DECEMBER 1981 oFftcEns rosr{2 Prcsidenl EDWAFD RHOOES CONTTNTS LG Angol$ Sheritf's Oltic€ 2020 W. Bserly Blvd. Lo6 Ang€l$, Calilornia 90057 In HgrcrluD - Bruce Davls ........................o... 2 Pto'ident-Eloct AssocLatlon Actlvitleg ...............o............... 2 FREO A.J. TULLENERS Calirornia Oopartmenl ol JuEtic€ Criminalisti€ Labontory On Staylng t{lth IAc CAC - John Dehaan .r,............. 3 P.O. Box 3679 RireGid€, Calitornia 92519 Book Notgs - John DgHaan .a................o....t..... h neoding *crctary JOHN O. DE HAAN Upconlng lleetlngs . .. .. .. r . .. .. ... 5 Cslilornia Dapartmanl of Jusllca Trchnical SupFDrl Unit Eryloyrnent ..... .. .. ... .... .. r.. .. ... ... .. .. ... .. .. 6 PO. Box 13337 SacEmnlo, Cllitomi! 95813 Ethieal Dilenrnl' - Peter Barnett .o.......r............ 7 ft*turct B,UANE LOVAAS Krrife TerrnlnoLogy - Larry Hardlng .................... 9 Cslitomla Dopartmont ol Ju3tica 2?13 Blw Gum Awnu6 Modato. Crlitomlr 95351 Flber Cross Sectlolng - Sandy Wlerge-o ..............11 Ragionel Dirctot - North Hunan Scalp and Pubic f,alr - John Della.n ............ 13 MARY GIBBONS Fomsic Sden6 Assidos P.O. Box 8313 Comnts ou Refractlve Index Ueeaurments - Emryvllle, Calilornia 94608 Frolc Cassldy .................e...o..o.. 22 Rqional Dirctot - South JAMES N. STAM Srn Oiogo Polic€ Drprrtment &)l trrslt Mrrtot Slmt SNn Di€go, C.litomia 921(}l tmmcd/trL Pett Pteldont Thls Dalllng lncludes the followlng lteue: ROBERT OGLE lnEtituls ot Criminrli.tic! Abstracts FaIl 1981 Senl.nar 't413 GsOi! Str6t 1. - Vrllojo, Calittrnh 94500 2. 1981 Salary Survey UembBhlp Serct.ry DOROTHY NORAEY 3. l{lnutee Board Meetlng, 4 Noveder, 1981 Conlru C6ti Counv Shortttl Otlicc - P.O. 8ox 391 M!rtinez, Cslilomie 914553 4. illnutea - Buslness lbetlng, 6 l{oneder, 1981 Editqial *cntary 5. Abstracta from Other Reglmal Agsoclatl@ Ueet{nge GEORGE F. SENSABAUGH School ot Public Hr.llh UnhD6ity ol Cslitornir Bo*el€y, Cllilornie 9a720 Materlal for the l{arch 1982 Nessletter should be aent to the Bdltorlal Secretary by the flrst week 1n Harch. BRUCE DAVIS 1949-1981 We are saddened to report the death of Bruce Davis, a forensic chemist at the ATF laboratory on Treasure Island. He was killed in an auto accident in san Mateo, 25 october, 1-981. Bruce will be missed by all who knew him; not only was he a true professional-, dedicated to and enthusiastic about his work, he was also a joy to those around him. A native San Franciscan, Bruce served a four year stint in the Navy (1971--1975) and attended Ca1 State University at Sacramento where he earned a B.S. in Chemistry in L977. Joining ATF in 1-978, Bruce i.nstructed numberous bomb scene investigation schools throughout the western states and was involved with the laboratory examination of bornb evidence from several hundred incidents. He was a member of the ATF National Response Team for bomb and arson investigations and participated in many bomb scene investigatl-ons. Bruce leaves a wife, Kay, and daughter, rrene. Brucers colreagues at ATF have established a coll-ege education fund for Irene. Donations should be made payable to Kay Davis and sent to Elliott Byall at the ATF laboratory, Treasure Island, Ca1-ifornia 94130. ASSOCIATION ACTIVITIES Northern Section Meeting A dinner seminar hosted by the San Mateo Pol_ice Department Laboratory was hel-d in October. Dr. GiLes, a local Forensic Ondontologist, was the speaker. His presentation concerned the evidentiary value of bitemarks; he ill-ustrated his presentation with examples of his own casework. The next dinner meeting will be held in early January L982. It is scheduLed to be hosted by the Serological Research Institute. Southern Section Meeting A dinner meeting in october featured Lance Martini, a gunsmith from the San Diego area, talking on accel-erated cartridges and their implications for firearms analysis. The January dinner meeting will be hosted by Rich Whalley in San Diego; the speaker will be Milt Silverman who will tal"k on "Physical and psychiatric evidence and the criminalist in defense of the accdsed". Study Group Meetings 1. Southern_Trace-..jqloug. The group met in November to hear Gretchen @seun of Natural Hlstory speak on methods of species classifieation of animal hair. 2. Southern Serology Group. The group met in December to discuss sperm survival in the vagina. Relevant articles were reviewed. 