QUESTION 1
Scenario
You arrive at a crime scene where there has been an armed robbery. It is a corner convenience store in a quiet part of town, next to the movie theater and across the street from the bank.
Right away, you notice that there is a small amount of blood on the floor next to a broken bottle. But as far as you know, none of the witnesses or victims of the robbery were injured. You also notice a partial bloody handprint on the inside of the door.
The police have told you there were five people in the store when it was robbed. Two were at the back by the milk cooler, one was in the aisle farthest from the door, one was in the restroom, and the cashier was behind the front counter. Witness statements from all of them are being taken. The two people by the milk cooler also had their phones taken by the burglar because he saw them taking his picture.
The video surveillance is very fuzzy. You watch the burglar come in and smash a bottle that he waves around and threaten the patrons with. He then leans on the counter and grabs the cash out of the register. You see him notice the two people hiding by the milk cooler taking his photo with their phones. The burglar runs at them, yelling and waving the jagged glass. He grabs their phones and pushes open the door, leaving a big hand print on the door as he makes his escape. The video then shows a woman coming into the store from the back where the restrooms are located.
Here is a list of all sorts of things you might come across at a crime scene in a small convenience store. You decide which evidence needs to be considered further before you release the crime scene.
the broken bottle
video surveillance from the store
the phones of the cashier and the other witness
video surveillance from the movie theater lobby
a blood sample from the floor and the door
a set of keys in the far aisle
DVDs on the floor next to a spinner display
fingerprints lifted from the inside of the door
the chair the cashier sits on behind the counter
fingerprints lifted from the milk cooler
video surveillance from the ATM at the bank across the street
the chocolate bar on the floor near the milk cooler
the phone of the person in the restroom
fingerprints on the front counter
access to the cloud account or “track my phone” app on the two stolen phones
a knife found on the floor near the back of the store
Questions to answer about the scenario:
Which evidence do you want to send to the crime lab?
What test(s) would you like to have run on the evidence you selected?
Why do you believe this evidence might help a prosecutor make their case in court?
To help you draft your response, make a table in your notes (such as the one below) to first organize your ideas.
Evidence Location Found Forensic Test Value for Trial
QUESTION 2
Scenario 1
Jordan is on a ride along with Officer Leo. Officer Leo pulls over a car for making an illegal turn. When he goes up to talk to the driver, he sees a bag of what appears to be illegal drugs on the passenger seat. No one else is in the car. Officer Leo tells the driver to get out of the car. He places the driver in handcuffs, since he is the only officer there, and tells him that he needs to check for weapons. The officer searches the inside of the car and then the trunk. He doesn’t find any weapons, but he does find more drugs in the trunk. Only then does he arrest the driver and return to the station. A colleague processes the driver, and Officer Leo and Jordan go back out.
Are the drugs from the passenger seat of the car the result of a legal search? Why or why not?
What about the drugs from the trunk of that same car? Support you answer.
QUESTION 3
Scenario: Cristina has just come into the crime lab, where Detective John Jones and several boxes of evidence are waiting for her. As he leaves the lab, Jones tells her, “These are the boxes for a burglary case we picked up last night. I’m just dropping them off.”
As she starts to unpack the boxes, Cristina notices some problems right away.
She starts to create a list of items so she can determine which pieces of evidence have chain of custody issues, why they have issues, and what needs to be done about it.
One envelope of pink powder found at the scene. The envelope of powder is labeled with where at the scene it was found (spilled next to the door). It was tested in an outside expert’s lab and found to be a substance that makes picking locks easier. Cristina notes that the lab opened the envelope where the officer had sealed it and signed over the seal. Then they sealed it over in the same place and signed over their seal.
One envelope of pink powder. This envelope is sealed, signed, and dated. However, it does not provide other information about where it was taken from or what it is. Cristina, having read the police report, believes it was taken from a suspect’s pocket away from the scene, but the label does not say this.
One large bag with a descriiption of “shattered glass fragments” gathered at the scene. The bag is sealed and signed, and it specifies that its contents were taken from the scene. Cristina notes there are at least two different kinds of glass in the bag. She cannot tell from the chain of custody details whether all of the glass was found together or simply bagged together.
Cristina thinks each of these items has a chain of custody problem. Answer the following question in your notes. This process will allow you to describe some basic chain of custody issues, as well as to connect some rules to their larger meaning and importance within the criminal justice system.
Question: What is the specific chain of custody problem for each item?
QUESTION 4
Refer to the previous question.
Regarding the evidence and related issues that you wrote about in the previous question, what types of problems could these issues present for a prosecutor in the case?
QUESTION 5
Refer to the previous two questions.
If you were the defense attorney in this case, what arguments would you make in court to help your client?
QUESTION 6
Scenario:
You are assisting the forensic pathologist with an autopsy on a young woman. The police report comes in, and you and the forensic pathologist read it together. It indicates that poison is the suspected cause of death. You and the forensic pathologist begin the autopsy with the external examination. The list below summarizes some of the findings.
Answer the following question for each item of evidence listed below. Do this by providing brief comments or bulleted notes for each item.
Why is recording each of these external evidence observations important in the autopsy?
a tattoo on the wrist of the word “Faith”
four old bruises on the left arm
a new scratch mark on the right hand
an earring in the left earlobe
no earring in the right earlobe
false fingernails with polish, except for two missing on the left hand
a small piece of glass embedded in the left heel, which the pathologist extracts and places in a jar
a small hole in the clothing
smudged makeup on the face
