So What Did Margie Say About...CSI: Dead Air

The 6/19/13 repeat "Dead Air" episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation caused an eleven on my forehead twice during the show from frowning and wrinkling my eyebrows.

 

The first time was when CSI Finlay stated that the spatter on the back of the anchor chair caused by the stab wound.....  Let's think about this.  What exactly would cause spatter?  If you think of the mechanism of stabbing, what liquid blood would be compressed or impacted to create spatter?  The blade enters and may cause internal bleeding but unless it hits an artery or some area that would cause an escape of air and blood, there is no spatter.  Then she went on to say that directional drops meant the killer went in a certain direction.  

That theory of directionality is fine but again let's consider the mechanism of a single stab wound creation.  The blade goes in and comes out directly almost in a wiping motion between the skin of the wound which rids the blade of excess blood.  Why is this important?  Because it takes excess blood on the blade in order to have a sufficient amount to drip off to establish this blood trail.  I would doubt that a single stab wound would generate such an amount on the knife blade to allow as many drops (if any) that were displayed.

 

The second was during the autopsy of Mr. Howard.  The Medical Examiner (ME) grabs the lungs to display the lack of soot within the lungs.  That is a good concept except that the lungs that the ME grabbed were as stiff as a board and clearly made out of plastic.  The show usually takes such pains to make things look lifelike and realistic that this was a big disappointment. 

 

What certainly rang true was the mass of photo flashes going off during the events depicted.  The press is notorious for being right there and taking as many photos as possible.  When they say that a picture is worth a thousand words, you would hope that they mean the crime scene photo taken by the CSI and not the press.

So What Did Margie Say About...cross, oblique, or skim lighting techniques of a CSI

On 6/18/13 there was a contractor who is not affiliated with VA Power (they stressed that) that cut down a tree and caused my neighborhood to lose power because it crashed into power lines.

 

As I was sitting in the dark watching the flicker of candles, fanning myself with a piece of cardboard, and listening to a battery operated radio - I found myself wondering why I don't have a laptop or a generator.

 

But I do have several flashlights!!

 

I always say on a crime scene that the flashlight is your friend.  It not only illuminates the dark but can give you insight into shadowed nooks and crannies.

 

It is also a great enhancement tool.  Try getting two pieces of paper and placing them on top of each other. Now write or print something on the top piece of paper.  Now toss that top piece of paper away.  If you use your flashlight and direct the beam directly on the second piece of paper, you light it up really well but you don't see much information.  Now begin to lower the flashlight so that the beam skims across the paper  The lower you go so that the beam hits the paper obliquely, you can begin to read the indented writing.

 

This works because the depth creates a shadow and allows you to see detail.  It's great on latent fingerprints and finding hairs and other trace on floors too.

 

So, even though I didn't get a chance to watch any television, hopefully I allowed you a chance to 'light up your life' with a technique called cross, oblique, or skim lighting.  Amazing, isn't it, how something so simple can work so well.  Unlike electricity or contractors!! 

Image Source

So What Did Margie Say About...CSI: Risky Business Class

The 6/12/13 repeat CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode titled "Risky Business Class" gave me several issues to discuss.

 

First - any scientist worth their salt believes wholeheartedly in a recreation or reenactment when dealing with a scene reconstruction.  Usually one would use a scale model or the actual scene to assist in proving a theory or to assist in establishing a working scenario.  

I don't know of many agencies or organizations that have the money, time, materials, personnel, or room to construct a life size model - especially of an airplane.  What a luxury.  Where would you store it?  Could you bring it into a courtroom?

 

Second - in a fire with the intensity that was suggested by the plane crash, there is a real danger that ammunition would actually explode due to the conditions and the heat surrounding the weapon.  Perhaps they were suggesting that the fact that the gun was semi melted into a section of carpet would have protected it from the heat and the discharge of the ammunition.

 

Third - when the green paint chip retrieved from the airplane door seal was suspected to have come from a particular tool, it was shown to have been placed back on the tool itself to establish a match from a fracture match between the paint chip and the tool.  This practice is an absolute NO NO in forensics work.  You would never want a 'question' and a 'known' to come into contact.  That is a defense attorney's dream.  They can suggest that the evidence was compromised or contaminated by the physical contact.  The fact that these two items were originally one together could easily be shown by one-to-one photography and overlapping the photographs without losing the integrity of the evidence.  

