Fingerprint
Evidence
Written
Assignment #7:Fingerprints
Leslie
K. Penny
Chancellor
University
Abstract
A young woman is slain
in her apartment. There is only two ways
in and out of the apt, either the door or a window. The apartment is small with one bedroom, a
small bathroom and kitchen area with a living room. The CSI agent assigned to the murder investigation
must approach the scene diligently and carefully to collect all fingerprint
evidence left behind by the perpetrator.
All fingerprints are lifted and collected using the methods available to
the CSI agent from places where prints would most likely be left. All fingerprint evidence would then be
packaged as per the standards and sent to the crime lab.
Fingerprint
Evidence
The scene is one
of murder. To be specific, the murder of
a female found in her one bedroom apartment laying in a pool of blood on the
floor and the apartment has been ransacked.
The victims apartment only has two exits, one window and one door, as
well as one small bathroom, kitchen and dinette area. As an investigator, evidence needs to be
collected, specifically for this essay, fingerprint evidence. The following questions will be answered: how
would a CSI approach the crime scene when looking for fingerprints, where would
fingerprints most likely be located and how the fingerprints would be collected
for examination at a lab.
Approaching the crime scene would need to be as delicate
as possible as to not disturb any fingerprints on objects and surfaces. It is obvious whoever was first on the scene,
be a neighbor who heard commotion, EMS or the first officer on the scene, the
door has been touched in order to get in the room. Before the door can be further contaminated
with other prints or the prints left there destroyed , the door needs to be
inspected for prints first thing. There
are three different types of prints a CSI would look for:
visible prints, made by fingers touching a surface after
the ridges have been in contact with
a colored material such as blood, paint, grease, or ink; plastic prints are
ridge impressions left on a
soft material such as putty, wax, soap, or dust; and latent or invisible prints, impressions caused
by the transfer of body perspiration or oils present on finger ridges to the surface on an object (Saferstein, 2007,
p. 440).
The prints that'll be looked for on the door would be visible
prints and latent or invisible prints.
Due to the fact the door is a hard surface, the matter of collecting the
fingerprint evidence would be with the application of a powder (or treatment
with super glue back at the lab) and possibly, with a new method called
Reflected Ultraviolet Imaging System (RUVIS) which uses UV light to reflect the
print back to the viewer (Saferstein, 2007, p.441). Prints would then be photographed before
preservation takes place and also to give investigators, forensic scientist and
the jury, an overall view of where the print was located in reference to other
pieces of evidence collected at the crime scene. If items are small enough to be transported
without destroying the fingerprint then it should be preserved by covering the
print with cellophane to prevent altering or damaging the print then placing it
in an evidence collection container and marked appropriately.
Once the print is photographed it will then be preserved
by using a adhesive tape, laid gently but firmly over the print, then pulled up
where the print covered in lifting powder remains on the tape and is then
pressed against a cardboard backing giving investigators a "permanent
record of the fingerprint" (Saferstein, 2007, p.452). The entire door will be treated the same way
in the search for fingerprints, inside and out, the door knob on both sides,
the lock, the knocker and/or peephole, and the door jamb.
The victim also needs to be searched for prints,
especially any items the victim has on her body such as jewelry. A watch would be a great place to start since
there could have been a struggle and the perp grabbed her wrist hence leaving a
distinct print on the surface of the watch.
Hair accessories such as plastic barrettes or a headband are another
item that needs to be checked for prints in case the perp grabbed the victim by
the hair touching the hair accessory in the process leaving prints. All these items should be preserved, bagged
and tagged appropriately for the crime lab to investigate. If the
victim is wearing glasses they need to be collected as well as a belt the
victim may be wearing and/or shoes. An
investigator needs to keep in mind that the perp could have re-dressed the
victim therefore leaving prints on her accessories or perhaps the clasp on the
victims bra if wearing one.
The window in the room will be searched inside and out as
well as any hardware on the window and window sill for visible prints and
latent prints and, where necessary, plastic prints if there happens to be
caulking on the window which tends to stay somewhat tacky. The interior and exterior wall should be
powdered as well in case the perpetrator used the wall for support to pull
himself into the room. As well as the
floor under the window in case the perpetrator fell into the room on the floor
if it is not carpeted, of course.
However, the victim may have known the perp or he was a
John and she let him into the apartment so, other scenarios need to be
investigated. Such as they sat down to
have a glass of wine, for instance. Any
dishes or cups left out need to be powdered for prints as well as any dishes in
the dish washer. There have been cases
where the perp cleaned up by loading the dishwasher. But in this case, that is unlikely since the
apartment has been ransacked. Going along that line of thinking, all
surfaces in the kitchen need to checked for prints as well, especially
countertops, switches, outside of refrigerator and handle, microwave and
stove.
Moving onto the interior of the apartment, since it was
ransacked the assumption is many items were touched while the perp was rifling
through stuff and opened drawers and closets.
Therefore, all surfaces must be dusted, the outside of each drawer and
the lip of each drawer as well as the hardware on the outside of the
drawers. Any hard surfaced items in the
drawers should be dusted as well, any items that could hold a print and any
items sitting on dressers and table tops.
The closet would be treated in the same manner, especially the door
handle to the closet, the light switch or pull string and any items in the
closet.
Items laying about the room that have been strewn about
will also be dusted. The perp more than
likely touched many of the items as he discarded them in his search through her
stuff. Any media hardware such as a
television should be dusted as well as all the remotes that go with the hardware. If the furniture in the room such as a couch
or chair have hard surfaces or a surface where a print could be left behind,
they too should be inspected and dusted for prints.
Moving onto the bathroom in case the perp conducted
business in there or cleaned up, all surfaces need to be dusted for prints
including the exterior and interior of the bathroom door as well as the door
knob, all hardware attached to the door and door jamb; the light switch;
counter top and sink to include sink fixtures; the toilet, especially the lid,
seat and flush lever; the shower stall
or curtain, fixtures in the shower and any other surfaces in the bathroom.
Now that all the areas in the apt have been searched and
dusted for prints, to conclude, this CSI agent would confer with others on the
scene to ensure that every part of the scene has been covered and no areas were
missed. All the fingerprint evidence
collected, packaged and marked appropriately would be sent to the crime lab as
soon as possible. There the forensic
scientist would input the fingerprints collected into AFIS where, hopefully, a
hit would come out of it and that individual would later be prosecuted of the
slain woman.
Reference
Saferstein, R. (2007). Criminalistics: An introduction to forensic
science (9th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson
Prentice Hall.
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