more interaction between the delegates and the trade partners, a bottle of Penfolds
Grange was up for grabs for those who visited each of the 54 trade booths and got their Exhibition
Passports signed by each booth.
Plenaries:
Dr Jason Fox: As scientists, we are typically skeptical about new things, and I'll admit I was even more
so when I saw we were going to be hearing from a motivational speaker. But I can say I was
pleasantly surprised and spent a good portion of the plenary session agreeing with Dr Fox and
laughing along with the rest of the audience. One particularly resonant quote for me was “many

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introverts aren't shy, they are just very selective”. Jason also looked at the differences in motivation
styles:
 Recognition for good work  A sense of progress
 Interpersonal support  Incentives and rewards
 Clear targets and goals
He showed that many managers thought that recognition for good work
was a primary motivator for employees, whereas he revealed that most
employees actually find that a sense of progress was more beneficial. This
is because we inherently default to doing activities that give us an
immediate sense of progress, so celebrating the small wins along the way
helps to keep our motivation up.
Dr. Jason Fox
Prof. Christophe Champod from University of Lausanne “The future of delivering
fingerprint evidence: a roadmap towards Twenty20”. Christophe's presentation
looked at the increasing demands on forensic science laboratories, including the
requirement for more extensive documentation, transparency in policies, and the
high sample throughput from volume crime. He suggests for instance, with
fingermarks, that we move towards automated systems in an effort to remove
bias and to deal with the sheer high volume of the work. In this way, using
automation for the simpler analyses allows more human resources to be
Prof. Christophe
redirected to the more complex cases.
Champod
Dr. Mark Reynolds from Western Australian Police “The future of trace
evidence – are we wasting our time?” Mark's presentation focused on the
importance of trace evidence and how many people tend to think of DNA
and fingermarks as the “best thing since sliced bread”, which is great but it
doesn't necessarily help in the “what and how” of a crime. DNA and
fingermarks are about finding out the “who” of a crime, but can't
necessarily help with the other aspects of crime investigations. From his
case studies, he was able to show how trace evidence can be instrumental
in solving a case. For instance, being able to show that a knife purchased
Dr. Mark Reynolds
only a few days before a homicide, and had been sharpened by the suspect,
was able to give proof of intent when it came to court. Some of the statistics he provided were also
interesting. In Australia, homicide numbers are dropping, but more are occurring within residences,
going from 55% in 2009, up to 64% in 2013. In these instances, where the DNA and prints of the
inhabitants may be explained away as simply being from living there, the trace evidence can provide
proof of the sequence of events and be used to indicate who the suspect in a violent crime is.

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The concurrent scientific sessions began after lunch, with Science & Education, Biological
Criminalistics, Education & Training, Crime Scene Investigation, Pathology & Clinical Medicine,
Chemical Criminalistics, and Illicit Drugs & Clandestine Labs all running through until close of the
day. Monday night was a “free night” in terms of social events, however there was a Happy Hour at
The Publishers’ and The Franklin Hotel, with money put onto the bar by the Symposium Committee.
It can be safely said that a good time was had by everyone that attended!
TUESDAY
Plenaries & scientific sessions
Prof. Kimmo Himberg from Police College Helsinki “On the impacts of
forensic science: from case level to clearance level”. Kimmo’s focus in his
presentation was on the effectiveness of forensic science in supporting
intelligence, investigation and criminal justice practices. Using data from
Finland, Kimmo illustrated the current low rate of use of forensic science in
less serious crimes such as volume crime as compared to serious crimes
where the use and benefit of forensic science in the investigation is much
higher. Kimmo surmised based on his data that clearance rates for volume
Prof. Kimmo Himberg
crime may increase with greater use of crime scene investigation and forensic
science.
Dr. Bryan Found from Victoria Police “Deciphering the human
condition: the rise of cognitive forensics”. Bryan's presentation was
about how context can result in bias in the subjective fields of forensic
science, but how recent studies and cognitive scientists can be utilized
to minimize any potential bias in result interpretations. This was
focused upon the comparison sciences such as fingerprints, shoe
impressions and document examination, etc.
Dr. Bryan Found
The concurrent scientific sessions began after morning tea with Education & Training, Biological
Criminalistics, Management & Quality Assurance, Crime Scene Investigation, Wildlife
Forensics/Entomology/Botany, Chemical Criminalistics and Illicit Drugs & Clandestine Labs.
Education & Training finished prior to lunch and was followed by the Science & Justice stream. At
the end of the day, Toxicology & Pharmacology began following the end of Crime Scene Investigation.

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EXTREME NIGHT OUT
1920’s Gangsters and Molls at the William Magarey Room, Adelaide Oval
In the tradition of ANZFSS Symposia, the
Ladies and Gents gathered on the Tuesday
evening for a night of frivolity, entertainment
and dancing! It was lovely to see so many
people dressed up in their 1920’s costumes and
having a marvelous time. The vintage cars
parked out the front of the Oval were also a
very nice touch!
Vintage cars outside Adelaide Oval
The photo booth near the entrance was a winner with many groups of people having their pictures
taken. These photos can be seen at:
http://www.snapslrbooth.com.au/galleries/anzfss2014photos/
There was also the opportunity for some gambling for those not interested in dancing, with many
people hitting up the tables with a view out to the oval itself.

Clockwise from top left: ladies fashions, gambling tables and the dance floor rocking out!

