Order Description
ASSIGNMENT
• View the Bloodstain Pattern scene video.
• Read the Criminalist BPA mock case report and see the listed evidence items in the report (which match the evidence seen in the video).. Criminalist report is attached to this assignment.
• Read AOJ 202 Bloodstain Pattern Mock Scene Analysis document. Use this document to analyze this case. Answer the questions at the bottom of the document.
Use reading: Hails, Judy (2014), Criminal Evidence, 8th edition
Watch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXxTNiIar-w
Read Criminalist BPA below:
CASE:
14-0006
CRIME:
187 PC
LOCATION:
8800 GROSSMONT COLLEGE DR. EL CAJON, CA 92020
DATE OF CRIME:
03/18/2014
VICTIM:
DOE, JOHN
REQUESTED BY:
TINA YOUNG
CRIMINALIST:
LANGE, RACHEL #1987
DATE COMPLETED:
03/27/2014
WORK REQUESTED:
On 03/18/2014 at Grossmont College, I met with Tina Young to process a crime scene to determine the order of events that occurred by examining the blood patterns at the scene.
OBSERVATIONS:
The crime scene was a one room apartment. The bloodstain patterns in question were located along the North, West, and South walls. Two other blood stain patterns in question were located on the floor by the south table. All the patterns will be identified by letters.
APARTMENT ROOM:
The entrance into the room was on the northeast part of the wall. Behind the door was a fridge in the Northwest corner of the room. To the east of the door, there was a dining glass and wood table with four chairs, one of which was knocked on the side. On the center of the east wall there was a dark brown leather couch with two side tables, one on either side. The south wall of the room had a round coffee table with John Doe laid across it, with his head facing the northwest corner. The south wall also had a counter with a sink and cupboards. The bloodstain patterns were primarily on the North and East walls, with one pattern on the South wall and two patterns on the floor.
EVIDENCE:
Item #
Description
Location
1.- 1 gold colored key
Found on North side of room by open door
2.- 1 cell phone with an American Flag cover
North side of room on floor west of the table
3.- 1 Broken pair of sunglasses
North side of room, south of table
4.- 1 zip lock bag with clear rock crystals inside
North side of room, south of table by table leg
5.- 1 empty 24oz Budweiser can
Southwest wall on the west side of counter
6.- 1 empty can of Grizzly chewing tobacco
Southwest wall on the west side of counter
7.- 1 empty clear bottle of Seagram’s Daiquiri
Southeast side of room on side table
8.- 1 empty prescription bottle and lid
Southeast side of room on side table
9.- 1 red ash tray with 1 Maverick Cigarette butt
Southeast side of room on side table
10.- 1 box of Maverick Cigarettes
Southeast side of room on side table
11.- 1 Hammer
Southeast side of room, North of coffee table
OBSERVATIONS:
Blood stain pattern A: This pattern was consistent with a medium impact pattern that was located above the dining table.
An impact pattern is created when blood received a blow or force resulting in the random dispersion of smaller drops of blood. The pattern appears to have originated from the surface of the dining table, fairly close to the North wall. The shapes of the stains appear to have a direction pointing from the lower northeast side of the wall to the upper northwest side of the wall.
Blood stain pattern B: This observation consists of passive drips originating from the area of the light switch down towards the floor. A passive drop is a bloodstain drop created or formed by the force of gravity acting alone. The light switch is located on the north wall, east of the door.
Blood stain pattern C: This observation consists of directional passive drips originating from the surface of the west side of the dining table to the east side of the dining table.
Blood stain pattern D: This pattern is consistent with a medium impact pattern that is located on the northeast area of the wall, slightly above the northeast side table. This pattern has a direction that moves from the lower northwest side of the wall to the upper northeast side of the wall.
Blood stain pattern E: This pattern is consistent with a medium impact pattern that is located on the wall, directly above the northeast area of the couch. The direction of the pattern starts from the lower east part of the wall and radiates up and out on the same east wall.
Blood stain pattern F: This pattern is consistent with cast-off, moving from the lower northeast wall to the upper southeast area of the wall. Cast-off is a bloodstain pattern created when blood is released or thrown off an object from a blood-bearing object in motion.
