Megan Bargewell

AC1.3 Practise Task

- Explain how evidence is processed

- 6 Marks
- 30 Minutes

- Evidence plays a crucial role in court cases as it provides (generally) accurate

information. Different types of evidence include physical evidence and testimonial
evidence. Physical evidence is also known as ‘real evidence’ or physical material. An
example of physical evidence is DNA weapons, stolen goods and blood stains.
Testimonial evidence are written or oral statements given by the victim, eye
witnesses, experts or defendants. Different types of physical evidence needs to be
collected, transferred and stored in order to preserve them and to prevent
contamination- as most common contamination occurs by handling items without the
appropriate wear. Or by breathing, sneezing or coughing over the evidence. In the
case of some serious crimes, such as rape, murder or arson, investigators have to
wear protective clothing when collecting materials in order to preserve them. The
protective wear includes a mask, over shoes, a hooded suit and two pairs of gloves.
However, for less serious crimes a mask and gloves are the only protective wear
needed.
One type of physical evidence is bodily fluids and tissues. Bodily fluids can provide
identification evidence such as DNA as it can be extracted from fabrics and the
victim, or suspect. This evidence may provide DNA matches to the suspect which
puts the suspect at the scene of the crime. One type of bodily fluid is blood. If wet
blood is found on fabric, it should be air dried as folding with blood would ruin the
pattern on the fabric which prevents forensic specialists from being able to determine
different aspects to the crime, such as where the victim was, or where they got hurt.
After being AirDroid, all items with dry blood on them should be carefully packaged
and sent to forensic laboratories for analysis as soon as possible. The collection of
blood involves crime scene investigators and the analysis of the blood is dealt with by
forensic specialists.
In cases, such as sexual assault semen may be found on clothing bedding or on the
victim. If the semen is wet, it should be allowed to air dry on the item it is found, as is
with blood. Once the item is dry, it should be placed in a paper bag which needs to
be sealed and put inside of a polythene bag and then sealed a second time to be
labelled. Each item should be packaged separately, and if the semen is on a victim,
then it should be examined as soon as possible by a police surgeon and swabs
should be taken.
Saliva can be found on a victim in cases such as sexual assault. These can be
inflicted via bite marks and they should be swabbed to provide a DNA sample which
can be analysed and identified.
As we, as humans, are constantly shedding very small amounts of skin, flakes are
very likely to be found at any crime scene and can be easily enough to be analysed
for DNA. Skin flakes should be sent to a forensic laboratory after being found by
crime scene investigators at the scene. Such as with skin flakes, hair can also be
easily found at a crime scene and can be matched with those of the suspect in
certain assault cases. The victim's hair can be found on the suspect, therefore if hairs
are found on different items of clothing, the item should be wrapped in paper or
placed in a paper bag sealed labelled and sent to the forensics lab. as well as this
individual has found on furniture should be wrapped and bagged in the same way.
Forensic specialists will analyse the hair as DNA can be extracted from cells in the
route which can identify the suspect or victim involved.
As well as bodily fluids and tissues, prints are very unique to each individual and so
they are vital identification evidence. Different examples of fingerprints include latent,
patent and plastic prints.
Latent prints are invisible marks left on a surface that, via dusting, can be made
visible. Pictures should then be taken of them after this the prints can be lifted using
an adhesive strip and placed on an acetate sheet. Patent prints are different,
however, as they are visible to the naked eye. Patent prints can be left in different
items, such as blood powder, oil and ink, and they should also be photographed for
analysis. If feasible, the prints should be preserved to be able to be used in court.
The third and final type of prints are plastic- 3-D shapes that are made by pressing
fingers into a soft material such as wet clay or window frame putty. As well as the
other two types of prints, they should be photographed and moulds should be made
of the imprint (if possible)- crime scene investigators will attempt to make the mould.
Once the fingerprints, in whichever form they come in, get collected from the crime
scene, they can be compared with those stored in the police's database to see if
there is a DNA match.
Another type of evidence is impression evidence. This is when a suspect presses
something against the surface, the first example of this are bite marks. The police
surgeon will examine the bite marks and take swabs and photos because they will
often contain traces of saliva. It may be possible to create a mould of the bite mark to
compare the teeth with the suspect's teeth. However, this isn’t always possible. The
mould and analysis of it will be made by a forensic odontologist.
Shoe prints are another type of impression evidence as they can be left in
substances such as: oil, paint or blood. When prints are made in soil, casts can be
made of this. Prints that have been made outside should be protected from the
weather until they can be examined correctly. Once examined correctly, the police
have a database named the National Footwear Reference Collection which can be
checked to see if the print found on the crime scene can be identified with a known
offender's footwear. One type of impression evidence are tyre marks, which can be
left in soft soil or on roads. The marks are made by a wheel that is turning or
skidding. All tires have individual characteristics as they get used more, so they can
