Forensic Speak [Sample]

7/30/2019 Forensic Speak [Sample]

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H O W T O W R I T E R E A L I S T I C C R I M E D R A M A S J E N I F E R D O R B U S H


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Published by Michael Wiese Productions

12400 Ventura Blvd. #1111

Studio City, CA 91604

(818) 379-8799, (818) 986-3408 (FAX)

[email protected]

www.mwp.com

Cover design by Johnny Ink. www.johnnyink.com

Interior design by William Morosi

Printed by McNaughton & Gunn

Manuactured in the United States o America

Copyright 2013 by Jennier Dornbush

All rights reserved. No part o this book may be reproduced in any orm or by any means without permis-

sion in writing rom the author, except or the inclusion o brie quotations in a review.

Library o Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dornbush, Jennier, 1971-

Forensic speak : how to write realistic crime dramas / Jennier Dornbush.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-61593-131-6

1. Television authorship. 2. Television authorship--Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Detective and mystery

television programs. I. Title.

PN1996.D65 2013

808.066791--dc23

2012028049

Printed on Recycled Stock

DEDICATION

For Dad, Mom, Melanie, and Amy where it all began

In memory of Jack Gilbert, my friend and writing mentor

Keep death always before your eyes.

The Holy Rule of St. Benedict


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TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

Introduction viii

How to Get the Most Out oForensic Speak xi

Who Needs to Speak Forensics? xiii

Chapter 1 - Chewing the Fat with CSIs 1

Types o Evidence 2

General Terms 9

CSIs Toolkit 33

Exercises 41

Chapter 2 - Coroner Chat 42

Exercises 82

Chapter 3 - Toxicology Tte--Tte 83

Drugs and Poisons 86

The Druggies World 91

Drugs and the Crime Scene 102

Exercises 106

Chapter 4 - Fingerprint Talk 107

Exercises 130

Chapter 5 - DNA Lingo 131

The Science o DNA 132

Is It Really Blood? 137

Types o DNA Testing 142

How DNA Testing Works 145

Other DNA Ino 149

Exercises 156

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Chapter 6 - Blood Spatter Speak 157

Spatter versus Splatter 159

Basic Blood Spatter Terminology 162

Anatomy o a Blood Drop 170

How to Interpret Bloodstain Patterns 175

Exercises 183

Chapter 7 - Gabbing about Guns 184

Firearms: Common Types 185

Firearms: Parts and Pieces 193

Common Bullet Types and How They Aect Their Target 204

Actions: Five Types and How Theyre Used 208

Firearms and Forensics 209

Exercises 216

Chapter 8 - Courtroom Confabulation 217

Key Players in a Trial 218What Happens in a Criminal Trial? 225

Common Legal Terms 230

Exercises 244

Conclusion 245

Running on about Resources 246

Jens Fun Forensic F inds 252

Filmography 253

Index 256

About the Author 264

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Introduction

Long beore American television was saturated with CSI, Forensic Files, Bones, Criminal Minds, and multitudes o similar shows, I was living my

own weekly CSI adventure with my amily in rural, northern Michigan. My ather began his medical examiner career in 1973 and my mother

assisted as oce manager, accountant, and counselor. They ran the oce out o our home because the county was too poor to provide him

with a proper oce and storage.

Dad perormed autopsies at the small county hospital morgue, and all the records, paperwork, and photographs were kept in our amily oce.

Samples o blood and tissue were stored in a basement reezer, right under the pork chops and rozen beans like some B-rated horror fick.

Dinnertime conversations oten revolved around the case o the week. Let me tell you about an interesting suicide I saw today. Oh, and pass

the corn, please.

Dad investigated an average o one hundred deaths a year. Accidents, suicides, natural deaths, and scores o drunk-driving atalities lled Dads

days and nights and kept ood in the cupboards. During the twenty-three years Dad worked in orensics, I had a one-on-one education about

how people died, why they died, why they were murdered (sex, drugs, money), and how to prove a persons death. Being around death investiga-

tion was as natural as brushing my teeth.

Our amilys existence appeared strange i you were looking in rom the outside. One Sunday ater church, when I was about ten, my ather toted

us all to the local airstrip. A single-engine plane had crashed the night beore and Dad wanted to return to the scene in daylight to scour the

area or any remaining body pieces. My younger sister and I paired up to help him. Outtted in our Sunday best, we roamed the damp eld

beyond the runway that early spring morning in search o brain matter and skullcap. And, yes, we ound some.