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The live band was a hit, with the dance floor packed as the evening went on. Upon the walls and large
screens there were some old photos and mug shots from the villains of that era, just to help the
“Gangsters and Molls” theme! I think it can be agreed that a good time was had by all that attended!
WEDNESDAY
Plenaries & scientific sessions
Prof. Niamh Nic Daeid from University of Strathclyde “The future of
forensic evidence: developing some joined up research thinking”. Niamh's
presentation was about how we as the forensic science community should
be looking toward a multi-disciplinary view of forensic science. One point
that stuck was that we should stop calling ourselves, or our work
“forensics”, but ensure we include the science and be “forensic science”. In
this we need the scientific underpinning for our work and research and we
need to remove the “silos” within forensic science and encourage multi-
disciplinary collaborations.
Prof. Niamh Nic Daeid
Liesl Chapman SC from Len King Chambers “Playing forensic science
monopoly”. Liesl's presentation was based around a monopoly game of
forensic science (with some entertaining cartoons provided by her brother).
As a defence lawyer, it is more costly to land on the DNA square, while some
discipline squares could have houses or hotels made of sub-standard
materials (or scientific underpinnings) but those may not easily detected by
many in the legal system. The big question of Liesl’s game was who has
control of the game of forensic science monopoly?
Liesl Chapman SC
The concurrent scientific sessions began after morning tea with Science & Justice, Biological
Criminalistics, Anthropology, Archaeology & Odontology, Firearms & Toolmarks, Wildlife
Forensics/Entomology/Botany, Chemical Criminalistics and Illicit Drugs & Clandestine Labs. After
lunch, Blood Pattern Analysis took over from Wildlife Forensics, Fingerprint Examination took over
from Chemical Criminalistics, and Toxicology & Pharmacology took over from Illicit Drugs &
Clandestine Labs. In the afternoon sessions, there were also singular presentations in Electronic
Evidence, and Biometrics. The Technology on Trial Panel Discussion was also on during the
afternoon sessions, and in the evening there was a Public Night hosted by the SA Branch of ANZFSS
(see below).

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Assoc. Prof. Stewart Walker’s hair
On the Wednesday in the lunch break, Stewart
Walker, who has been growing his hair for over 10
years for research, finally got it shaved! Well, half
of it. One of Stewart’s areas of forensic science
research is in the use of stable isotope ratios, and
whether the stable isotopes trapped within the
hair as it grows can be used to track the location
of a person. Over this last decade, Stewart has
been keeping a diary of where in the world he has
been travelling, and hopes that various
laboratories can track his global movements by
the stable isotopes in his hair, which would be Stewart mid-shave
present from his dietary intake. The hair removal was filmed by the ABC and can be seen here:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-05/water-molecule-research-prompts-scientists-
haircut/5723548 Stewart was also using this opportunity to fundraise for Beyond Blue and the Cancer
Council, with the Symposium Organising Committee donating the first $100. The shave stopped
halfway, with Stewart looking quite strange only being half hairy, and it wasn’t completed until more
funds had been raised on Thursday, when the shave was finished! At the conclusion, over $1200 was
raised – many thanks to all those who donated to such good causes.
TECHNOLOGY ON TRIAL
Article by Dr. Duncan Taylor
The 2014 ANZFSS International Symposium held in Adelaide was host to a panel discussion
“Technology on Trial”.
The panel consisted of Hon. Justice John Sulan, Leisl Chapman SC as defence barrister, Dr Damien
Abarno playing the role of a defence expert, Sandi McDonald SC as prosecutor, Dr Duncan Taylor, a
technical expert, and Sean Fewster representing the jury. The event was moderated by prominent
South Australian barrister, Michael Abbott QC.
The panel, representing all facets of the judicial system examined the admission of new technology to
the courtrooms, using the recently developed DNA interpretation software, STRmix™ as an example.
A mock case scenario involving an assault carried out by two men was used as a catalyst to promote
the discussion. The scenario outlined that a sample taken from the victim was analysed using the
expert software system and provided some evidence to support the presence of DNA of both the
accused.
Michael Abbott led the panel through a briar patch of questions and conundrums that explored many
interesting concepts and ideas: What constitutes an expert? Can a scientist use software and testify to

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the results if they don’t understand the mathematical calculations underpinning the software? Or
should we consider these systems as tools, much in the way that a pilot can fly a plane but not know
how to build the turbines that propel it? Is there even a choice with technology, by necessity,
becoming ever more specialised and complex to deal with the massive amounts of data now readily
available from crime investigations? All of these questions come before a scientist even sets foot in a
courtroom.
Technology on Trial panel
If a witness is called to present evidence in court, this brings about an entirely new set of
considerations: How do judges assess new technology? What does defence council really think of
expert witnesses and their evidence? How does a prosecutor lead a case or a defence barrister cross-
examine evidence they barely understand? What is the jury to make of the evidence, particularly if
faced with experts dueling on the stand? How is a judge to make an advisement or ruling in such a
situation?
The event was enjoyed by all, and helped to show the alternative and sometimes contrasting ideas that
occupy the barrier between science and law. With so many questions raised it is this sort of discussion
that will help break down the barriers and ultimately improve the effectiveness of scientific evidence
in a courtroom. There is only one certainty that has come from the ‘Technology on Trial’ discussion…
the future holds some exciting times.
SA BRANCH PUBLIC NIGHT: DETECTIVE INSPECTOR GARRY JUBELIN
NSW Police - “Underbelly Uncovered”
The SA Branch of ANZFSS were lucky enough to secure Detective Inspector Gary Jubelin from NSW
Police to speak at the Public Night. Gary joined the NSW Police in 1985 and has had roles including
uniform patrol, tactical response and criminal investigations including major crime and homicide.
Gary led Strike Force TUNO, which was the investigation into the abduction and murder of career
criminal Terry Falconer, which was made into the TV series “Underbelly: Badness”.

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