Crime Scene Forensics - Categorizing the Evidence Found at a Crime Scene

Evidence refers to anything that can be used to find out whether a crime has been perpetrated. Evidence may tie a perpetrator to a scene, support or deny an alibi or statement, identify the offender or victim, exonerate an innocent individual, induce a confession, or warrant further investigation.

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All evidence is not the same. Depending on its characteristics and reliability, evidence can be subdivided into numerous categories. For instance, a person's account of a crime falls into a different category than a piece of hair or fiber left behind at the scene.

Evidence can be categorized as follows:

Crime Scene Forensics - Categorizing the Evidence Found at a Crime Scene

Direct-Direct evidence establishes a fact. Circumstantial-Circumstantial evidence requires that a judge or jury make an indirect judgment about what occurred. Physical-Physical evidence refers to any nonliving, inanimate objects such as fingerprints, tool marks, or paint smudges. Biological-Biological evidence involves organic, living items such as blood, urine, or saliva. Reconstructive-Reconstructive evidence is evidence that allows criminal investigators to gain better knowledge of what transpired at the crime scene. For instance, a broken lock can indicate a break-in. Associative-Associative evidence links a suspect to the crime scene. This can include fingerprints, hair, or fibers. Class characteristics-Characteristics of evidence that is unique to a large group of objects. Individual characteristics-Characteristics of evidence that is unique to one person or a small group of individuals.

Once evidence is categorized, the next step in forensics is to analyze the evidence. The reason they analyze the evidence is make identifications and comparisons. Identification involves what specifically a certain item or substance is. Is the white powder heroin or cocaine? Is the brown stain spaghetti sauce or blood? A comparison is made to ascertain whether a known and a suspect item or substance have something in common. For instance, did the hair or blood come from the offender? Do the shards of plastic embedded in the victim's clothing match the plastic turn signal housing of the suspect's car? A forensic scientist can conclude if the two substances are a positive or a negative match.

Once crime scene investigators analyze a piece of evidence, they will derive a linkage, or tie between a perpetrator and a person, place, or object. For instance, the offender's fingerprint or saliva at the scene of a burglary or rape strongly ties the offender to the scene of the crime.

Crime Scene Forensics - Categorizing the Evidence Found at a Crime Scene

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Civil Disobedience - Is it a Crime?

Many of the greatest civil rights movements that the world has seen have come about through the use of nonviolent resistance. In many cases, this resistance was civil disobedience, which is the intentional disobedience of a law. The protesting individuals broke these laws because they felt that they were unjust.

While protest is legal and civil disobedience sometimes occurs as a result, disobedience is not legal. Breaking the law is always a crime, regardless of whether and individual breaks it intentionally or unintentionally. It is important to keep this in mind should you ever decide to protest a law.

Crime

The sentencing for civil disobedience depends on the law that an individual breaks. Some crimes may be considered misdemeanors, meaning that individuals guilty of the crime may get off with just paying fines or performing a set number of hours of community service.

Civil Disobedience - Is it a Crime?

If the law an individual breaks is a felony, though, he or she may face jail time or further punishment. Many of the crimes committed that fall under civil disobedience tend to be misdemeanors, but some individuals may commit felonies.

Some instances of civil disobedience may cause the disruptive individual to injure or seriously harm an innocent bystander. This may make the offense greater, as well as open the possibility of a personal injury lawsuit.

Regardless of the crime, it is important to hire an experienced criminal defense attorney to handle the case. Criminal cases are heard before juries, so accused individuals should hire the dedicated legal representation that they deserve. Criminal cases require a high degree of legal experience and an attorney who is well trained in presenting evidence.

If you have been accused of civil disobedience, an experienced lawyer, such as the San Jose criminal defense attorneys of the Law Office of Daniel Jensen, may be able to help you get a reduced sentence or avoid sentencing altogether if you are innocent.

Civil Disobedience - Is it a Crime?

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How Are Fingerprints Obtained From a Crime Scene?

A fingerprint is comprised of a collection of different swirling lines, each one completely unique based on the way the lines are formed and patterned. There are only seven different line types that make up different finger prints, but because the lines can start, split or stop at any point within the fingerprint, there are an endless number of patterns that can be created. The billions of different fingerprints that exist are comprised of many different angles, lengths, formations, widths and heights of these seven different line types.

Fingerprints left at crime scenes can be uncovered using several different methods. One of the most popular methods uses various adhering powders that are attracted to the oils present in fresh fingerprints. The fingerprint is made visible because the powder sticks to the oil imprint of the lines and ridges, forming the fingerprint. Another method for discovering fingerprints involves using either superglue, or Cyano-Acrylate, that vaporize when heated and the smoke attaches to the fingerprint in order to leave a visible white print. There are other methods that can be utilized in order to discover latent finger prints, but these typically involve specialized laboratory equipment that is not always available to crime scene technicians.

Crime

Fingerprint dusting methods work best with fresh fingerprints because they rely on our skin oils that are naturally secreted from the eccrine glands in our fingertips and are left behind on surfaces that we touch. Only the raised portions of our fingerprints actually touch the surface, which leaves a nice clear fingerprint behind. Fingerprinting dust clings to these skin oils, which is what allows the print to become visible.

How Are Fingerprints Obtained From a Crime Scene?

Most fingerprints are initially run through state criminal fingerprint databases first. Not all state crime labs have access to the IAFIS database, even though the database is essentially free to use and is available for any crime lab to obtain. Typically, if a crime lab has no luck with a fingerprint search on a local level, they can turn to IAFIS in an attempt to find an out-of-state fingerprint match.

Originally fingerprints only had a great deal of purpose when it came to solving crimes that had already occurred, though fingerprinting is gaining popularity in other crime-fighting methods. Biometrics allow people to keep track of the public coming and going in some circumstances, such as entering a court house by first giving your fingerprint. Many states require you to give your fingerprint when you apply for your driver's license, or have a check cashed in order to prevent fraud. Children are being fingerprinted early so that if they ever go lost, it will be easier to find them because they are in the system. And some high profile buildings like banks have locks which rely on fingerprints in order to open them. So there is a lot more that a fingerprint can do than simply put a bad guy away. They can also keep people safe, and help keep track of people by storing them in the fingerprint database.

How Are Fingerprints Obtained From a Crime Scene?

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