Crime Scene Investigation - Chapter 8 - Note Taking (Documentation)

1. Who....

¡Who notified You? ¡Who spoke to you upon arrival? ¡Who told you information? ¡Who was on scene? ¡Who was inside scene? ¡Who was assisting you? ¡Who gave you additional information? ¡Who are your teammates?

2. What...

§What were you told? §What Date/Time did you get notified? §What did they tell you upon arrival? §What was on the scene? Any specialized vehicles? §What was inside the scene? §What were your teammates doing? §What additional information did you receive? §What is the weather §What is the lighting conditions §What does the geographical area look like?

4. When....

§When were you told? §When did you arrive on scene? §When did you receive additional information? §When did you collect evidence? §When did you photograph? §When did you sketch §When did you video? §When did you process a particular item/area? §When did you release the scene

3. Where...

§Where were you when you were notified? §Where did you go after you were notified? §Where was the scene? §Where was the crime scene tape perimeter §Where were the officers guarding the scene? §Where is the victim? On scene or not on scene?

Addition Techniques Used - How Do I Document Them?

- Areas were the techniques were employed, and the results of such techniques are all appropriate for inclusion in the notes. THIs is particularly important when a method meets with negative results -> - Areas which concluded in a positive result are also noted and described in more detail in an official report -> - It's not necessary to comment on actions you do not do or in which they revealed no evidence such as rooms that are disturbed -> - It's important to comment in such way in the final report that you did the action and had not discovered any additional evidence however, there's no reason to describe in detail the negative finding. A simple sentence stating the area was searched for additional items and met with negative results will be sufficient

Conditions of the Scene

- The "conditions of the scene" is a section intended to identify the specific conditions that are pertinent to the investigation. This includes identifying the cleanliness, level of disarray, descriptions of items of evidence (including transient evidence) and other pertinent aspects. - Rooms or areas that are undisturbed or lack specific items of evidence should be commented on in some fashion (e.g., the kitchen was found to be unremarkable). The "conditions of the scene" section, in any significant case, can become extensive. - Oftentimes, the most effective method of describing the conditions is to break this section into subsections, dealing with each subset room or area. Whenever possible, do not include subjective factors and inferences formed from the scene condition in this section. Try to report the conditions objectively without inference. This can be very difficult to accomplish, particularly when describing circumstances involving negative evidence, i.e., situations in which something that the technician would expect to be present is not.

Example: Search for Latent Fingerprints

A brush-and-powder examination was made of the door and doorframe. The interior handle of the apartment was superglued and then dusted. Several partial latent prints were recovered here. The coffee table in the living room was examined under ALS, using fluorescent powder, resulting in the recovery

Example: Environmental Conditions - Interior Scene

A light rain fell over the previous 2-days. As a result, the sidewalk leading to the apartment was noted to have standing water present. At the time of scene examination external temperatures were in the 50s. The apartment thermostat was set at 82° and the heater was on. The air inside the apartment was noted to be hot and dry.

Example: Introduction

Between 14:00 and 23:35 hours, 10 Jan. 2002, G. Smith and R. Hanson conducted an examination of a reported death scene located in Apartment 3A, 4657 Jonesboro Road, Lake City, GA. The following conditions, observations and actions were noted.

Example: Factors Pertinent to Entry and Exit

Ex1. The victim placed the suspect in the scene as having approached from the east or rear of the strip mall. It would nearly be impossible for anyone exiting this area on foot to pass without running across multiple locations of mud and debris. Any vehicle located at the rear would have to exit via the north side, adjacent the laundry. As previously noted, there is no evidence to suggest such an entry or exit. Ex2. There was no forced entry evident. The lock on the garage door was intact when fire units arrived. The window in the east wall was determined to have been devoid of any pane material, prior to the fire. Galvanized steel beams that are still in place, however, prevented access by a person, but objects could easily be introduced through this opening.

Characteristics of the Scene

Provides a general description of the static scene conditions (e.g., building, room, or area) and associated features of the scene such as doors, windows, openings, and geographical features of exterior scenes and their relationship to the surrounding area. Furniture, appliances, and other standard artifacts that would be present in the scene day to day are described in some detail as well. This section describes stable and static conditions at the scene.

