THE CRIME SCENE!

Evidence:
1.Hair: White Male
2.Hair: Asian
3.Ripped up Note/Handwriting: Ralph Johnson "I have your diamond ring"
4.Wallet: Mr. Kelly Information
5.Footprint: Large Sneaker
6.Blood: Type A
7. Fingerprint:

People Involved:
Jenny Cho
Ralph Johnson
Mike Kelly

Story: In the beginning Ralph Johnson and Jenny Cho teamed up and began planning a robbery against Mike Kelly. However, while watching Mike Kelly, trying to pick up information and figure out the best time to rob the house, Jenny Cho began to fall in love with Mike Kelly. Seeing this Ralph Johnson began to fear that Jenny Cho was trying to grow closer to Mike Kelly in order to get herself onto his will. Ralph Johnson predicted that once Mike Kelly put his new girlfriend onto his will then she would kill him and take all the money. Ralph Johnson soon discovered that Mike Kelly planned to propose to Jenny Cho. Ralph Johnson knew he shouldn't stand for that so on the night when he knew that Mike Kelly and Jenny Cho were together Ralph Johnson broke into Mike Kelly's house shooting at everything he saw. Jenny Cho was killed instantly, however, Mike Kelly was able to get away. On his way out Ralph Johnson picked up the diamond ring and left a note hoping to crush Mike Kelly's dream. Today Mike Kelly is said to be working undercover as a teacher at some fancy school somewhere in North Carolina while Ralph Johnson continues to roam the country looking for the money he unsuccessful tried to steal.

Positive or Negative Blood

When people are told there blood type they are usually told a letter, based on the ABO blood grouping system, and either a positive or negative, based on the Rh factor blood grouping system. If you have positive blood then you have an Rh antigen in their blood plasma. Those who have negative blood do not have the Rh antigen present in their blood plasma, however, they can obtain the Rh antigen by being the receiver in a transfusion involving positive blood. A person with positive blood can receive blood from a person with negative blood with no problems because they already have the Rh antigen.

For more information see: http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/landsteiner/readmore.html

Blood Mixing and Transfusions

Blood Mixing: Over the years the use of mixing blood has become very useful in the different fields f science including medical science. Mixing two people's blood can cause the blood the clump leading to fatal consequences. In the medical field today there are studies going on to observe the effects of mixing human blood with blood from certain animals. In some cases it can be hard to find blood transfusions for life threatening patients so scientists today are trying to find substitutes to save lives.

Transfusions: A person can always give blood to another person if they have the same type of blood, however, this isn't the only way to receive blood from another person. A transfusion can also work if the receiver's blood doesn't have any antibodies against the donor's blood antigens. If the receiver's blood has antibodies that match the donor's blood's antigens then the red cells in the donated blood will clump and the transfusion will fail. To see if who can donate to who see the chart to the left.

For more information see: http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/landsteiner/readmore.html

Types of Blood

When you are born you are given one out of the four different types of blood. You are either given:

• Type A: Type A blood has B antigens in the blood plasma and A antigens on surface of the red blood cells.


• Type B: Type B blood is the opposite of type A blood for it has A antigens in the blood plasma and B antigens on the surface of the red blood cells.


• Type AB: Type AB blood has both A and B antigens on the surface of the red blood cells but has neither A or B antigens in the blood plasma.


• Type O: Type O blood is the opposite of type AB blood because it has neither A or B antigens on the surface the red blood cells but has both A and B antigens in the blood plasma.

For more information see: http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/landsteiner/readmore.html

Blood Lab

After completing the blood lab I was able to understand how blood type works in a lab. I now know that anti-serum A and anti-serum B can be used to figure out the type of blood for an unknown blood sample. Also I understood, after researching and doing this lab, how you can't mix certain bloods during a blood transfusion.

Purpose: To observe the four different types of blood by using anti serum A and anti serum B.

Procedure:
1. Place two small dots of the type of blood on a slide
2. To one of the dots add a dot of anti serum A and mix
3. To the second dot add a small dot of anti serum B and mix
4. Observe the effects and record
5. Repeat for the other three types of blood.

Data:
1. Blood Type A: Anti serum A produced hair like precipitate and turns the blood pink while anti serum B turned the blood orange.
2. Blood Type B: Anti serum A produced no results while anti serum B produced a cloudy precipitate
3. Blood Type AB: Anti serum A produced little white precipitates while anti serum B produced a cloudy precipitate
4. Blood Type O: Anti serum A turned the blood pale pink while anti serum B turned the blood orange

History of Hair/Fiber Analysis

Hair: Over the years crime scene investigators have been developing new ways to catch criminals. Two of the newest ways that have been discovered are done by using hair and fibers, found at the scene of the crime, to help determine who did it and with what. In 1899 Francois Goron, a forensic scientists, was able to tell the court the the victim of the murder, which he was researching, had dyed his hair before the crime took place. This important discovery led to the identity of the body and brought the case a step closer to finding the criminal. In later years forensic scientists would discover that by studying a piece of a victim you can tell whether or not metal toxicity or different types of drugs were involved.

Fiber: the study of fibers has been used in many criminal cases to catch who ever was guilty. In a trail held in 1997 the FBI was able to catch the two criminals by finding a tiny tread of the criminals jeans at the crime scene. Over the next few years crime scene investigators have been able to discover the guilty and the story behind the crime by observing tiny fibers left behind by the criminal. Tiny threads of cotton, fabric, skin, or clothing can help end a very difficult case.

For more information see:
http://www.crimeandclues.com/hair_evidence.htmto
http://www.hairanalysistest.com/
http://www.google.com/search?q=forensic+fiber+analysis+history&hl=en&rlz=1R2GGLL_en&sa=X&tbo=p&tbs=tl:1,tll:2000,tlh:2004&ei=uh-lSuHlM4KRtgeSwr0F&oi=timeline_histogram_main&ct=timeline-histogram&cd=11

Techniques to Identify Hair/Fibers

Hair: The most basic form of identifying hair samples is looking at different samples under a lightened microscope and comparing it to various originals. For example male hair usually looks alike so if you were able to math an unknown sample to an Asian hair sample then you would be able to conclude that your suspect is Asian. However, there are many things that makes hair analysis unreliable for example if you use any type of bleach, shampoo, or hair dyes in your hair it can change the way that it looks under to microscope therefore causing a negative test for any forensic scientist. techniques
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/backissu/july2000/deedric1.htm


Fibers: Almost the same technique is used when identifying fibers. In order to find the identity of a fiber you would need to take a small piece of the fiber and look at it under a microscope and then compare it to original samples of fibers to find a match. Another method would be the stain test which proves if a fiber is hydrophobic, meaning it will not absorb water, or hydrophilic, meaning it will absorb water. A density test can also be used to see if the fiber will either float or sink, however, fiber blends can skew the results.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/80155/textile_fiber_identification_pg2.html?cat=51

Guesses of Fiber Lab

Based on the look of the different fibers under the microscope and the look and feel of the fibers when scene by the naked eye these are my guesses of the identities of the six fibers in the fiber analysis lab.

1.Cotton
2.Rubber (Rubber band)
3.Some type of hair (fake hair or doll hair)
4.Polyester
5.Ribbon
6.Thread

Inaccuracy in Handwriting Analysis

When examining handwriting evidence at a crime scene a forensic scientist may think that they know who the criminal is, however, they must take in to account these things:
*If a criminal was really smart they could forge their own handwriting
*Handwriting can change depending on what writing instrument you are using, for example a pen or a pencil
*Handwriting can change depending on your mood, if your happy your handwriting tends to go up while if you are mad your handwriting may go down
*Handwriting can be smugged depending on where the piece of paper goes or if it gets wet
*A criminal can trace another person's handwriting in order to frame the other person

History of Handwriting Analysis

The study of handwriting, or graphology, can become a very useful tool during an investigation. It all started back in 1622 when the first record of handwriting was published by an Italian physician, and professor of philosophy at the University of Bologna, by the name of Camillo Baldi. In his book A Method to Recognize the Nature and Quality of a Writer from His Letters Camillo made the observation that like snowflakes all human writings have their own unique style. In the late 1800's Crepieux Jamin used his partner Abbe Michon books on the analysis of handwriting in order to classify the many features of handwriting into a comprehensive system. Today handwriting is difficult to use during an investigation for some criminals may try to disguise their original handwriting, however, some companies still hire graphology experts to help profile their job candidates. Also crime scene investigators have found that if a criminal is in a hurry they often forget to change their original handwriting and the criminal can be tracked using graphology. Over all graphology may not be the best way to find the criminal, however, in a big investigation every little bit of information can help to put it to an end.

For more information see: http://www.enotes.com/forensic-science/handwriting-analysis or http://www.graphicinsight.co.za/background.htm

Indicators of Handwriting and Forgeries

1. Line Quality: Do the letters flow or are they written with very intent strokes?
2. Spacing of Words and Letters: What is the average space between words and letters?
3. Ratio of Height, width, and size of letters: Are the lettersconsistent in height, width, and size?
4. Lifting Pen: Does the auithor life his or her pen to stop writing a word and start a new word?
5. Connecing Strokes: How are capital letters connected to lower-case letters?
6. Strokes to begin and end: Where does the letter connected to lower-case letters?
7. Unusual letter formation: Are letters written with unusual slants or angles? Are some letters printed rather then written in cursive?
8. Pen Pressure: How much pen pressure is applied on upward and downward strokes?
9. Slant: Do letters slant to the left or right? If slant is pronounced, a protractor may be used to determine the degree.
10. Baseline Habits: Does the authopr write on the line or does the writing go above or below the line?
11. Fancy Writing Habits: Are there any unusual curls or loops or unique styles?
12. Placement of Diacritics: How the the author cross the t's or dot the i's?

Forensics in Class

Through out the unit of forensics we have been doing different activities in class. For example:

• Hand Writing Analysis: For this assignment we were told to copy a ransom note off the board in our own handwriting. We then gave our paper to one of our two partners who then tried to forge our handwriting. Finally we switched papers again, giving it to our other partner who then copied our original note in our original handwriting.
  
• Check Puzzle: Everyone in the class was giving a copy of a check which we were told to fill out using the information on the board. After filling out the check we were then told to rip it into tiny pieces and put it into an envelope that had a number corresponding to our name. The envelopes were then distributed around the class at random and we were instructed to put the pieces back together of the ripped up checks. After all the checks were put back together we were sent around the room to look at the other student's handwriting to try to figure out whose check we had to put together.
  
• Fingerprinting: This assignment was one of our first ones in our forensics unit. We were given a sheet with ten boxes on it, each one of which was labeled with the name of a finger. We were then told to place our fingers in ink and then put our fingerprint into the correctly labeled box. Finally we were given a sheet with examples of the eight types of fingerprints and were told to identify our own fingerprints.

Techniques and Chemicals Used To Develop Pints

There are many way in which a detective can develop prints at a crime scene or in lab. For example you can use:

• The Powder and Tape Method: This uses different powders, usually involving carbon or aluminum, which is applied gently to the surface where the print is. The detetive, or whoever is developing the print, then takes a very fine brush and gently brushes at the power until the prints is completely covered. By blowing the excess powder away and placing a piece of tape over the print gently you should be able to lift the print with no problem.


• The cyanoacrylate fuming method: This method involves taking some sort of methylcyanoacrylate or ethylcyanoacrylate superglue and placing it over the print. The methylcyanoacrylate or ethylcyanoacrylates in the glue then react with the amino acids in the print and also with the mositure in the air forming, making a visible print.


• Ninhydrin: This is sparyed or dabbed unto the surface of the print and after reacting with the amino acids in the print it will form a purple or pink compund making the print visible.
  

For more information see: http://www.forensic-medecine.info/fingerprints.html

Basic Shapes and Patterns

There are eight types of patterns that can be found on your fingertips, however, the size or number of ridges that make up this pattern can be variate from person to person. The first pattern is called a plain arch and looks almost like a little hill made up of the ridges on your fingers. A tented arch looks kind of like a tent as it is made up of ridges that go straight up and then straight down. These two types of arches make up about five percent of the prints collected so far. There are three types of loop patterns, which make up seventy percent of the patterns collected, that can be found after taking a fingerprint. A ular loop makes a loop that faces the right while a radial loop makes a loop the faces to the right. The other type of loop pattern is called a central pocket loop which is a loop around a circle, usually located in the middle of your finger. The last three types of patterns are called whorl patterns and make up about twenty five to thity five percent of the patterns collected. The first type of whorl is called a plain whorl as it basically makes a simple swirl aroung your finger started in the center. A double loop whorl is made up of two distinct loops that go in opposite directions along your fingertip. The finally type of whorl is called an accidental whorl which is made up of a big swirl going around a center swirl, usually to the right. These eight types of prints can be found on anyone's fingers, however, everyone has their own unique set depending on which pattern you have on what finger. the patterns found on your fingertips are for life and even if you were to cut off the pads of your finger when your skin grows back the patterns will grow back as well!

For more information see: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/identifying-fingerprint-patterns-types-of-fingerprints.html

Types of Fingerprints

Latent: Latent fingerprints are formed by a combination of water, salt, amino acids and oils contained in sweatand must be developed before they can be seen.These type of fingerprints are the only type that cannot be seen by the naked eye, however, they can be made visable through the techniques of dusting, fuming, or usage of chemical reagents.
Plastic: Plastic prints, also known as impressed prints are left in pliable surfaces such as clay or paint. These fingerprints require no development in order to be photographed or viewed.
Direct: Direct fingerprints are formed when a substances comes in contact with the skin of the finger as the finger touches a smooth surface. This type of fingerprint leaves a clear pattern of ridges that can be seen without development of any kind. Blood is a great example of a substance can be used to produce a direct fingerprint.

For more information: http://www.fingerprinting.com/types-of-fingerprints.php

Fingerprinting History

The set of ridges on the pads of your fingers, or fingerprints as they are more commonly called, have been used around the world, for many centuries, in various ways. For example in the early 1600's fingerprints were used as signatures for a vast number of important government papers in countries such as Ancient Persia. However, in countries such as Ancient China and Ancient Babylon fingerprints were more commonly found on business transactions and clay seals. In 1686 a man by the name of Marcello Malpighi discovered that there were different patterns inscribed in the fingerprints but made no mention toward these patterns being used as a tool for individual identification. During the early and mid 19th century the idea of fingerprints opened up to new resources. In 1858 a man by the name of Sir William Herschel began a fingerprint collection from which he found that the ink prints he had collected were different for each individual and could be used as a way to identify a specfic person. Today we use fingerprints for everything from finding a missing child to keeping track of convicted felons. The FBI currently maintains a fingerprint library with more than ten percent of the entire US population. One great example of how the technique of fingerprinting has changed would be the automated fingerprinting identification system, or AFIS, which had allowed police departments to access the FBI's fingerprint library by computer. Over the course of history the usage of fingerprinting has changed, however, it will always remain a unique way for people to show their individuality.
For more information: http://www.aladdinusa.com/documentationservices/fingerhistory.htm