3. Northern Trace Group. The study group last met in Septenber in @ The speaklr Lhis meeting was Dr. Di Giorgio of sacramento state university"r who discussed infra-red spectrophotometric examination of synthetic fibers. ON STAYING WITH THE cAc John llellaan DOJ, Sacrarento [This oplnlon origlnally appeared as part of an editorial ln the DOJ TIE-LINE. J The cAC is something of which we can be proud. It is the oldest of the regi.onal forensic oiganization and peopib all over the c-untry-tookvvvrlerJ to it for leadership in new and better ideas It's not without its warts, however. We have had some rocky times recently. But things are rarely smooth for the pioneers and we have been in estiblishing and tes.ting code f,ign..., a of behavior. i^Je made some mistar<es;-uut-". learned from each one' We now are better able to handle new chall.ng.i rore-quicr<fv and more fairly than ever before. The recent controversy in ingiinJ-ub;;; diiit and Horncastle shows us just how much better off we arl. gur esteemed col.leagues Forensic in the Science Society are now, biTferly divided and rliu. .u.n turned agafnst Board their of Directors. Some have radigillv demanded insiant and comp'lete ouster and a tree-stump election of new officLrs. Respected icientists have made outrageous statements to the.press about their o*n coilJigr.tl The tunnoil suffounding-!he Society and its members is in marked contiast to the,,troubles,, within the CAC. I Professional organization is a ship that requires many years takes to build and fit. It energy to ggt it moving and'keep it nioving and'ni.Jr-un able crew to keep it on course. The paralleTs are st;iking: rie AcaJJ"v, i.u"orthy as it is, is so large-and massive bt inertia that *ei. fiortals can no"iong.r course. the change its It is supertanker of organizations. Requiring-a iu.g. crew, it is not speedy 9f re,sPonsive but it does gei the iob done. 'Newer"rorensic are small sa'i'ling orgrniruti6n, craft - still oiirting uuori-to find theit" iorrr.; a bit leaky as they cross the same rough seas CA.C his irossed; anJ ;;;iiy-;*amped. The CAC is the largest and fleetest of the "cape ir'ipr. Requiring hand on forn"-sailing a steady the wheel and.an eager crew, tirat's irue. Bu[;;p;bie and efficient in the face of rough weather, it is indeed. Unfortunate'ly,-our recent troubles have prompted some valued and long-time members to bail out' taking to rough s.ai in'smatt, separai. iir.uoutr. This is certainlv not a logical oeiision in lieu ot stiyinti *ii[ our neu.ry caulked most seaworthy ship. but Stay with the thiq. .Help i,t.stay-cost. on course, setting new directions for others to follow without effort. it will someitling.- eul rtt you hours coiti-i.t, than make in four to maintaih 'prepareayour kit aboard for"a wrroie yg;;:--B;l you and your profession wtll be bette. ior il,. uoyug.t ahead. BOOK NOTES by John DeHaan DOJ Sacramento For those of us who have puzzLed over paints and polyrners every time they occurred in a forensic case, it is a pleasure to announce that there is finally a comprehensive book dealing with paint cheml.stry and technology which treats all of the fundamentals of paints and flnishes i.n a form which even a cri.minalist can understand. Introduetion to Palnt Cheni.stry and Principles of Paint Technology, Uy C Hall, Ltd., 733 Third Avenue, New York, NY L00L7) has been released as a second edition. It has been extensively updated slnce the first edition was published in L967 and is a very readable and yet comprehensive treatment of the subject. At long last, there is a new comprehensive book that deals with all- nethods of both preserving and interpreting footwear i.mpressions. Footwear Identification is the title of a new softbound book by Sgt.ffiZd .f . Gssfrt;fE RCMP in ottawa, Canada. This well-organized manual covers general crime scene investigation and the preservation of both three-dimensional and two-dimensional- footwear impressions at scenes. There is a brief but comprehensive chapter on the manufacturing of shoe soles and heels by a variety of manufaeturing processes which is of considerable value to forensic practitioners but is rarely discussed. The identification process of shoe impressions is discussed in terms of the number of characteristics and the generaL philosophy of identifying footwear as opposed to fingerprints and toolmarks. The effects of a subjectrs age, height and sex on the walking patterns observed in a series of impressions is described as a method for developing investigative information. This is altogether a most useful book and should be on the reference shelf of every criminalist. Copies are available from the Canadian Government PubLishing Center, Suppl-y and Services, Canada, I{u11, Quebec, Canada Kl-A 0S9 at $9.55. Catalog number - JS 62-36/L980E. At long last, ALcohol and the Impaired Driver has been reprinted. The original text, copyrighted in 1970, was published by the American Medical Association and was the basis for much of our training in forensic alcohol. Since L976, the National Safety Council has been responsible for this publication. Tbe L976 edition includes virtually all of the material- from the original- text on the gerreral topics of AlcohoL/Trafflc Safety, Pharmaeology, Effects of Al-cohol- on the Nervous System and Driving Ability and Chemical Tests for Alcohol Meadurement.