Until my twenties, I elt the need to hide what my ather did or a living rom my riends. We were living in a pre-CSI generation beore TV glamor-

ized orensics. I didnt know a single other person my age whose ather kept body bags in his truck and smelled like ormaldehyde when he came

home rom work. It was weird and icky to me. And, as a young teenage girl, I already elt grossly out o place in my own skin. Dads work was a

constant reminder o just how strange my amily was and how strangely my peers might perceive me. Ironically, my riends ound the amily business

intriguing, and, to this day, I cant remember a single time I was teased about what my ather did or a living at least not in ront o me.

One o the rst times I remember my home lie intersecting with my social lie was in third grade. I had the new girl over to play in our ort in the

barn lot. She became intrigued by a ty-ve-gallon barrel in the middle o our barn foor. She wanted to take a look inside despite my strong

discouragement. Eventually, she weaseled the truth out o me. I told her, Theres a mans leg in that barrel. Dad was preserving it or a case

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he was working on. It thrilled her. She careully slid the top o the barrel and peeked in. It was wrapped in thick plastic. I cowered back as the rank

smell o decomp and ormaldehyde wated out. Would she uncover the leg? Silently I prayed that she would chicken out. Not a chance. She peeled

back that plastic, and a cross section o thigh stared back at both o us. She took a good hard look and then, satised, wrapped it back up and put

the lid on. I wanted to puke, but she didnt seem a bit azed and climbed back up the ladder to play.

By my senior year in high school I was becoming a little more comortable about letting people into the amily business. My riends and I hosted a

Halloween party or our senior class at my house. Our amily home is airly secluded and sits on twenty acres o land. My riends and I designed a

haunted hunt through the elds and woods. The prize or making it through was a scary viewing o Sam, our amily skeleton. Sam was a real human

skeleton that a doctor riend o my Dads bequeathed him. Sam lived in our barn and Dad stuck a cigarette between his teeth. He teased that Sams

demise was lung cancer. During college Sam and I ormed a closer bond when I used him to help me learn my bones or anatomy class.

As I grew older, I allowed my most trusted riends into the amily business. During my reshman year o college, my best riend, who was studying to

be a nurse, would oten assist my Dad with his autopsies. She considered her time in the morgue superb training or a nursing career. One weekend

I came home rom college to nd my riend sitting on the ront porch with several buckets o decaying human parts soaking in bleach. My Dad had

employed her to scrape the bones clean o fesh or a case he was investigating. Ater the bones were clean, they laid the skeletal remains on the

lawn and reconstructed the body to gure out what pieces were missing. I shriveled back in disgust. She was in anatomical heaven.

Shortly ater I graduated rom college, Dad retired rom medical examiner work. Dinnertime conversations were tamed and body bags disappeared

rom the truck. I learned to embrace my childhood and the amily business. In act, I eel quite blessed to have had Quincy or a ather and a doting,

sel-condent mother who put up with his homegrown experiments in orensic science. (Mom surely must have had a oreshadowing o their uture on

their rst date when Dad took her to see a cadaver in medical school.)

When I started screenwriting, I discovered that I was drawn to mysteries, especially Hitchcock and dark and quirky Coen brothers stories (Blood

Simple, Fargo, The Big Lebowski). My tastes in television tended towards mysteries with levity like Moonlighting, Monk, House, Pushing Daisies, Life,

orBones.

Writing about crime challenged me in ways others genres could not. Writing a crime story gives both the let and right sides o your brain an intense

workout. Enduring mysteries should not just stop at a series o plot points revealing chains o evidence. They can include dynamic and memorable

plots. Complicated, quirky, troubled, or damaged characters. Investigators you all in love with. Criminals that make the neck hairs stand at attention

and your blood turn cold. Settings where you see things like youve never seen them beore. And at the end o the story a certain satisaction should

arise that something that was amiss has now been restored and redeemed (True Grit). Or perhaps a dissatisaction pricks at you that evil is always

lurking and one needs to be constantly vigilant (No Country for Old Men).

