what does examining the crime scene as a lawyer mean

The purpose of examining a crime scene is fourfold: to prove or disprove that a crime was committed; to collect physical evidence linking suspect to the victim or crime scene or to link the victim and/or suspect to a primary or secondary crime scene;

Full Answer

What is a crime scene?

A crime scene can be on land or in water, in a tree or buried six feet under. Crime scenes are a source for physical and material evidence. However, the interpretation or reconstruction of a crime scene does not stop with obvious objects or clues.

When must a crime scene investigator examine the crime scene?

The crime scene investigator must always thoroughly examine the crime scene, even in cases where the cause of death seems obvious. Are the signs and pieces of evidence consistent with a suicide or do they point to murder?

Why is crime scene analysis important in criminal investigation?

Crime scene analysis can also help answer several other questions about the crime, such as time of death. It may provide evidence that can be used in a criminal trial. A crime scene is often dusted for fingerprints, which can then be used to identify the perpetrator.

Do you assume the worst when approaching a crime scene?

Veteran crime scene investigators almost always assume the worst when it comes to approaching a crime scene. In many cases, murder is the first thing that crosses their mind when approaching any victim.

Who will examine the crime scenes?

Crime scene investigators (CSIs) go by many names, including evidence technician, crime scene technician, forensic investigator, crime scene analyst, criminalistics officer and more. In the past, most CSIs were trained police officers. In fact, most still work out of police stations today.

What are the steps for examining a crime scene?

7 Steps of a Crime Scene InvestigationIdentify Scene Dimensions. Locate the focal point of the scene. ... Establish Security. Tape around the perimeter. ... Create a Plan & Communicate. Determine the type of crime that occurred. ... Conduct Primary Survey. ... Document and Process Scene. ... Conduct Secondary Survey. ... Record and Preserve Evidence.

What is it called when you analyze a crime scene?

Forensics, or crime scene analysis, involves science applied to legal issues by assisting juries, attorneys and judges in understanding the physical evidence of a criminal case and is critical to identify and convict a criminal.

What does a crime scene analyst do?

The job of a crime scene analyst (CSA) is to support police detectives, and other law enforcement investigative teams. They are to find, gather, and process evidence. This may include the sketching, photographing, and tagging of evidence, as well as gathering fingerprints.

What is the first step in examining a body at a crime scene?

Interview is the first step in processing a crime scene. The crime scene technician must interview the first officer at the scene or the victim to ascertain the "theory" of the case. Basically what allegedly happened, what crime took place, and how was the crime committed.

What does it mean to process a crime scene?

The steps employed to adequately assess any crime scene are, quite basically, to interview, examine, photograph, sketch and process a crime scene. Processing a crime scene requires great attention to detail and nuance. In order to preserve evidence, proper steps must be taken in chronological order.

Why is the analysis of forensic evidence important within law enforcement?

Forensic evidence is useful in helping solve the most violent and brutal of cases, as well as completely nonviolent cases related to crimes such as fraud and hacking.

What is the difference between a crime scene investigator and a criminal investigator?

What's the difference between a detective and a crime scene investigator? In order to become a detective, you must first become a police officer. However, crime scene investigators do not have to be police officers prior to becoming crime scene investigators. Detectives gather evidence from the scene of the crime.

What is most important to the crime scene investigator?

The evidence collection or recovery step in crime scene processing is the methods, techniques, and procedures used in retrieving evidence. Patience and care are very important at the crime scene. The investigator should take the proper time and care in processing the scene.

What skills are needed to be a crime scene investigator?

Top crime scene investigators are natural problem-solvers. They combine science aptitude, analytical skills and critical thinking to piece together evidence and testimony. In essence, forensic science careers try to develop stories based on their interpretations of evidence and theories of circumstantial events.

What are the three methods of documenting a crime scene?

The three most common methods of recording a crime scene are: note taking, sketching, and photography. A detailed record of the crime scene and of the actions taken during the search of it, help the crime scene specialist to accurately recall events and to identify items of evidence later in a court of law.

What is crime scene analysis?

Crime scene analysis involves collecting and analyzing evidence. A crime scene is often dusted for fingerprints, which can then be used to identify the perpetrator. Crime scene analyzers may work for the FBI. Bullet fragments may be analyzed during a crime scene analysis.

What is a crime scene investigator?

In the United States and abroad, crime scene investigators may be law enforcement officers who have received specialized training or college graduates of a forensic science program. Colleges and universities offer bachelor's, master's and doctorate programs in forensic science.

Why is crime scene analysis important?

Crime scene analysis can also help answer several other questions about the crime, such as time of death. It may provide evidence that can be used in a criminal trial.

Why do crime scene analysts need to follow safety precautions?

Since investigators work with blood and other body fluids, disease transmission is a possibility. Crime scene analysts must also follow safety precautions to avoid contracting any communicable diseases. Evidence is properly labeled and may be transported to law enforcement laboratories for further analysis.

What is physical evidence?

Physical evidence is a large part of crime scene investigation. Crime scene technicians collect this physical evidence, such as blood or other body fluid samples, left at the scene. The crime scene will be dusted for fingerprints. Evidence of gun powder residue is also collected. As technology advances and DNA evidence continues to play ...

What is the purpose of collecting trace evidence?

As technology advances and DNA evidence continues to play a large role in crime scene analysis, collecting trace evidence is becoming an essential part of analyzing a crime scene. Trace evidence includes material found at the scene, which may be very small, but may still contain DNA.