Search For Fingerprints

Since fingerprints and DNA are standard items of interest at nearly any scene, a section of the crime scene report is directed at both. This section should identify the areas where fingerprinting was attempted, where it succeeded, and the nature of the prints recovered (e.g., partial latent prints, palm prints, footprints). In the current environment where trace/Touch DNA examinations are an integral part of major crime scene investigations, an additional but similar section detailing DNA collections efforts is appropriate.

Factors Pertinent to Entry and Exit

The "factors pertinent to entry and exit" section is intended to deal with both known and possible avenues of approach and departure from the scene. First and foremost, the technician should identify the objective characteristics of the entry/exit. However, some level of inference is also necessary in evaluating the likelihood that a given approach was or was not used.

Scene Documentation

The "scene documentation" section is intended to describe the basic efforts taken to photograph and sketch the scene. The technician can describe the equipment used, the nature of the documentation created (e.g., a rough sketch, detailed total-station/scan sketch), and if considered necessary for immediate reference, details about which photo placards relate to which items of evidence.

Final Crime Scene Documentation Info

- Crime scene notes should document all of the investigative effort. - Formats should always follow SOP. - Break the report into functional paragraphs that deal with specific issues and aspects of the scene. - This format should include a description of the static conditions of the scene, its current condition, environmental aspects, a discussion of entry and exit points, and any specific techniques employed to recover physical evidence.

When do you begin your notetaking?

- Notes should begin with notification of the crime - Identify specific actions upon arrival - Provide a clear and detailed record of ALL OBSERVATIONS and actions taken while in the scene - Descriptions of techniques (presumptive tests, fingerprinting methods, etc.) employed and should include where they were employed

Purpose of Technicians doing Crime Scene Documentation (and 3 things the descriptions should be)

- The crime scene technician has the purpose and mission of objectively identifying the condition of the entire scene, which will lead to recognition of events that occurred at a scene. - If the technician is to accurately document the condition of the scene in as pristine a condition as possible, it is imperative that narrative scene descriptions be: • Detailed, with all pertinent facts and conditions documented • Accurate, with few inferences or subjective evaluations included • Understandable, i.e., logical and organized

Crime Scene Documentation consists of what 6 key elements?

1.Notes 2.Photographs 3.Video 4.Sketches 5.Measurements 6.Diagrams

Environmental Conditions

The "environmental conditions" section reports on any weather or scene conditions noted at the time of the investigation. If a known time frame exists for the event or crime, this is a good place to identify any known weather conditions that existed during that time frame (e.g., type of precipitation, amounts, and temperature ranges). The impact of any existing conditions on the scene should be noted as well (e.g., rain washing away bloody areas, wet shoe prints drying on asphalt).

Introduction

The introduction is intended to identify WHO worked the scene examination, where the scene was, the time and date of the examination, and a short explanation regarding the reason for the scene examination.

Crime scene documentation in the form of narrative description is produced at 2 distinct points. 2 Distinct points and description of each

1.NOTES all of the crime scene notes taken contemporaneously while conducting investigative efforts on scene. 2.CRIME SCENE REPORT, which consolidates and synopsizes the relevant details that the crime scene technician thinks are important. Both narratives must be detailed, accurate, and understandable. Short, synopsized narratives that speak to only central-theme items in the scene will serve little function in supporting other crime scene documentation or in resolving specific investigative issues that may develop months or even years later.

Example: Characteristics of the Scene - Interior Scene

5396 Lakeland Road is a single-story cinderblock business, one part of a larger strip mall operation. The business is set up as a karaoke bar. The main business entrance is located on the west side of the building; the entire west wall consists of tinted pane glass. There are two employee/service entrances located at the rear (east side) of the building. The southernmost service entrance on the east side of the building was the apparent point of entry. This door consists of a heavy metal door, with a single indoor locking mechanism. Mounted on the inside of the door there is an additional sliding-bar mechanism. This entrance leads through a small tiled foyer, into the primary business. The main floor plan is set up with multiple small tables and chairs (15 tables), a number of video machines, and a small service counter. The main floor is tiled. The service counter is located in the northeast corner of the main floor. The counter is set in an L-shape, extending off the east wall, with the L opening to the north wall. On the customer side of the counter, the height of the counter is approximately 5-ft. On the service side of the counter, the height is approximately 4-ft. On the section of the service counter extending from the east wall, there is a single cash register. There are a number of additional items present on the counter to include a receipt book, a notebook, and misc. items. Adjacent the east wall is a sound system/amplifier. An entryway to the immediate east of the service counter leads into additional storage and service areas. There is a single wood-frame door located to the immediate north of the service counter; this door is closed and locked.