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The discovery that I loved this genre surprised me. Until this point, I was not a CSI an and rarely read crime novels. I spent most o my teenage

years trying to hide the pictures o dead bodies that littered our dining room table when my riends would come over ater school. Now, suddenly,

I wanted more. I wanted to know everything so I could write about it. I hounded Dad and Mom with phone calls, emails, and questions. I read

books and articles. It wasnt enough. Like mystery writer Patricia Cornwell, I longed to get out there and get my hands dirty. Note that I said dirty

and notbloodybecause my stomach is still a bit squeamish where live carnage is concerned. And believe me when I say Ive had my ll o real

dead bodies. Mine was a literary bloodlust.

To satiate it, I enrolled in the Forensic Science Academy in Southern Caliornia, ounded by superstar Janis Cavanaugh, one o the rst emale

police ocers hired in El Monte, Caliornia. (Since then she and I have become riends.) I completed their six-month program, during which

I received hands-on CSI experience under the guidance o dozens o Los Angeles orensic proessionals. I gained more than 360 hours o

orensic training.

Forensic Speakstarted as an independent-study project I proposed in order to ulll a prerequisite requirement at the Forensic Science

Academy. But when my TV writer riends got wind o it, they raved and encouraged me to go public. I was a little surprised by their intrigue. One

riend emailed me a list o things she wanted to see rom such a book and added, I was starting to write my next TV spec script and I went in

search o this type o book and didnt have much luck. Ill be waiting or your book to hit store shelves. Well, that was all the encouragement I

needed. Why not write something I could share?

Forensic Speakevolved into its current orm because I wanted to put all my orensic knowledge, training, and resources in one handy-dandy

place where I could reerence it as needed. This is the book I wish I had had when I started writing crime ction: a north star to the world o

orensic science.

With Forensic Speak, I am at home. The welcome mat is out. Take a seat around my dinner table and pass the corn. Weve got a lot to talk about.

Warmly,

Jennier Dornbush

http://www.jenniferdornbush.com

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How to Get the Most Out of Forensic Speak

Forensic Speakis divided into eight chapters that cover the major elds o study in orensic science. At the end o the book is a large reerence

and resource section. These are resources that Ive used in my own writing and researching. Forensics proessionals have recommended them

to me and I wanted to share them with you. I know that these resources will prove trustworthy and helpul. Some o the resources are serious

scientic studies. Some are there simply because they are un orensic acts.

Each chapter is divided into a series o the most used terms in each eld. Each term is divided into three parts. What is it? Where do I see it?

How can I use it?

What is it?

The rst section o each chapter gives a clear denition o a given term. These terms and their denitions are compiled rom more than twenty

years o rsthand knowledge o the eld combined with hundreds o years o experience and expertise rom dozens o law enorcement ocers,

DNA scientists, ngerprinting specialists, judges, attorneys, criminalists, and other orensic proessionals. Textbooks, reliable websites, journals,

and articles also served as sources. The technology in the eld o orensic science is in perpetual evolution, but the core terms that youll nd

in this book remain tried and true since the eld o study was rst recognized as such in the 1960s.

Where do I see it?

Many o us are visual learners, mysel included. This section provides a visual example o the term. Here I have cited either a TV or lm scene,

or in some cases Ill show an actual photograph to illustrate the term.

How can I use it?

This is the practical part o each term. Once you have the deni tion and youve seen an example, youll probably be wondering, so what? How

can I use that in my own writing? In this last section, I am talking specically to people creating ctional crime stories. I have to preace this

by saying, there are many, many ways you can use the terms ound in Forensic Speak. It would be virtually impossible or anyone to cover them

all. Besides, its yourjob to come up with ways to use orensics in your ction. View this section as a springboard to your creativity. As you gothrough the book, youll notice that Ive taken a lot o liberty in the way that Ive answered: How can I use it?

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Sometimes, Ill address things you should or could have your characters do on the scene. Sometimes I give an additional tip or two about the term. Sometimes I give a real-lie scenario. Sometimes Ill reer to a real-lie criminal case. Sometimes Ill raise questions that I want writers to think about. Sometimes I talk about how things were done in the past as compared to how they are done now. Sometimes I point out myths or misconceptions to inorm writers. Sometimes (as in the Toxicology chapter), Im just plain ridiculous. Laughter is the best drug o all. Sometimes Ive included a un act or unknown bit o inormation about the term being dened.