 

I must admit that it was a refreshing spin to add genealogy in combination with DNA as a twist to solving the outcome of the investigation.  It is always a positive to keep an open mind to other potential assists when available. 

So What Did Margie Say About...NCIS: Gone

Tonight, 6/11/13, I watched a repeat episode of NCIS titled "Gone".  It dealt with very little physical evidence. 

 

Although there was some trace that proved to be helpful.  The Medical Examiner 'Ducky' located some black paint that was soluble in water which indicated that the abductors had used a temporary disguise for the van used in the abduction.

 

Later there were swabs from one of the deceased abductors that identified a resin which lead to the bowling alley.

 

Most of this episode focused on the emotional side of crime scene investigation: How it is more difficult to deal emotionally with crimes involving children; how difficult it is to lose a relative ; how different people deal with trauma in different ways; how hard it is for military families when one is deployed; among other heart felt issues.

 

I just wish that everyone had access to a farting hippopotamus.  If that doesn't bring a smile to your face, what will?

 

Hopefully next week's episode will have laboratory genius Abby dealing with a ton of physical evidence.  Gosh, I really need to squeeze that hippo

So What Did Margie Say About...CSI: Strip Maul

The 6/5/13 repeat CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode titled "Strip Maul" has me scratching my head trying to figure out a few things.

 

The first shooting victim is a male sitting up in the front seat of a vehicle.  The resulting cause of death is a gunshot wound (gsw) to the back of the head. The stippling pattern indicates that it is close range (although that would be difficult to distinguish in that thick black hair!).  There is no exit and they retrieve the bullet from the body at autopsy.  So far so good.

 

But then we are introduced to deceased Lydia by the dumpster.  There are passive blood drops and a bloody swipe pattern near the dumpster which leads to the body which is lying in a pool of blood.  The investigator states that these blood patterns indicate a struggle.  SAY WHAT???

 

Passive drops are just that - drops of blood that are falling straight down due to the pull of gravity.  When you have circular stains that tells you that a blood source is stationary and NOT in motion.  Motion would cause a change in the shape of the stains and they would look elongated (kind of like a bowling pin). The blood swipe tells you merely that a bloody object (in this case - the body) was drug to the final resting position where it drained the pool of blood.

 

Okay, so now we go to the autopsy where the Medical Examiner says that this was the same MO as the male victim.  Again I say: huh?  That would mean that there was an entrance to the back of the head with no exit wound.  Since they did retrieve the bullet from the body that would suggest that there was no exit wound.  But wait - when they show the body there is a big hole in the middle of her forehead.  Okay so maybe she wasn't shot in the back of the head but shot in the forehead and there is no exit wound.  But wait - look at the size of that entrance wound (and WITHOUT STIPPLING!!).  I dare say that the size of that hole is way too big for a 22 caliber. 

 

I am officially confused with what they are trying to convey.  But then I must admit:  I can grab this concept more so than a pregnant transvestite, pregnant with drug balloons.  As they say - OH BABY.

So What Did Margie Say About...Working a Windy Crime Scene

Well folks, it's a new month (June 3, 2013) and it looks like a crime investigation show now on Mondays is going to be as hard to find as trace evidence on a windy crime scene.

 

Now that I've brought up the wind - it can be quite the challenge to work an outside crime scene in the wind.  A couple of things that I used to do:

(1) Have a make shift work station within a cardboard box on its side.  Not too stable but it does give a bit of a relief momentarily when packaging smaller items and you need a wind break;

(2) Tie a section of crime scene tape onto a car antenna and take a photograph of it flapping in the wind.  That helps the jury understand the tough conditions at the scene and gives them a visual so they can empathize with why a standard operating procedure may be deviated from;

(3) Use a section of fingerprint tape to hold the fingerprint card in place while placing latent print lifts onto the card. There is nothing like fighting tape flapping in the wind and figuring out how to keep it from doubling up on itself.  Keeping the card in place is just one less thing to worry about; and

(4) Using a tool belt or a garden apron to have access to lots of pockets and/or cubby holds.  Keeping things close and not flying away is important when so much is going on.

 

Wind may not always be a natural phenomenon - it could be an outside fan or a hovering helicopter. Either way, when you have air moving and therefore, potential evidence moving - it is not an ideal situation.

 

Speaking of things moving about - next week I'll move the blog to Tuesday evening programming.  Certainly I can find us a show of interest there.  Thanks for being flexible with me!!