Can DNA be used to break an investigation?

Often even trace amounts of DNA evidence can make or break an investigation. Bullet fragments may be analyzed during a crime scene analysis. The evidence is carefully collected, so as not to contaminate it. Since investigators work with blood and other body fluids, disease transmission is a possibility.

What is crime scene investigation?

Introduction. Crime scene investigation is, by its most basic definition, the method of protecting, processing and reconstruction of a crime. It doesn't matter where the crime took place or if there are more than one crime scenes involved. A crime scene can envelop more than one location, as in the case where a victim has been killed in one ...

Why is it important to investigate a crime scene?

Because of so many possibilities, it is important for the crime scene investigator to attempt to determine if the primary crime scene is a localized and contained area, or if there are other crimes scenes involved. A homicide investigation always starts at the location of the primary crime scene. Police or other law enforcement personnel are almost ...

What is the role of flexibility in crime scene investigation?

As such, flexibility, in the extent that a crime scene investigator is able to adapt such analysis to the discovery of new evidence or possibilities, is as much a part of processing a crime scene as the physical evidence in plain view.

What is teamwork in crime scene?

Many different agencies might be involved in the response to a crime scene, as well as the collection of evidence. Teamwork also ensures that bias does not come into play during the collection or documentation of evidence and that justice for the victim is served. There are many different elements involved in a criminal investigation, ...

What are the elements of a criminal investigation?

There are many different elements involved in a criminal investigation, such as a uniformed police officer, detectives, crime lab technicians, photographers, coroner and other forensic specialists. Because of this, no one person who responds to the scene is more important than any other.

Why are cases thrown out of court?

Many cases have been thrown out of court because improper procedure was involved, or officers or detectives arriving first on the scene did not take extreme care to ensure a "sanitary" scene. Common sense seems like a given, but is a necessary part of approaching and analyzing a crime scene.

Why is it important to work together at the scene of a crime?

As is obvious, it is important for crime scene investigators, uniformed police officers, detectives and any other forensic experts called to the scene of a crime to work together to unravel the truth behind a crime.

What is a crime scene?

A crime scene consists of the location of where the crime was committed, any means of transport of a victim, any secondary locations (graves, dump sites, etc.) and the victim himself.

What do crime scene investigators do?

They take photographs and physical measurements of the scene, identify and collect forensic evidence, and maintain the proper chain of custody of that evidence. Crime scene investigators collect evidence such as fingerprints, footprints, tyre tracks, blood and other body fluids, hairs, fibers and fire debris. Various steps in the process of investigation of crime scene include the following:

What are the items that are collected at a crime scene?

These can be items such as fibers from carpeting at the scene, glass fragments, soil, vegetation and other trace evidence. If these are found on the suspect’s clothing, in his vehicle or at his residence, it may provide circumstantial evidence linking the person to the scene of crime. For example, police are called to a residential neighborhood where a house has been invaded and burglary has just occurred. Investigators collect glass fragments from a shattered cabinet door with a distinct pattern etched into the glass. A tip leads investigators to a local man with a known history of burglary. Examination of the suspect’s clothing yields glass fragments with the same distinct pattern as the smashed cabinet doors. Eliminating people who could not be the perpetrator is also important. Control samples of fingerprints and DNA are often collected from any person (s) who have access to the scene who are not considered suspects.

What does it mean to lock down a crime scene?

Locking down the crime scene means that all ongoing activities inside the crime scene must stop. Everyone must leave the crime scene to a location some distance from the crime scene area. Once everyone has been removed from the crime scene, a physical barrier, usually police tape, is placed around the outside edges of the crime scene.

Why are indoor crime scenes less likely to be contaminated?

Indoor crime scenes have a significantly lower chance of contamination because of the lack of exposure. The contamination here usually comes from the people factor. The possibility of loss and contamination from multiple people accessing the scene is greatly increased.

What does a crime scene investigator do?

When first arriving at a crime scene, no matter what the circumstances, a crime scene investigator evaluates the situation and will more often than not, make an immediate judgment as to whether the victim may have been killed via murder, suicide or accident. However, as is often the case, what you see isn't necessarily what you get.

What does it mean when a crime scene investigator says the victim has fallen asleep?

In some cases, a crime scene investigator may approach a scene in which it may appear that the victim has merely fallen asleep or died of old age when in fact they have been poisoned or injected with drugs.

What happens when you make a wrong cause of death determination?

Making the wrong cause of death determination may lead the investigation in the wrong direction and may ultimately impact the resolution of a crime. There are many ways in which a crime scene investigator may approach the scene in order to make an initial attempt to what occurred there. For example:

What is the role of forensic pathologist?

While in some cases a forensic pathologist may be called in to assess cases where a body has been missing after a period of time and decomposition has begun, an investigating officer should also be aware of the basics in order to properly proceed with the investigation.

What should be noted when examining a victim's clothing?

Any materials found or suspected on the victim's clothing should also be noted, such as blood, possible semen or saliva or bodily fluids, as well as dirt and other contaminants. The presence and location or even lack of blood on a victim may be an indication of what happened.

Why do murder investigations have to proceed?

Even in cases where suicide or accident may be apparent, the investigation must proceed as if a murder took place in order to ensure that the scene has not been staged to look like a suicide or death by natural causes when it was caused by murder.

When examining a victim's body, the clothing should always receive special attention.?

When examining a victim's body, the clothing should always receive special attention. In many cases , this will occur at the medical examiner's office in the presence of the crime scene investigator and case detectives.