Blood stain pattern G: This observation is consistent with directional passive drips on the north side table, originating from the north of the table to the south of the table.
Blood stain pattern H: This observation is consistent with directional passive drips on the north side of the couch, originating from the north of the couch arm to the south of the north couch arm.
Blood stain pattern I: This pattern is consistent with arterial spurting found above the south side of the couch. Arterial spurting is a bloodstain pattern resulting from blood exiting the body under pressure from a breached artery.
Blood stain pattern J: This observation is consistent with directional passive drips originating from the southeast side of the couch to the west side of the couch.
Blood stain pattern K: This pattern is consistent with cast-off, moving from the lower south wall to the upper south wall and back down again.
Blood stain pattern L: This has several patterns/observations. There was passive blood drips, satellite patterns and wipe patterns were on the coffee table under John Doe’s right hand. A satellite pattern is small droplets of blood that are distributed around a drop or pool of blood as a result of the blood impacting the target surface. A wipe pattern is a bloodstain pattern created when an object moves through an existing stain, removing and/or altering its appearance.
Blood stain pattern M: This observation is consistent with satellite patterns from the blunt force injuries and sharp injuries from John Doe’s head and neck. This pattern is located directly under John Doe’s head on the floor by the north side of the coffee table.
Blood stain pattern N: These two observations are consistent with a transfer pattern located west of the coffee table on the floor under the sink and cupboard. A transfer pattern is created when a wet, bloody surface comes in contact with a second surface. A recognizable image of all or a portion of the original surface may be observed in the pattern. These two patterns look like a shoe impression and a knife impression.
INTERPRETATION:
Assuming all the blood present in the crime scene belonged to the victim, the following is one possible scenario based on the examination of the scene.
Following the initial attack, the victim was struck at least once with a blunt force object creating the medium force impact above the dining table creating a cast off pattern on the south wall (Blood Stain Pattern A & K). The victim then moved east across the table, creating the directional passive drips (Blood Stain Pattern C), to the northeast corner of the room where the victim was struck again, creating another medium impact pattern (Blood Stain Pattern D). The victim then traveled in the south direction, creating directional passive drips on the north side table to the north side of the couch (Blood Stain Pattern G & H). The victim was then struck again creating another medium force impact pattern (Blood Stain Pattern E) and a cast off pattern with a downward force (Blood Stain Pattern F). The victim then moved to the south side of the couch where a sharp trauma took place, creating the arterial spurts on the east wall (Blood Stain Pattern I) and directional passive drips on the couch going in the west direction (Blood Stain Pattern J). The victim then traveled west, coming to a final rest on the coffee table creating the passive blood drips, satellite patterns and swipe patterns (Blood Stain Pattern L). As the victim was laid over the table, the satellite pattern was created (Blood Stain Pattern M). A transfer pattern of what appears to be a knife was laid on the floor west of pattern M. Another transfer pattern of what appears to be a shoe impression was next to the knife transfer pattern (Blood Stain Pattern N). Blood stain pattern N appeared to be from the suspect.
The scientific method was applied to all aspects of assignment six. For the crime scene room imparticular, the first step applied was data collection. The evidence as well as the blood patterns were collected in order to explain the actions of the scene. A hypothesis was then formed based upon the evidence. Testing was another step performed in this assignment. In order to understand the patterns viewed in the crime scene room and in the crime scene photos, experimentation needed to take place. Blood pattern reconstruction was performed in order to explain the series of events that took place within the crime scene. Another theory was then formed based on what was seen at both the crime scene and in the experimentation. If a hypothesis was executed multiple times, a theory can be formed and the final report on the findings can be drafted.
END OF REPORT.
1. A. View the Bloodstain Pattern scene video.
2. B. Read the Criminalist (Bloodstain Pattern Analyst) report and see the listed evidence items in the report.
3. C. Additional Evidence and Information not listed in the Criminalist report:
• � Nancy Grace met John Doe at a drug rehabilitation program as both Grace and Doe were methamphetamine addicts. When they were users, both Grace and Doe purchased their meth from a local drug dealer named Freddy Krueger. Krueger usually dealt drugs away from his family, but there was one time that Krueger invited Grace to purchase drugs at his home in San Diego. It was at this time that Grace met the mother of Krueger’s baby; the mother was named Laura Ingalls. Krueger and Ingalls were not married and lived together off and on. Grace remembered that Ingalls had a voice that reminded her of Minnie Mouse (very unusual voice).
