Evidence and Forensics In and Murder Cases

Noah Hall, Fallon Benoit, & Chameah Strowder Sexual Violence Sexual violence is any sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act by violence or coercion, acts to traffic a person or acts directed against a person's sexuality, regardless of the relationship to the victim. Child Sexual Abuse - When a perpetrator intentionally harms a minor physically, psychologically, sexually, or by acts of neglect, the crime is known as child abuse.

The of Men and Boys - Men and boys who have been sexually assaulted or abused may also face some additional challenges because of social attitudes and stereotypes about men and masculinity.

Intimate Partner Sexual Violence - There are many different terms to refer to sexual violence that occurs within intimate partnerships, including intimate partner sexual violence, domestic violence, intimate partner rape, , and spousal rape.

Incest - Unwanted sexual contact from a family member.

Drug Facilitated Sexual Violence - Usually involves “date-rape drugs” which refer to substances that can aid a perpetrator in committing drug-facilitated sexual assault. The rate of sexual assault and rape has fallen 63% since 1993, from a rate of 4.3 assaults per 1,000 people in 1993, to 1.2 per 1000 in 2016. ● Every 73 seconds another American is sexually assaulted. ● 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8% completed, 2.8% attempted). ● About 3% of American men—or 1 in 33—have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. ● From 2009-2013, Child Protective Services agencies substantiated, or found strong evidence to indicate that, 63,000 children a year were victims of sexual abuse. ● A majority of child victims are 12-17. Of victims under the age of 18: 34% of victims of sexual assault and rape are under age 12, and 66% of victims of sexual assault and rape are age 12-17.

DNA- deoxyribonucleic acid, a self-replicating material which is present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent of chromosomes. It is the carrier of genetic information. Where is evidence collected from?

● Locations relevant to the case

● Body of the survivor

● Clothes from the survivor

● Anyone known to be at crime scene (responding officer, any witnesses)

● Partner(s) who’ve had consensual intercourse with survivor with prior 72

hours CODIS

CODIS is the acronym for the Combined DNA Index System and is the generic term used to describe the FBI’s program of support for criminal justice DNA databases as well as the software used to run these databases.

A rape kit—also known as a sexual assault kit (SAK), a sexual assault forensic evidence (SAFE) kit,- is a package of items used by medical personnel for gathering and preserving physical evidence following an allegation of sexual assault.

What happens during a sexual assault forensic exam?

The steps below outline the general process for the exam. Remember, you can stop, pause, or skip a step at any time during the exam. It is entirely your choice. 1. Immediate care. 2. History. 3. Head-to-toe examination. 4. Possible mandatory reporting. 5. Follow up care.

According to the United Nations World Population Prospects report, approximately 7,452 people die every day in the . In other words, a person dies in the US approximately every 12 seconds

● Sometimes foul play is involved ● Death turns into a murder case ● Police begin to search for suspects, they are likely to base their conclusion on a few key pieces of evidence. 3 most common pieces of evidence

❏ Murder Weapon ❏ Weapon used to commit murder ❏ ❏ Eyewitness accounts ❏ Most commonly cited pieces of evidence in murder cases ❏ This is when someone is able to place you at the scene ❏ ❏ Traces of DNA ❏ Foolproof method of indicting a suspect ❏ Can include fingerprints, blood, hair and other physical traces Investigators gather all evidence from the scene of a murder, and forensic technicians analyze it in various ways, based on the type of evidence..

❏ Gunshot residue ❏ When a gun is fired, residue exits the gun behind the bullet. Police use tape or a swab to lift residue off the hands of a suspected shooter. Then the forensics technician uses a scanning electron microscope to examine the sample. ❏ Fibers ❏ identifies substances by passing infrared radiation through them and then detecting how much of the radiation they absorb. With this technique, forensic technicians can match fibers found on a victim's body to those in a piece of or furniture. ❏ Fingerprints ❏ Fingerprinting relies on the unique pattern of loops, arches and whorls that covers each person's fingertips. There are two types of fingerprints. Visible prints are made on a card, or on a type of surface that creates an impression, such as blood or dirt. Latent prints are made when sweat, oil and other substances on the skin reproduce the fingerprints on a glass, murder weapon or any other surface the perpetrator has touched. These prints can't be seen with the naked eye, but they can be made visible using dark powder, lasers or other light sources. ❏ Body fluids ❏ , Blood and or Saliva ❏ There are a number different of test done to analyze these fluids These are common items that contain DNA…

Evidence Possible Location of DNA on the Source of DNA Evidence baseball bat or similar weapon handle, end sweat, skin, blood, tissue eyeglasses nose or ear pieces, lens sweat, skin used cigarette cigarette butt saliva

fingernail, partial fingernail scrapings blood, sweat, tissue bite mark person's skin or clothing saliva hat, bandanna, or mask inside sweat, hair, dandruff Orenthal James Simpson

Kevin Richardson, Antron Mccray, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise, and Yusef Salaam

Work Cited https://www.rainn.org/articles/importance-dna-sexual-assault-cases https://www.rainn.org/statistics/scope-problem https://www.rainn.org/types-sexual-violence https://www.rainn.org/statistics/children-and-teens https://www.rainn.org/articles/rape-kit https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/dna-evidence-basics-identifying-gathering-and-transporting https://www.richardscriminallaw.com/blog/2017/10/3-common-pieces-of-evidence-used-in-murder-cases.s html https://www.nydailynews.com/services/central-park-five/profile-matias-reyes-article-1.1308560 https://theunredacted.com/oj-simpson-framed-in-america/