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Who Needs to Speak Forensics?

Newbie crime writers. TV writers. Researchers. Writers assistants. Any writer who wants to get that extra edge.

This book started with you in mind. My heart bleeds or writers longing or a thorough cross section o orensic science who dont have the time

and resources to peruse orty-fve orensic textbooks or take hal a dozen classes at their local junior college. And most do not have the luxury o

a orensic network, resources, researchers, sta, specialists, and consultants at their fngertips. This book is designed to be that touchstone or you.

Forensic Speakcontains a lot o inormation to assimilate at one time. Choose your poison careully. Chapters are written to stand alone. You

dont have to take them in any particular order. Concentrate on one at a time, depending on what you need or the story youre writing. I youre

working on a specic idea or aspect o orensics, you may want to jump to that chapter and read all you can. Also check the reerences at the

back o the book, which will lead you to more resources.

Share a copy with your peers. Give a copy to your amily and crime-show riends.

I you cant nd what youre looking or in here, ask me. I love research. I love pointing people to helpul research. I love talking to orensic

proessionals. It is my personal writers code to answer smart questions and to share them with the rest o our crime-writing community. Forensicscience, like writing, is an imperect and constantly changing art. We must live, breathe, and move with it. Sharing our insights, our inormation,

is the best way to keep us all resh.

Seasoned crime writers. TV and film writers. Producers. Show runners.

I imagine that your iPod, iPad, and Web bookmark histories are already loaded with les, contacts, and lists o orensics data, but I believe that

this book will also become your one-stop guide to ctional crime ghting. And my hope is that you will nd some nuggets in this book that will

add to your toolbox. Even i you are amiliar with every term in the book (in which case you need to go immediately to your local law enorce-

ment and apply to be a CSI), you can continue to hone your orensic authenticity with the resources ound at the end.

You may nd Forensic Speakuseul in act-checking your scripts and stories. I you are on a writing sta, a writing team, or running a writing sta, use Forensic Speakas a baseline so everyone is speaking the

same language.

Consider giting this book to other crime writers in the biz. Want to add to the pool o orensic knowledge? Start a dialogue with me. Send in your acts and ndings, and I will share them with others

in my writing community.

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Have a question? Ill work with you to nd a solution to the problem you are dealing with on your show or in your own writing. I you cant nd what youre looking or in here, ask me.

Crime genre fans. College instructors. Writing teachers. Writing mentors.

I you are reading this, chances are you are part o the CSI generation or you are teaching them. You are a breed o an or an instructor who is

extremely curious and well-educated. My guess is that youre science-minded; you like gadgets, hands-on learning, and those volcano kits youcan buy at toy stores. I have a hunch youll nd this book satisying because it brings you behind the scenes, leagues and leagues under the

sea where you can learn how things are done orensics nally explained in lay peoples terms.

Chapters are written to stand alone, so start anywhere you like, maybe with a topic youre most interested in. DNA? Death investigation?

Ballistics? Courtroom orensics? You pick. Start there. Move around the book as needed.

The resources at the end o the book will to help you plumb deeper into the topic o your choice. Use the lmography to nd a TV show or movie

you havent seen yet or to illustrate a point to your students. Feel ree to suggest shows and lms to be added to the list or the next edition by

contacting me.

Ask me i you cant nd what youre looking or in here.

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I.

1

C

rime scene investigation on the airwaves did not start with CSI. It has a history as long as television has

been broadcast.

When creating a crime story, start where investigators start, with the points o proo. There are three

points o proo and they originate with the suspect. Suspects must have access to a weapon (or method

o killing), access to the victim, and motivation or the crime. The investigators main goal (real or ctional) is to nd

evidence that reveals something about each point o proo. In TV and lm lie, a single protagonist hero becomes the

central orce in solving these points o proo. In real lie, an investigative team does this CSIs, medical examiners,

criminalists, toxicologists, DNA scientists, ballistics experts, ngerprint examiners.

Crime scene investigators enter the scene ater rst responders. They secure the scene i it hasnt already been done.

