CREATING A CRIME SCENE RECONSTRUCTION

DATA COLLECTION

RECOGNITION

• Determine what is real evidence from the scene
• Separate this evidence from things that are not evidence
• "Recognize" or see the evidence from the scene

IDENTIFY THE EVIDENCE

• Use class characteristics
• Look at physical, chemical, biological properties
• Compare morphologies (appearance)
• What known sample does this piece of evidence match?
• Always try to compare to a known standard

INDIVIDUALIZATION

• Process unique to forensics
• Evidence sample is unique
• All other evidence is different from it
• May have same origin as a known sample
• May match known standard

CONJECTURE

CONJECTURE

• Investigators want to make a guess as to what happened
• Can be one guess or multiple guesses
• There can be more than one explanation for events
• Guesses drive evidence testing

HYPOTHESIS

• Data from evidence testing leads to a hypothesis
• Examine the scene
• Interpret patterns in blood, gunshots,fingerprints, etc
• Analyze trace evidence, impressions
• Accumulation of this new data = hypothesis

TESTING

• The hypothesis drives more testing
• Must confirm or disprove hypothesis
• Compare evidence samples with known samples
• Check alibis
• Perform controlled testing:ballistics, DNA, etc.

THEORY FORMATION

• After extensive testing
• Hypothesis must be proven true
• Then a reconstruction theory is proposed
• Theory will be presented in court