Defendant Found Guilty Upon completion of the sentence or 20 years after sentencing whichever occurs first or as the court may otherwise order.
Juvenile Delinquency Cases Upon completion of the sentence or as the court may otherwise order. Looking for more information on evidence management and best practices? What's Next. Includes information on refrigerated evidence storage. Read More. How to Secure Guns, Drugs, and Money in an Evidence Room Some of the most challenging evidence items to secure are those that are at highest risk for theft - guns, drugs, and money.
Here are some tips and best practices for ensuring your department is maintaining the chain of custody. An investigator is responsible for appropriately labeling all evidence collection containers with the case number, collection location, date and time, and his identifying information. He should log all collected evidence on a separate document, for later reference.
To establish proper chain-of-custody of the evidence, investigators must track the evidence from place to place, documenting who retrieved, handled, transported and received the evidence, specifying all dates and times.
Without a proper chain-of-custody documentation, a court may rule the evidence hopelessly compromised and inadmissible at trial. Kevin J. For a Free in-office Consultation Call Mahoney Joan M. Massachusetts Criminal Lawyer Explains: Preserving Evidence Preserving evidence should be the top priority of those entrusted with gathering and collecting evidence.
Memorializing the Crime Scene To preserve the appearance of a crime scene , as well as the loci of relevant objects to one another, a crime scene investigator should photograph the crime scene.
Basic Protocols for Handling Evidence Depending on the circumstances, an investigator may need to wear a sterile suit covering his body, hair, and shoes to prevent him from contaminating the evidence with his own DNA or any other trace evidence he might otherwise transport with him to the scene. Collecting Evidence Ideally, an investigator should carefully collect the most fragile evidence first, before disturbing the scene by removing larger, heavier, or less fragile evidence.
Special consideration can also be given to any evidence or objects which need to be moved. Collection can then continue along the crime scene trail or in some other logical manner. Photographs should also continue to be taken if the investigator is revealing layers of evidence which were not previously documented because they were hidden from sight.
Most items of evidence will be collected in paper containers such as packets, envelopes, and bags. Liquid items can be transported in non-breakable, leakproof containers. Arson evidence is usually collected in air-tight, clean metal cans. Only large quantities of dry powder should be collected and stored in plastic bags. Moist or wet evidence blood, plants, etc. Once in a secure location, wet evidence, whether packaged in plastic or paper, must be removed and allowed to completely air dry.
That evidence can then be repackaged in a new, dry paper container. Moisture allows the growth of microorganisms which can destroy or alter evidence. Any items which may cross contaminate each other must be packaged separately.
The containers should be closed and secured to prevent the mixture of evidence during transportation. Each container should have: the collecting person's initials; the date and time it was collected; a complete description of the evidence and where it was found; and the investigating agency's name and their file number. Each type of evidence has a specific value in an investigation.
The value of evidence should be kept in mind by the investigator when doing a crime scene investigation. For example, when investigating a crime he or she should spend more time on collecting good fingerprints than trying to find fibers left by a suspect's clothing. The reason is that fingerprints can positively identify a person as having been at the scene of a crime, whereas fibers could have come from anyone wearing clothes made out of the same material.
Of course if obvious or numerous fibers are found at the point of entry, on a victim's body, etc. It is also wise to collect more evidence at a crime scene than not to collect enough evidence. An investigator usually only has one shot at a crime scene, so the most should be made of it.
The following is a breakdown of the types of evidence encountered and how the evidence should be handled:. Fingerprints also includes palm prints and bare footprints are the best evidence to place an individual at the scene of a crime.
Collecting fingerprints at a crime scene requires very few materials, making it ideal from a cost standpoint. All non-movable items at a crime scene should be processed at the scene using gray powder, black powder, or black magnetic powder. Polaroid black and white film loaded in a Polaroid CU-5 camera with detachable flash should be used to make one-to-one photographs of prints which do not readily lift. All small transportable items should be packaged in paper bags or envelopes and sent to the crime lab for processing.
Because of the "package it up and send it to the lab" mentality, some investigators skim over collecting prints at a crime scene. Collecting prints at the crime scene should be every investigator's top priority. Fingerprints from the suspect as well as elimination fingerprints from the victim will also be needed for comparison the same holds true for palm and bare footprints. Bite marks are found many times in sexual assaults and can be matched back to the individual who did the biting.
Color slide and print film as well as black and white film should be used. The more photographs under a variety of conditions, the better. Older bitemarks which are no longer visible on the skin may sometimes be visualized and photographed using UV light and alternate light sources.
If the bitemark has left an impression then maybe a cast can be made of it. Casts and photographs of the suspect's teeth and maybe the victim's teeth will be needed for comparison. For more information consult a forensic odontologist. Much like a bullet that has individualizing striations on it, natural fingernails have individualizing striations on them.
A broken fingernail found at a crime scene can be matched to the individual it came from many months after the crime has been committed. Broken fingernails should be placed in a paper packet which is then placed in a paper envelope.
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