Then they process the scene to get all the evidence to help other investigators prove weapons, victims relationship,

and motive. This chapter ocuses on the equipment, techniques, and terms that CSIs use in their jobs. It begins bydescribing dierent types o evidence, then moves into general terms, and concludes with what youll nd in a CSIs

toolkit.

Chewing theFat with CSIsThere is only one honest witness to every murder the victim.

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E TYPESOFEV

IDENCE TE TYPESOFEVIDENCEE

TYPESOFEVIDENCE

There are six main types o evidence or which investigators look at a crime scene:

biological, circumstantial, direct, impression, physical, and trace. On screen,

its possible to gather all six because writers are creating the crime. In real lie,

investigators may only get bits and pieces o a ew types o evidence. This sheds

some light on why its oten dicult to rely solely on orensic science to prove a

criminal case.

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Biological Evidence

What is it?

As its name suggests, biological evidence comes rom a live source, meaning that

it came rom something once or still living. Blood. Urine. Saliva. Semen. Skin tissue.

Organ tissue. Hair. Teeth. Bone. Feces. Vomit. Its the ooey-gooey stu were all made

o and all produce. Biological ooze is teeming with our DNA and all sorts o clues

as to our unique chemical makeup diseases, deciencies, excesses. It tells us i a

certain person was at the crime scene or not.

Where do I see it?

In the rst season oCSI, episode 110, Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) examines a victims

hair strand under a microscope to nd that it has trace elements o Tefon rom the

bullet that killed her. Sara uses this evidence to match the bullets rom the suspects

personal ammo supply.

How can I use it?

Any investigator worth his or her weight will recognize the value o biological evidence

in creating a link to the victim or suspect. Investigators should thoroughly scour the

victim and the immediate surroundings or biological evidence, and then properly

collect it and take it to a lab or testing. DNA testing seems to be the deault test or

bio evidence.

However, there are limitations to biological evidence. For instance, multiple-touch places like steering wheels and door handles have too many persons DNA on them to be o

much help. Also, public places like libraries, banks, stores, and schools carry hundreds o peoples DNA. And then there are environmental actors like heat, evaporation, and

rain that ruin biological DNA evidence. Another little-known act is that acids in eces and urine kill DNA. And, contrary to TV orensics, DNA testing cannot determine the sexo a person. More on that in the DNA section.

Dont eel limited to using only bio evidence to make DNA matches. Use other clues rom bio evidence to build the case: a victim who has contracted HIV postmortem. A

suspect whose hair ber shows lethal aluminum levels works in a canning actory. Vomit or eces is very helpul in identiying what oods a person last ate. Blood and urine

can also tell us a great deal about what kind o environmental toxins, pesticides, or heavy metals are in a persons system. Diseases are also detected through bio evidence.

Hair strand of murder victim under microscope. Sara Sidle examines and compares it to

bullet fire from suspects gun. CSI, episode 110; Jerry Bruckheimer TV, 2000present.

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Circumstantial Evidence

What is it?

Circumstantial evidence suggests that a crime happened. It is indirect evidence. You

arrive home and you notice a broken window, muddy shoe tracks on your carpet, and

a hole ripped into a wall where your 60" TV used to hang. You iner that there was

a burglary. Youre walking down the street and hear a gunshot. You run towards the

sound and nd a body. You iner that a murder took place. Circumstantial evidence

deals in claims, probabilities, assumptions, and appearances. It tries to show that

a series o acts reasonably leads to the conclusions about how the crime was

committed and i the person on trial or it is guilty. When trying to prove a crime, its

always best i circumstantial evidence can be accompanied by its siblings: physical

and direct evidence.

Where do I see it?

L. B. Je Jeries (James Stewart), along with his nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter) and

girlriend Lisa (Grace Kelly), compare two photos that Je took as part o the circumstantial evidence he has been collecting to solve the alleged murder o a neighbors wie

in Hitchcocks Rear Window.

How can I use it?

We are used to seeing cases being proved based on very concrete lines o direct and physical evidence. We like that because theres something denitive we can grasp. DNA

matches satisy us. We dont like uzzy lines. We squirm when we cant rely on science to prove it or us. Circumstantial evidence throws logic puzzles and ethical obstacle

courses at us. Great, I say! What a un place or a storyteller. Give your audience a rigorous hike through the switchbacks o What-Most-Likely-Happened Mountain. One note:

Physical evidence (bullet casings, guns, victims clothing) is considered circumstantial evidence.

