The process of gathering evidence is very critical. During this process, evidence collected is in four categories: Real, Documentary, Demonstrative, and Testimonial. Testimonial evidence is the witness’s statement in the trial. Demonstrative, is the use of maps or diagrams to demonstrate a witness testimony. Documentary evidence are the legal or non-legal documents between parties involved. Real evidence are physical things that were used or found on the crime scene.
The fingerprint image provided is categorized under real evidence. The type of surface where the evidence has been collected categorizes it: Invisible, and visible prints. Different techniques are used in analyzing different types of prints. Visible (Patent) prints can be collected from either rough, porous, nonporous or in smooth surfaces.
Invisible (Latent) prints originate from body sweat or body’s natural oils. They are not visible to the eyes and usually requires an alternate light, chemical reagent, or fingerprint powder to be used. Photography is used in collecting patent prints on surfaces. Latent prints however, can’t be seen with cameras and require dusting of the surfaces. Clearly seen prints obtained can be photographed and an adhesive tape used to lift it from the surface. Latent lift card is used to preserve the lifting tape’s print.
Blood spatter and bloody shoes are categorized as real evidence. The evidence are used to deduce location of individuals involved in the crime, and in what sequence or how exactly did the crime took place. There are two categories of blood spatter evidence: dried and liquid blood. Evidence of liquid blood is usually extracted from cloths or collected from blood pools on the any surface. Collected samples are refrigerated and taken to the laboratory before 48 hours to ensure they remain useful to the case. Dried blood can be found on small items, clothes or the floor. In cases where it’s detected on small items, it’s wrapped and labelled, the whole item may be sent to the laboratory for analysis. Incase it’s found on a large surface, the whole surface is covered with tape or paper to avoid contamination. Another method of extracting a sample from an item is by using a sharp and clean tool to scrape stain flakes into a paper pocket that is wrapped and labelled and sent to the laboratory.
During the trial case of O.J Simpson. A lot of blood was collected from the residence of Brown Simpson’s apartment (Brandy, 2020).
The trails of blood collected from different room of the apartment and the pathway as seen on the image above were used to determine events of that night (Brandy, 2020). Forensic analysis performed on the blood revealed the presence of O.J in the crime scene at the night of the murder.
Bloody glasses| Hal Garb/AFP/Getty Image.
Glasses belong to the mother of Brown Simpson as shown in the image above, played a critical role in the verdict of the jury who ruled a “NOT GUILTY” verdict leading to the release of O.J despite of the overwhelming evidence presented in the court (Mullaney, 2018).
References
Brandy, E. (2020). A photo from the Los Angeles Police Department shows blood and footprints found at the scene of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman’s murder [Image]. Retrieved 27 June 2020, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2016/06/02/photos-sent-oj-simpson-spiraling/84911596/.
Mullaney, J. (2018). Bloody glasses were critical evidence. | Hal Garb/AFP/Getty Images [Image]. Retrieved 27 June 2020, from https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/infamous-photos-from-o-j-simpson-murder-trial.html/.
