Crime Scene

Evidence:

1C: Hair Sample #1 (Synthetic):

2C: Note, match to Mike Kelly's handwriting:

3C: Hair Sample #2: White Male:

4C: Blood Sample, AB (match to Kooladria Jones)

5C: Earring, fake gold, female:

6C: Shoe, female size 8:

7C: Fingerprint, Ulnar Loop (match to Mike Kelly):

8C: Bag of Potential Illegal Substance (Cocaine):



Scenario:

Kooladiria Jones comes to Mike Kelly for cocaine (Exh. 8C). She enters the deserted warehouse and walks into the back rooms where Mike Kelly has a drug lab set up (in interrogation, Mike Kelly admitted to having a Masters Degree in chemistry). Mike Kelly hands over the drugs (Exh. 8C), however, when Kooladria cannot pay, he pushes her against the wall where she knocks her head against a cabinet (producing Exh. 1C). Kooladria Jones then begins to fight back against Mike Kelly, tearing out some of his hair (Exh. 3C) and also getting her earring torn out in the process (producing exhibits 4C and 5C). Kooladria Jones then proceeds to flee from the scene, leaving behind her shoe (Exh 6C). Later at the crime scene, forensic evidence analysts discovered a leftover beaker with Mike Kelly's fingerprints (Exh. 7C) and the drug lab's motto/title on a scrap of paper (Exh 2C).

Blood Typing: Major Types of Blood

There are four types of blood, based on the ABO system (A, B, AB, and O) and then the Rhesus system classifies them as negative or positive. In the picture, the different blood types as classified by the ABO system are illustrated, including their antigens and antibodies.

Blood Typing: Blood Mixing and Transfusions & Positive and Negative Blood

Have you ever wondered why people bother with blood typing? Or why people who donate blood have to have their type verified first?

Is because blood typing is very important when doctors make transfusions or mix different kinds of bloods. In fact, there is a whole field devoted to taking blood samples and studying them: its called Phlebotomy.

There are several different kinds of blood (A, B, AB, O, positive or negative, etc). They are usually based on two systems, the AbO system (A, B, AB, and O) and the Rh system (positive or negative). The Rh system classifies blood as positive or negative depending on whether or not it contains the RhD antigen. If it does, it is positive, and if it does not, it is negative and likely to make anti-RhD if exposed to the RhD antigen through transfusion. Therefore, when you receive a blood transfusion, the type of blood you receive should match your own blood type. If it doesn't, your immune system may form antibodies and begin attacking the donor blood because it does not recognize it. However, a person with blood type AB can receive from either A, B, or O individuals but can only donate to another person with AB type blood. Someone with blood type A can donate to either an A or AB, but can receive from O (because it does not have any antibodies) and other people with type A blood. Type B blood can be donated to either AB or B and can receive from either B or O. Type O blood can donate to any of the other types (A, B, AB) but can only receive from O.

Blood Typing: Lab Analysis/Comments

Blood Typing Lab:
We did a blood typing lab using simulated blood to learn how to determine the different kinds of blood based on the ABO system.



Sample #1 (Type A): Blue precipitate formed on the bottom of the slide in little flakes with the Anti-A serum. Nothing happened with the Anti-b serum.

Sample #2 (Type B): Orange precipitate formed when Anti-B serum, nothing happens with Anti-A serum.

Sample #3 (Type AB): Blue precipitate formed in small grains on the bottom of the slide when Anti-A serum was added, and yellow precipitate formed in small flakes when Anti-B serum was added.

Sample #4 (Type O): No change when either serum was added.

Hair and Fiber: A History & Techniques Used to Identify

Hair and Fiber analysis is a field in forensics that has evolved and become key as evidence in trials across the nation. Hair and fiber analysis has played an important role in solving crimes, used in the Leo Rank Trial of 1913 to match the hairs of the victim with the crime scene. Hair analysis was also used in the Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti to match hairs found in a cap to those taken from Sacco. Here are some links to famous criminal cases which involved the use of hair and fiber analysis:

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/SaccoV/s&vaccount.html
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/frank/frankaccount.html

Most comparisons of hair and fiber are done with a microscope, although fibers can be run through a spectrometer (spectroscopic analysis) to determine the unknown material. A forensic scientist will take hairs from the crime scene and samples from the suspects to try and make matches. Samples from the suspects should number about 15-25 strands from different locations so as to get an accurate match.

Hair and Fiber: Pictures/Analysis from Lab & Guesses/Justfication of Findings

Here are a few pictures from the Fiber Identification lab:



Guess: Wool (on high magnification)



Guess: Cotton Fibers (fibers are translucent, the picture is a little dark)



Guess: Acrilan (red, spindly, thin fibers)



Guess: Viscose Rayon (many thin, black fibers running together in one direction).




OTHER FIBERS:

1. Guess: Rubber Band
------Description: Yellowish-tan, uneven surface with black pits and lines and rough edges.
2. Guess: Linen
------Description: Looks like clear spaghetti, with some multi-colored particles on different strands. Rins in many directions.