Jeff Jeffries, Stella, and Lisa examine two pictures. Rear Window, Universal, 1954.

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Direct Evidence

What is it?

Direct evidence is a term meaning actual evidence recovered rom a crime scene that

cannot be disputed. You see a person hold up a convenience store and steal rom

the cash register. You see a shooter shoot his gun at a victim. A cop car surveillance

video records a trac violator attacking a police ocer. Direct evidence arrives in the

courtroom in the orm o photographs, video, or witness testimony.

Where do I see it?

Monk (Tony Shalhoub), Sharona (Bitty Schram), Lt. Randall Disher (Jason Gray-

Stanord), and Captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) view a video surveillance

tape that proves which suspects were in an alley at the time o a murder they are

investigating in the episode, Mr. Monk and the Red-Headed Stranger, season 1

oMonk.

How can I use it?

Use it when you really want to provide clear links between your suspect and the crime.

Direct evidence can be the trump card to solving your case. Introduce it early in the story to establish that indeed a crime has occurred or pull it out when you need to step

up a case against a particular suspect. Uncover it later in the story to clinch the case. Or distort direct evidence and create a diversion by introducing a lying witness or video

that has been altered.

Monk, Sharona, Disher, and Stottlemeyer watch a video surveillance tape of a murder

scene. Monk, Mr. Monk and the Red-Headed Stranger; USA Network, Universal,

200209.

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Impression Evidence

What is it?

Impression evidence is another subcategory o physical evidence. Most commonly it

includes impression marks made in sot and malleable material by shoes, tools, tires,

or teeth. Sot or malleable material includes anything that can bear an impression:

paper, abric, drywall, metal, dirt, mud, snow, slush, carpet, skin, bone, wood.

Where do I see it?

CSIs Gil Grisson (William Petersen) and Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) make

molds o an impression in a victims skull to try to match a murder weapon in CSI

episode 121.

How can I use it?

Take your pick. There are innite ways a criminal could leave impression evidence: a

st into drywall, a crowbar used to pry open a door, shoe tracks outside a window,bloody ootprints, abric in the grill o a truck, tire skid marks on pavement, bite

marks in a piece o cheese rom the ridge. Incidentally, delinquency works up quite

an appetite.Tool marks and bite marks are analyzed. CSI121; Jerry Bruckheimer TV, 2000.

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Physical Evidence

What is it?

Like its name suggests, physical evidence is anything touchable, tangible, or present

collected rom a crime scene that is related to the crime. This includes reestanding

evidence like a rearm on the foor, a bullet casing on the ground, a wallet let behind,

an article o clothing. Physical evidence can be adherent, meaning its stuck to some-

thing else: a carpet ber rom the foor, grease or oil, soil. Bonded evidence is physical

evidence that has been transerred rom one orce to another: a ngerprint impression

on a soda can, blood leaking into a wooden doorrame, car paint rubbing o as it

swipes another car. And last is integral evidence, which cant be easily removed rom

the crime scene because its part o something else, like a bullet hole in a wall, a

crowbar indentation, or a shoeprint in the mud.

Where do I see it?

In the Law & Order: Criminal Intentpilot, Detective Robert Goren (Vincent DOnorio)

discovers copper wiring ragments on the gloved hand o a murder victim, which will

lead him to his next clue.

How can I use it?

Physical evidence is the butter to the bread o crime writing. Your criminal should leave some physical evidence behind or investigators to track. However, dont be tempted

to use too many pieces o physical evidence. Select three to ve key clues that your investigator will nd to track down suspects. Some common ones include body fuids,

broken glass, drugs, documents, bite marks in skin or ood, bullet casings, hair (human or animal), bers (clothing, urniture, carpet), ngerprints, shoeprints, serial numbers,

tool marks, vehicle tire tread, bugs, or paint particles.

Copper wire fragments on gloved hand of murder victim. Law & Order Criminal Intent

pilot; Wolf Films, Universal, 2001.

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Trace Evidence

What is it?

