The Chain of Custody in Criminal Investigation Concept

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Introduction

Chain of custody, sometimes abbreviated as (CoC), is defined as the chronological documentation or a paper trail that shows seizure, the custody, controls, transfers, analyses, and disposition of electronic or physical evidence (Fridell 48). This concept is always very important when one is handling criminal cases. However, it is also applicable in civil litigation. When there is evidence to be presented in court, it is always important to handle it with a lot of care to avoid claims of tampering with evidence. This is because it can compromise the evidence. The three components of the chain of custody are very important if one is to win a particular case. For instance, when the evidence is a piece of knife, it must be proven that the knife is the piece of evidence. A litigant’s fingerprints or blood sample can help prove this. The second step should be a testimony of consistency showing the possession of the item. For instance, an officer picks the knife, hands it over to the forensic officer, who finally hands it over to the evidence clerk. The evidence clerk would finally store it. Lastly, there should be testimony by all the individuals who had possession of this evidence showing that the evidence has not been tampered with.

Concept of “Locard’s Principle of Exchange”

Forensic science has had a massive development due to the effort put in place by various scientists, including Edmond Locard. Locard’s principle of exchange holds that a criminal will always have cross-transfer of some form of physical evidence when he or she encounters a person or an object. This principle is currently very popular in court cases (Brown 56). For instance, when one is accused of murder, traces of blood of the victim on the accused person’s hand or clothes will be a confirmation that the accused had contact with the victim.

Major Types of Individual Identification that Have Been Used Throughout Forensic History

Forensic science has been very important in the identification of the accused in the courtroom. While in court, there is always a need to produce proof that a particular individual is the one who is rightfully needed in the court. Forensic science has helped a lot in the identification process. Several ways through which criminal investigators identify criminals exist. DNA profiling, also known as DNA testing, has been one of the widely used strategies in the identification of criminals. This tactic helps in the identification of individuals through their DNA profiles (Tilstone 92). The technique of DNA profiling is credited to Sir Alec Jeffreys of the University of Leicester, who was the first to bring up the technique in 1984.

Another common type of individual identification is offender profiling. In this strategy, an investigator will try to predict the behavioral pattern of an offender and connect it to the nature of the offense. This would then be connected to how the offense was committed. In the end, it would help in connecting the crime to the person who committed the offense. Dr. Richard Jarvis is credited with this strategy of criminal profiling. Digital image forensic is another strategy that has also been in use for the identification of individuals in the court. In this case, an individual will be identified through an image that was captured during the process of committing the offense. In this strategy, there must be a strong authenticity of the image to ensure that there was no form of tempering with the image (Houck 112). Several individuals have participated in the development of this strategy, including Henry Farid.

The process of putrefaction in humans

Putrefaction is one of the stages in the decomposition of a dead body. According to Middleton (42), putrefaction is the decomposition of a dead body, which involves the breakdown of the proteins in the dead organism. The process is systematic and depends on several factors. The putrefaction process can be analyzed based on hours after death or days and weeks. A dead body will undergo a series of processes after death. Once an individual dies, blood will settle in those parts of the body closest to the ground. A few hours after death, the skin will become pale because of the absence of oxygen. After a few hours, livor mortis will discolor the skin. The body will then start cooling down at a rate depending on the environmental temperatures. The muscles will relax completely in what is known as primary flaccidity. After a few minutes, the muscles will stiffen because of coagulation of proteins in the muscles, a condition referred to as rigor mortis. This is about six hours after death. It is important however to note that not all dead bodies undergo rigor mortis, especially bodies of infants (Middleton 42).

After about two days, there will be discoloration on the skin of the abdomen. As the gases form in the abdomen, they will begin to swell. This will depend on the temperatures around the corpse. After about four days, the discoloration will spread to other parts of the body. Discolored veins will become visible. After about six days, there will be the formation of blisters on the skin. There will be an increase in the swelling of the abdomen. After three weeks, the tissues will soften as cavities start busting and the nails fall off. This process will speed up with the presence of insects and other microorganisms, which may be acting upon the dead body. After the fourth day, most of the soft body tissues will liquefy. The face would then become completely unrecognizable (Middleton 43).

Lessons Learnt From Death Investigation

There were massive facts that I came to learn from the death investigation. Although I was aware of the fact that a body would decompose after death, I did not have a comprehensive knowledge of the processes that take place during death. For instance, the fact that the process leading the body to liquefy on the fourth week was a little skin curdling was unknown. The process may make an individual reconsider the choice of this profession. Trying to imagine that at one point, one may need to investigate a person who has been dead for four weeks made me a little scared. However, as one continues to learn these facts, they become normal. Each profession has its challenges and facing a dead body is just one of the challenges faced by forensic psychologists. I understand that with time, everything will be normal since the processes are internalized with time.

Works Cited

Brown, Rhonda. Forensic Science: Advanced Investigations. Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.

Fridell, Ron. Forensic Science. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 2007. Print.

Houck, Max. Forensic Science: Modern Methods of Solving Crime. Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2007. Print.

Middleton, Christopher. Ballad of the Putrefaction. Hull: Carnivorous Arpeggio Press, 1993. Print.

Tilstone, William. Forensic Science: An Encyclopedia of History, Methods, and Techniques. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2006. Print.

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The Chain of Custody in Criminal Investigation Concept

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