The Scenario

"Mr. Kelly had known Kol'andria Jones fo her drug dealings and one night was feeling the craving for some drugs. He called her and they agreed to meet somewhere and deal. When they got there and Kol'andria told him the price Mike thought she was charging too much and asked her to lower the price. She refused and he hit her in the face with a glass bottle (where fingerprint came from) which left a cut on her face (AB blood came from) and made her earring fall out. She screamed very loud and someone nearby heard the scream and called the police. They were in the middle of an argument when all of a sudden they heard sirens and started running out of there. Kol'andria lost her shoe but the police were too close so she had no time to turn back around and get it. They had left in such a hurry that they even forgot the crack!"

C.S.I- Mr. Kelly Style

In the crime scene investigation that Mr. Kelly set up we were put into groups and given a crime to solve. In my scene we were given a womans shoe. a womans earring, some kind of drug-like substance, blood, and two hair samples and a fingerprint. We were given suspects with a picture of each and their fingerprint, criminal record and handwriting sample. We then had to solve the crime and make up the story that fit the crime perfectly. We found that our blood was type AB, one hair sample was a fake hair which was Kol'andria Jones and the other was a white male. The fingerprint was a tented arch which belonged to Mike Kelly. And the handwriting on the note matched Mike Kelly's hand-writing perfectly.

Blood Typing

In blood typing there are four main types of blood, A, O, AB, and B. Each of these types is divided into two different types: AB+, AB-, O+, O-, A+, A-, B+, and B-. As you can see, the blood types are divided between positive and negative types. The main difference between positive and negative blood types is the positive has the RhD antigen, while the negative does not.

Information: http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/landsteiner/readmore.html

Hair and fiber Analysis

Hairs, which are composed primarily of the protein keratin, can be defined as slender outgrowths of the skin of mammals. Each species of animal/human possesses hair with characteristic length, color, shape, root appearance, and internal microscopic features that distinguish one animal from another.

In this lab we different samples of hair/fibers from a variety of animals and people. We had to look at them through microscopes and then draw what we thought each one looked like and identify what it was.

Information: http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/hair-analysis

Handwriting Analysis

One of the labs we had to do was on Handwriting analysis and you were put into groups where we had to forge each others hand-writing. You can identify whether you have to slant up or down or go straight across, how big the loops are and how small or big the letters are. That helped us forge each others letters.

We also had a written check that was ripped up (as you can see in the picture) and we had to piece it back together and identify who it belonged to based on the handwriting.

Techniques/ Chemicals for Lifting prints

Crystal Violet is ideal for developing latent prints on the sticky side of tape. Fluorescomine and indaendione are two of many chemicals used to develope fingerprints. Prints on hard and nonabsorbent surfaces (such as mirror, tile, glass, and painted wood) are developed with the application of powder. While soft and porous surfaces (such as cloth, paper, and cardboard) are made visible by the treatment of a chemical.

Types of Fingerprints

Latent- Marks left behind at the scene of a crime which may not be immediatly visible to the naked eye. To expose latent fingerprints, technicians use fingerprint powder, fuming, and other techniques.








Plastic- A friction ridge impression from a finger or palm (or toe/foot) deposited in a material that retains the shape of the ridge detail. Commonly encountered examples are melted candle wax, putty removed from the perimeter of window panes and thick grease deposits on car parts. Such prints are already visible and need no enhancement, but investigators must not overlook the potential that invisible latent prints deposited by accomplices may also be on such surfaces. After photographically recording such prints, attempts should be made to develop other non-plastic impressions deposited at natural finger/palm secretions (eccrine gland secretions) or contaminates.





Direct- These are friction ridge impressions of unknown origins which are obvious to the human eye and are caused by a transfer of foreign material on the finger, onto a surface. Because they are already visible they need no enhancement, and are generally photographed instead of being lifted in the same manner as latent prints. Finger deposits can include materials such as ink, dirt, or blood onto a surface.

History Of Fingerprints

Fingerprints have served the government for the past 100 years. The first forensic professional organization, the International Association for Identification, was established in 1915 and it was invented just to study fingerprints! Around 1870, French anthropologist Alphonse Bertillon invented a system to measure and record the dimensions of certain bony parts of the body. These measurements were reduced to a formula which would apply only to one person and would not change during his or her adult life.

Beginning in the 1850s, some areas began photographing (or daguerrotyping) criminals as they went into prison. This method became more popular in the 1880s, with the advent of the Kodak camera, which was quicker and easier to use. However, photographs were still not foolprrof--people can drastically change their appearance, and what they do not do, time may. Nonetheless, police spent a great deal of time studying "Rogues Galleries"--thick books of photographs of known criminals in the hopes of being able to identify them in the case of similar crimes occuring near them. (There was apparently very little faith that a criminal wouldn't return to his or her illicit ways).