Additional Examinations (and 5 examples)

Once these standard sections are dealt with, the remaining format of the crime scene report is open to describe any additional evaluations or examinations, dependent upon the specifics of the crime and the efforts directed at the scene. Sections or descriptions that might be included are: • Evident fire patterns and fire-flow evaluations at fire scenes • Trajectory analysis in shooting scenes • Bloodstain pattern analysis in violent scenes • Electrostatic lifter examination for footwear • Specialized chemical enhancements (e.g., luminol, amido-black, or lueco-crystal voilet) and their results

Example: Scene Documentation

Photographs were exposed of the general area using a Nikon F2A camera, employing both a 50-mm lens and a 55-mm macro lens, set at ISO 400. A rough scene sketch was prepared detailing the general characteristics and measurements. In the photographs, placards were placed at four locations depicting the following: • Placard 1: Large pile of pine straw adjacent the north sidewalk, undisturbed • Placard 2: Smaller pine straw pile adjacent the fence line, undisturbed • Placard 3: Pine straw collected from runoff at the corner of the building, undisturbed • Placard 4: Location of the two papers, between the dumpster and building

Collection of Evidence

The "collection of physical evidence" section can be used in a variety of ways depending upon custom, standard operating procedure (SOP), and the nature of other evidence-collection documents that the organization utilizes. If custom or SOP demand creating a consolidated written log of all evidence collected at the scene (which many organizations use), then there is no purpose in recreating that information in the report (Figure 8.4). In that instance, a short description of major items of evidence that the technician feels are important can be included. This will provide an immediate reference to the reader, without having to refer to the evidence log. If the organization does not use a consolidated evidence log, then a description of what was seized and where it was found is a very functional inclusion to this section of the report.

Example: Characteristics of the Scene - Interior Scene (#2)

The apartment is a ground floor, two-bedroom apartment. There is one entryway leading from the north side of the building into the living room and one entryway leading from the north side of the building into the kitchen. A screened-in sitting porch is present on the west side of the building, with no entrance/exit way from the porch itself to the exterior. The sitting porch and living room are connected through a double sliding glass door. The living room connects to a small hallway and dining area, which is to the immediate south of the kitchen. The hallway extends south approximately 20-ft, with two bedrooms on the west side and a bathroom on the east side. The master bedroom is located at the far southwest side of the apartment, and contains a single queen bed, a standard dresser, and one night-table. There is a large window in the west wall, with curtains in place. The smaller bedroom has two twin beds in it, a chest of drawers and one small night-table. It has a single window with small venetian blinds, closed and in place. The kitchen, where the victim is located, is oriented with cabinetry and sinks on the east side, with a washer and dryer located at the far northeast side. There is a cabinet and stove combination on the northwest side and a refrigerator in the southwest corner. A small window is present in this area that looks out on the front porch.