• � The night of the murder, Grace was on the phone with Doe. Doe told Grace that he was “in trouble”. He slipped back into using meth and he was desperate to get his hands on it. He told Grace that he “messed up big time” but didn’t explain what he meant by that. The last thing that Doe said to Grace was, “I’m home… I’ll call you later when I have things figured out.” Before they hung up, Grace could hear Doe yell, “Freddy! No!” and then she heard several thumps and the sound of things falling. Grace then heard Ingall’s high-pitched Minnie Mouse-sounding voice say, “let’s get out of here, Freddy!” Grace disconnected the call and then called 911.
• � The first officer on scene, discovered Doe was Dead on Arrival (DOA). The crime scene was John Doe’s apartment where he lived alone. The officer secured the scene. Homicide detectives and the crime lab were called out.
• � A forensic technician processed the crime scene, creating the video (bloodstain pattern scene video) and took photos of the scene. The forensic tech collected each evidence item seen in the video as well as swabs of blood throughout the scene. A Bloodstain Pattern Analyst (BPA) was not called out initially.
• � After the scene was processed, it was released to the apartment manager. Two days later, the Deputy District Attorney assigned to the case received copies of the crime scene photos, which were very limited and contained few images of the bloodstain patterns. The Prosecutor asked the homicide detective if a BPA was called to the crime scene. The detective said no. A District Attorney Investigator went to the apartment complex and discovered that the apartment remained locked and had not been cleaned. A BPA was called to the apartment to analyze the bloodstain patterns in the scene.
• � The BPA received a copy of the original crime scene photos, crime scene video, list of evidence items, crime scene diagram, and conducted analysis of the bloodstain patterns of the scene. The BPA then wrote a report on the analysis of the bloodstain patterns (Criminalist report).
• � Freddy Krueger and Laura Ingalls were arrested for the murder of John Doe. Additional Evidence:
• o Detectives discover that Ingalls used to be a professional burglar and was an expert at picking locks.
• o Fingerprints on the alcohol bottles, cigarettes and tobacco come back to both Krueger and Ingalls.
• o Ingalls prints are located along the exterior door lock and interior frame of the door.
• o Krueger’s prints and DNA is located on the handle of the hammer. Doe’s DNA is located on the head of the hammer.
• o The knife is never recovered.
• o All blood swabs are identified as Doe’s.
• o The cell phone records confirm that Grace was on the phone with Doe at the time of the murder.
• � The case goes to trial. The defense claims that the defendants were invited over and were partying with Doe when Doe “went nuts” and tried to attack both of them with a big knife. Krueger hit Doe with the hammer “a couple of times” in self-defense. Both ran out of the apartment and never called police because they didn’t think the police would believe them. At the start of the trial, Ingalls requests to “make a deal” with the prosecution (probation) if she testifies against Krueger.
10 QUESTIONS:
1. List the direct and circumstantial evidence of this case. List the scientific evidence of this case.
2. Who should the Prosecutor call as a witness and why (list all witnesses that should be called by the Prosecutor)?
3. Would any witnesses be voir dired? Explain.
4. How would the prosecutor lay the foundation for the evidence in this case?
5. Does Krueger have a privileged relationship with Ingalls? Could Ingalls testify against Krueger if she works out a deal with the Prosecution? Explain.
6. What evidence should the defense try to get thrown out and why?
7. What type of cross-examination should the defense use against the prosecution witnesses (list the name of the witness & the strategy that the defense should use when cross-examining the witness. Assume Ingalls is a witness for the Prosecution.)
8. Would character be an issue that the defense would want to bring up against any of the Prosecution witnesses? Explain.
9. Do you believe the jury would find Krueger guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? Explain why you feel this way. If Ingalls can’t work out a deal with the Prosecution, do you think she would be found guilty? Explain.
10. If there is a conviction, do you see any issues that might be brought up in appeals? Explain.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
[order_calculator]