Trace evidence is a subcategory o physical evidence. Oten only very small quantities

o physical evidence are let at a crime scene or on a victim. You may only get one

strand o hair, a ew skin cells, a thread rom a abric, a glass shard, a paint chip, or

a ew granules o soil just traces that someone has been there.

Where do I see it?

CSI Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan) examines a toenail in the pilot episode o CSI.

How can I use it?

Most physical evidence you plant in your stories is going to all into the trace evidence

category. Plus you want to give your investigators a challenge to make your criminals

seem smart and dangerous. Have your criminal leave hal a ngerprint. The tip o a

shoe print. A smudge o gunshot residue as he tries to wipe o the gun barrel. Onecarpet ber on a victims eyelash. Less is more, like what real-lie investigators have

to go on. Warrick with toenail clipping. CSIpilot; Jerry Bruckheimer TV.

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MS GENERAL

TERMSMS GENERAL TERMS

MS GENERAL TERMS

Consider this section your quick course on criminology. You probably wont hear

characters in crime shows using the words Locard Exchange Principle orindividual

characteristic. But every crime show is built around them. Once you learn what

they are, youll recognize them in the shows you watch and use them in the stories

you write.

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Accelerant

What is it?

Accelerants are used intentionally to create instant, long-lasting res. In other words,

it indicates arson. An accelerant is anything used to sustain a re. Common examples

include gasoline, kerosene, acetone, alcohol, cleaning solution, camping stove uel,

diesel uel, propane, lacquer, paint thinner, or turpentine. Accelerants are lit rom igni-

tion devices, which can be anything rom a candle to a time-delay device.

Where do I see it?

Martin Blanks assistant, Marcella (Joan Cusack), pours accelerant over her oce

space in order to destroy evidence o her presence in Grosse Pointe Blank.

How can I use it?

Proving arson involves many things. Two o them are nding out where accelerant

was used or whether an incendiary device was ignited. CSI investigators should takephotos, observe smells, and look or matches, cigarette butts, and irregularly shaped patterns on the foor that contain ash, soot, or other burned residue. Test suspicious areas

right away because accelerants have a short ater-re lie, only a ew hours to a ew days. Cracks and crevices may have more remaining accelerants than fat suraces. The

water used to put out the re will not impede testing or accelerants. Go high tech i need be and use a snier, aka a portable hydrocarbon detector.

Joan Cusack pours gasoline in her office. Grosse Pointe Blank, Buena Vista Pictures,

1997.

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Chain of Custody

What is it?

Chain o custody is sometimes reerred to as chain o evidence, which simply means

keeping a specic record o physical evidence taken rom the scene o the crime.

From the time the investigator arrives on the scene until evidence is received in the

lab and throughout the trial, items should be recorded by collectors name, loca-

tion o the evidence, and date o collection. To be admissible in court it has to be

collected and processed by people who have no personal interest in the crime at

hand. Each time an evidence item is received, removed, tested, or observed, it is

tracked. Evidence items (depending on the nature o the item) are collected in manila

envelopes, sealable paper bags, metal tins, glass vials, or paper bindles.

Where do I see it?

An investigator in CSI, episode 120, scoops up dog poop rom a suspects home. The

sealed and signed container he uses establishes chain o custody as this piece oevidence moves to the evidence locker and through the crime lab.

How can I use it?

We only have to take a jaunt into the recent past and look at the O. J. Simpson trial

to see how important chain o evidence is in prosecuting a killer. O. J. was acquitted

because the deense convinced the jury that evidence was planted, tampered with, or

did not ollow chain o custody. Evidence can quickly be dismissed rom court i, lets

say, a detective slips the evidence vial in his jacket pocket and accidentally orgets to

bring it to the lab or processing until the next day. A corrupt detective or sly suspect

may plant evidence at a crime scene or add tainted evidence later. Property technicians could open an evidence bag incorrectly or ail to mark that they opened the bag.Another way to compromise evidence in your ctional case is to have a person related to the victim comb through the crime scene beore the CSIs arrive.

An investigator scoops dog poop for evidence in CSI, episode 120; Jerry Bruckheimer

TV, 2001present.

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Chemical Processing

What is it?

Spraying Luminol over a carpet to detect unseen blood. Dipping paper in a Ninhydrin bath to detect ngerprints.