be compared to the tyres belonging to a suspect. Crime scene investigators will take
photos of the tyre marks and forensic specialists will examine and analyse them to
find out which vehicle they may be from. One kind of evidence is trace evidence. This
is where material is transferred from the suspect to the crime scene or from the victim
to the crime scene. This includes things such as gunshot residue glass fragments,
paint flakes, fibre and soil as well as poisons, drugs and alcohol aka toxicology. The
first example of trace evidence are fibres. Fibres can be natural or synthetic and are
transferred from clothing, furniture and carpet. Fibres are collected by crime scene
investigators by using gloves and tweezers to wrap them in paper and seal in bags to
then label and send to analysis. As fibres can come in a wide variety of different
kinds of fabrics, the item of clothing or furniture they're from would likely be able to be
found as it will have specific dies and mixes in. Once this information is found, it may
be able to be used to collect a description of the suspect.
Another type of trace evidence is paint. Paint is found on window frames, doors, cars,
and many other objects. As paint is specific to an object in regards to its colour,
whether it’s waterproof, rust proof or is an antifungal paint, this can help with
identification as it can match flakes on the suspects clothes/person/tools etc.
Glass fragments are another kind of trace evidence as they can be found at different
crime scenes, such as break-ins. Glass fragments found at the crime scene can be
matched with glass fragments that may be on the suspects self. When a window is
smashed, forensic specialists can identify where the window was broken, how the
window was broken via the placement of the glass, both on the crime scene floor and
on the suspects clothes.
Soil can be present on a crime scene for a variety of reasons, such as: the suspect or
victim's footprints being transferred by footprint and how long it’s been walked on or
driven through.
The final piece of trace, evidence or insects, such as blowflies, as they can give an
identification of the time of death based on how developed the larvae are on the
body. Entomologists will examine the body and determine what stage larvae are at to
identify when the body died.
An example of trace evidence being used in court is the case of Barry George. Jill
Dadno, presenter of Crimewatch, was shot dead outside of her home in April 1999.
The police were convinced that Barry George had committed the crime although they
lacked evidence to support their theory. After a year, they managed to arrest and
convict him based on new evidence found of a single microscopic particle of gunshot
residue being found on George’s overcoat pocket. The prosecution had argued that
this residue had come from a gun fired by George. In 2006, he appealed as two new
witnesses had come forward saying that there were armed officers present at the
crime scene where George was arrested. Therefore, they believed the residue could
have come from them. However, this contradicted the police’s statements who said
that there were no armed officers at the scene. Forensic experts in the Court of
Appeal said that the residue is no more likely to have come from George than from
another source. The court had quashed George's conviction and a re-trial was
ordered for which he was acquitted in 2008. This case shows trace evidence being
used and how easy contamination is.
The brief gives a similar example to this as the same evidence was found on Smith’s
coat, which suggested to the police that the residue ‘was related to the gun that had
shot the victim.’ In this case, a trial went ahead following this evidence and Smiths
was convicted due to it.
As well as physical evidence, testimonial evidence is vital for court cases as
witnesses have proven to generally be a valid source of an account of the crime.
Witnesses can be presented by both the prosecution and defence and before court,
both the prosecution and defence must disclose any written evidence statements to
the other as well as giving a list of witnesses they intend to use. As well as this,
evidence being submitted must be approved by the rules. Evidence that will not be
allowed is: hearsay evidence- rumoured evidence that has no factual leg to stand on,
a forced confession that could’ve been caused by violence, threats or manipulation
and entrapment- where the defendant has been encouraged to commit a crime by an
undercover police officer.
Any evidence agreed by both parties can be used in court and it may be read out,
without the witness present, or the witness will testify in the witness box in court.
They will be firstly examined and asked questions by the side that requested them,
then there may be a cross examination by the other side. There are vulnerable and
intimidated witnesses who include: minors, those with a mental health condition,
those with a disability, someone whose close relative died due to the crime, repeat
victims and victims of serious crimes or witnesses of gun crime. These witnesses
may be able to give their testimony from behind a sheet, via video recording/live
video.
The case of David Butler shows admissibility of evidence and how it can be faulted.
After the murder of Anne Marie Foy in 2005 (who was battered to death), Butler was
arrested in 2010, when the cold case team re-opened the case. He spent 7 months in
prison because his DNA was found. The DNA found was only a partial match, of poor
quality and experts had said that this wasn’t enough to find him guilty, despite this
however, the Crown Prosecution Service-CPS- had declared that the evidence
gathered satisfied them. (This shows the CPS being at fault and failing in their role), it
was later found that Mr Butler has a rare skin condition which causes him to shed
larger and more flakes of skin than the reasonable person and, as he worked as a
taxi driver, his DNA could have been easily transferred from his taxi through money/a
person. This evidence led to Butler's conviction being acquitted.