Example: Condition of the Scene - Interior Scene Involving a Body

The living room was unremarkable, with no signs of evident disturbance. The dining room was unremarkable as well; there was a pair of men's shorts and a shirt draped across a small wooden stool, located in the northeast corner of the dining area. The master bedroom was unremarkable. The bed was made and no bedclothes were evident on the floor. The smaller bedroom was unremarkable, with both beds made and no apparent clothing out. The bathroom was clean, unremarkable, with no evident wet linen, or toiletry items out. In the southeast counter area of the kitchen there was a cup of coffee, which was approximately 2/3 full, a spoon was sitting adjacent the cup. Alongside this area was a small religious type book, opened to page 64/65. The annotations in the book were apparently messages for the day. The book was open to the appropriate time frame (Sunday 7/15). The sink was cluttered, but no dirty dishes were present, nor evidence in the immediate area of any meals being prepared. The stove had a single clean aluminum pot on it, but this item was empty and not on a burner. Neither the burners nor the stove were on. There was a telephone located on the south wall, on the east side of the kitchen. The phone was on the hook. There was a small plastic bag with garbage present on the top of the dryer. With the exception of the victim's presence, the kitchen is unremarkable with no sign of disturbance. An elderly black male was lying on the kitchen floor. He was wearing a white T-shirt and a white pair of briefs. His head was oriented to the north, with his feet extending back to the south. His position was immediately north of the counter that held the cup of coffee. The man's right arm was bent at the elbow, almost parallel with the upper arm. This arm was lying adjacent the right side of the body, against the dryer and cabinet. The left arm was beneath the body, bent at an approximately 45° angle. There were no evident injuries noted on the posterior side of the individual and no defects in the clothing. There was no incontinence noted, other than minor urine discoloration in the briefs. Although not significant in volume, a brown and red exudate was evident to the east side of the individual's face. Rigor was set in the lower and upper extremities. No evident livor was noted. Upon turning the individual over, a 45-mm laceration/abrasion was noted over the right eyebrow co-located with a large knot. The injury is linear and lies relatively horizontal with the eyebrow. There are no injuries evident on the knees or elbows, and no other injuries or defects are noted on the body and clothing.

Example: Characteristics of the Scene - Exterior Scene

The rape scene is located on the northernmost section of the LC Center, a small business strip mall. Smith's Laundry is the last business located on the northern side of the one-story strip mall. All businesses are contained in a single building. From the northwest corner of the laundry, the building extends at least 150-ft to the south. A sidewalk, 4-ft in width, runs along the north side of the building from the northwest corner of the laundry, 60-ft to the east. At this point the building extends to the south then east again, creating a small corner. A chain-link fence begins at this corner and extends east to the rear of the strip mall; the fence effectively encloses and eliminates access to this rear area. To the immediate north of the building is a small parking area, which is bordered by a landscaped barrier that rises at least 10-ft in elevation to the parkway. Lighting on the north side of the street is minimal, and the rear area where the dumpster is located is dark. The view of passing traffic on the parkway is significantly obscured by a number of pine trees that line the roadway. The sidewalks are of concrete construction, while the parking area is asphalt.

Example: Condition of the Scene - Interior Scene

The service entryway on the east side of the building was standing open, with evident pry marks caused by a two-pronged instrument. The overall blade width of this instrument appears to be in excess of 11/2 in. The metal screws holding the sliding bar on the inside surface of the door have been forced from the metal frame door, allowing the bar to disengage. Examination of the tiled floor of the foyer fails to locate any evident dust prints. The main café is unremarkable, with the exception of a missing cash drawer from the cash register. There were no evident pry marks present on the opening to the register. Approximately $24 in U.S. currency is located in the rear of the cash register cash drawer opening, suggesting that some item was inserted in an attempt to open the drawer. Although the position of the cash register on the counter indicates it was displaced and moved in some fashion, other items on the counter show little evidence of displacement or movement. Examination of the main room located three dust prints of possible significance. One was located on the tile floor of the main room (Placard 2), leading to the foyer and the point of forced entry. This shoe mark was a complete tread, possibly of a heavy running shoe or boot. The orientation of the mark was with the toes pointed to the southeast. An additional mark was located on the main floor (Placard 3). This mark was a tennis shoe style tread. The toes were oriented facing south. A third dust print was located behind the counter facing the south (Placard 5) but failed to produce a lift of any value. A fourth dust mark was evident on the wood door, to the immediate north of the service counter (Placard 4). This door was later identified as additional storage and the location of the video tape recorder for the surveillance system. This print was similar to the tread design observed behind the counter. No other items appeared to have been damaged, and there was no immediate evidence to suggest that the internal doors had been jimmied in any fashion. It should be noted that the alarm system was active and operational. However, motion detectors in the building are set to only activate when there is motion in or around the west wall (the main entrance). While conducting scene processing, these motion detectors did not activate until the main doors were approached.