Applying a Hemadent test to conrm a suspected blood source. These are all uses o chemical processing on physical

evidence rom a crime scene. There are hundreds o ways and means and sources that acilitate testing evidence.

Chemical processing is a complex and developing eld. Simply stated, chemical processing occurs in a orensic crime

lab. Evidence is delivered in person rom the crime scene to the property lockers and recorded to keep the chain o

custody pure. Unlike on TV, orensic labs dont just automatically check the evidence or every substance under the sun.

Its usually the investigators job to direct the lab technicians to test or a specic substance.

Some o the most commonly used chemical tests in the orensic lab are:

Luminol, BlueStar, and HemaTrace to detect blood (see Presumptive Testing). Ninhydrin, iodine uming, cyanoacrylate, silver nitrate, sticky side powder to detect ngerprints (see Fingerprinting). Gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, and microcrystalline to analyze alcohol, drugs, and poisons (see Toxicology). Static, passive, and dynamic headspace to test or accelerants in arson res. Thermal cylinder and electrophoresis to determine biological makeup (see DNA).

Need more? O course you do. Try http://www.HowStuffWorks.com. Or be a nerd and beriend a orensic chemist.

Where do I see it?

Gil Grissom (William Petersen) collects bugs and pours coee in the container to preserve them in the rst season o CSI, episode 110. This is a orm o chemical processing

to preserve the evidence. Its a little rustic and hard to believe that a sophisticated operation like the Vegas crime lab wouldnt have the proper chemical, ormaldehyde, but it

makes TV watching interesting.

How can I use it?

I it sounds overwhelming, it is. But you dont need a PhD in chemistry to write a procedural. It does help to understand the basics about what happens to evidence once itreaches the crime lab. This makes your characters look smarter and gives you more to play with during those musical montage scenes in the lab. It also helps your story to go

somewhere. Its not just the discovery o evidence at a crime scene thats important, but its nding out whats in that evidence that helps the investigator solve the crime and

catch the criminal. Use your resources. Research. But, please, once youre outside the ctional world, have a little patience with orensic chemistry. Chemical processing can

take weeks months even. Cases are backlogged. Technicians are ew. Lab equipment may be inadequate or outdated. Budget cuts prohibit lab expansion. Thats a big reason

why it can take years to determine the cause o death properly and prosecute criminals. O course, in TV it happens in a brie orty-our minutes.

William Petersen collects bugs and pours coffee

in the container to preserve them. CSI 110; Jerry

Bruckheimer TV, 2000.

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Class Characteristic

What is it?

Class characteristic is the opposite side o the coin to individual characteristic. Class

reers to a restricted group, individual to a single source. When trying to identiy a

piece o evidence like a tire tread, you start with a broad class: a tire. Then narrow it

down: a truck tire, a pickup truck tire, an all-weather pickup truck tire. Eventually, the

orensic lab will be able to identiy this tire as a Firestone Firehawk GT Perormance

tire with a 28.6" diameter. Coincidentally, this tire was specially designed or the

police and re department and tested by the LAPD. There are probably hundreds,

maybe thousands o them out there. This is an example o a class characteristic.

Where do I see it?

Blood spatter specialist Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) and Sgt. James Doakes (Erik

King) nd a severed oot in a soccer shoe next to a soccer ball in Dexter, season 1,

Lets Give the Boy a Hand. Both the ball and the shoe are part o a restricted classo shoes and balls. While Dexter and Doakes will be able to use the severed oot to

draw some conclusions about the victims, they can also use the class characteristics

rom the ball and shoe to determine individual characteristics, such as manuacturer,

lot, location shipped, store where they were sold, and purchaser.

How can I use it?

When writing about evidence in procedurals, always start rom a class characteristic and work toward an individual characteristic. Take the example above. Start broad.

Eventually, narrow it down to individual characteristics that are unique to one tire and one vehicle. I there are thousands o Firestone Firehawk GT Perormance tires with 28.6

diameter out there, then how can your investigator narrow it down to a single vehicle? Heres how: Reveal an odd wear pattern that belongs to a retired cruiser out o alignment.

Find out who owned that cruiser and when the tires were last changed. That should narrow it down very specically to just a ew suspects.

Dexter examines a severed foot. The shoe and the ball are class characteristics. Dexter,

Lets Give the Boy a Hand; Showtime, 2006.

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