LIsa Black
Cape Coral, FL
Female, 49
I spent the five happiest years of my life in a morgue. As a forensic scientist in the Cleveland coroner’s office I analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now I'm a certified latent print examiner and CSI for a police department in Florida. I also write a series of forensic suspense novels, turning the day job into fiction. My books have been translated into six languages.
"Touch" DNA or "Contact DNA" can obtain a profile from an item that someone merely touched: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touch_DNA
I would say Rapid DNA, which can provide a profile in less than two hours and used in the battlefield, but that's been around since 2014.
And though you've seen it on TV every day for 50 years, it has not been possible for the average latent print examiner to scan in a fingerprint and search every person who's ever been fingerprinted, including job applicants and military. Most databases would be just county or state wide, and may or may not include job applicants (or staff) depending on the preferences of the agency, and certainly not the military, ICE or Interpol. At my department we only got the ability to remotely search the FBI database last year.
Hope that helps!
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Yes, certainly. I didn't manage to find the one piece of evidence that solved the whole thing, but I have worked on several. In my department a double homicide finally broke open after 30 years: https://www.news-press.com/story/news/crime/2020/10/01/joseph-zieler-suspect-two-cape-coral-homicides-seeks-dna-expert/3584935001/
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That depends entirely on the circumstances. If a sample of anything--blood, saliva, semen--is properly dried and kept in relatively dry conditions at a steady low temperature, or even frozen, it can last for decades. If the temperature and humidity vary greatly, then the sample could break down. If it's stored in plastic or airtight when wet it could rot and decompose.
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Apparently experimentation has shown it is possible. It gets more likely the longer the gloves are worn.
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Waitress
Do you get annoyed when people use Groupons?
School Bus Driver
If your bus is in an accident that was ruled your fault, would you lose your job?
Private Detective
Have you ever turned down a job because you thought it was too dangerous?
We don’t have music in the whole department but many of us will listen to it at our desks or on earbuds. I have very eclectic tastes so I have everything from Broadway to ragtime to pop on my phone. But if I’m doing super routine things I’m usually listening to a book or podcast.
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Because trials don't occur, especially for a homicide, for another year or two or three after the crime, when there's no longer a chance to go back and collect other evidence. Confessions can be recanted, videos are never as clear as they look on TV, and everything will be challenged during a trial. And the evidence can be twisted. I had a guy who confessed to three different people the night of the crime, and then a year later went to trial and pled not guilty.
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I'm sorry but I've never worked in toxicology, so I've never tested drugs with any kind of test.
Sorry I can't help!
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