Example: Condition of the Scene - Exterior Scene

The sidewalk leading from the front of the strip mall along the north side of the building is unremarkable. There is a large pile of pine needles 44-ft east of the northwest corner of the sidewalk, which extends into the parking area at least 7-ft. The pine needles are undisturbed. Alongside the chain-link fence is an area of mud and debris and another pile of pine needles. Examination of the entire area fails to show any recent disturbance. A check after completing the scene examination determined that simply walking in this area caused evident footwear marks. At the end of the fence line, the building orientation creates another corner. Adjacent this location is a dumpster, set approximately 5-ft east of the building. Once again the area is muddy, with another pine needle collection created as a result of runoff. The only disturbances in the mud are those caused by the movement of one wheel of the dumpster. The total movement evident is only 2- or 3-in., and it is unclear if this is recent. Between the building and dumpster are two pieces of paper. One is a local newspaper, dated 19 Jan. 2000; the other is an 8 × 10-in. folded piece of paper. Beyond being water-logged, neither paper has been stepped on, muddied or damaged. Beyond the dumpster, the parking lot extends eastward to the very rear of the strip mall grounds. There are substantial amounts of red clay present, which is situated in the most direct line of departure for anyone leaving the area to the rear. There are no footwear marks or disturbances present with the exception of large tire marks that appear to be a commercial sized vehicle. These marks do not appear fresh. This rear alleyway behind the strip mall extends to the south to North Jones Drive, but a locked chain barrier prevents entry or exit of vehicles on the south side. Beyond those items described, there was nothing else remarkable noted.

What should you describe in notes?

¡Notes are a guide to help you remember details about the scene and ¡What actions you took- ¡What time you took them ¡Photographs is another important tool in helping you to remember things at the scene.; What it looked like, what items you found, where you found them, who found them, who collected them, what time they were collected ¡A formal written report, will be a pull from notes and photographs; a detailed description of the events that took place.

Details are important, but too many details aren't necessary

¡Notes are your personal recording to help you remember later when you sit down to write your report ¡Writing a clear and precise report is the goal; organized, flow of action, sequence of events, so that the reader can start to piece together in their mind what the scene looked like, and what you did at the scene. ¡Details help the reader fill in any gaps in their thinking that could perhaps be filled with their own interpretation or imagination and not necessarily on purpose. Our brains try to help us figure things out. ¡If you put too many details in a report, it allows the defense attorney to ask additional questions that can confuse a jury, and in the process, poke holes in your credibility.

How Much Detail Should I Include?

¡Notes include actions recorded during the initial observation and during the overall observation like described in methodology of processing. ¡All notes should accurately REFLECT ACTION AND EFFORT, but when describing the scene in these two specific steps it is imperative that the notes be detailed and concise. ¡General information serve little, if any, function later when trying to answer questions. ¡Detailed narrative descriptions, however, will often assist the investigator in evaluating some point that may not be clear from a photograph or sketch. ****

Crime Scene Reports

¡The difference between notes and reports is reports are all of the salient facts, observations, actions, and effort into a functional organized report for inclusion in the investigative report. ¡ There is no one right way to format the crime scene report, particularly given the variety of investigative report formats that exist from agency to agency. Whatever the format used, the technician MUST ENSURE THAT THE CRIME SCENE REPORT IS NOT - ¡A cursory discussion of the central-theme items found in the scene (e.g., the body, the gun) and nothing more - ¡A rambling discourse on why the suspect "had to" have committed the crime - ¡A description of only the evidence that fits a particular hypothesis ¡The difficulty of creating a crime scene report for any complex scene is in maintaining some level of organization that allows all pertinent aspects to be discussed and yet does not end up rambling on and on. The technician must pull the salient facts from his or her notes and observations, as not every single detail can be included, while still attending to the important aspects that will allow the reader to understand the scene. ¡The most effective way of doing this is to organize the crime scene report into sections that deal with specific issues. This format works effectively whether the crime scene report is a stand-alone document or whether it is simply a supplemental report filed by the technician.

A suggested format for these sections would include:

• Introduction • Characteristics of the scene • Conditions of the scene • Environmental conditions • Factors pertinent to entry and exit • Scene documentation • Collection of physical evidence • Search for latent prints • Additional examinations - LAB PROCESS/ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS