Forensic Scientist

In a situation where fingerprints are planted on the weapon, and the person who committed the assault/murder is holding the weapon with gloves. How do the prints not become smudged or rubbed off?

Asked by Emily over 2 years ago

I would think they’d have to get rubbed off. I don’t know how one could hold a knife tightly enough to stab someone without smudging all the prints on the grip. Guns, despite what you see on television, are terrible surfaces for prints, though I guess if you were very careful and maybe propped the butt on something, I suppose you could use it without grasping and smudging some areas, like the grip (if it were smooth, otherwise it likely wouldn’t retain any prints anyway) or a shiny, chromed barrel. A knife, maybe if it was big enough that you could grip only part of the handle and leave the prints on the other part undisturbed. Or... maybe part of the blade if you didn’t stick it in the body all the way. But I would think it would be tough to do.

Hope that helps! Read More +

This is a hard question. What if in a job interview for law enforcement you are asked. What is a order you would not follow?!

How would you approach that?

Asked by Dave about 3 years ago

I”m a civilian employee so I’m not in the strict line of command as perhaps a police officer is, so I don’t really think in terms of ‘orders.’ If there’s a request of us that we feel could be detrimental to the forensic evidence, we’ll tell them that and discuss alternatives. If that wouldn’t work, I’d get my supervisor involved. If the detectives insist, then I’d probably do what they want (provided of course it wasn’t illegal) and if it makes the case unprosecutable, then that’s on them. So far the issue has never come up.

"Blood was not detected on Item 57(bullet); however a sample was collected on Item 57 as 57-1 (swab).
For a debate, did the scientist collect blood or "touch DNA"?
What do the letters "cc" mean in lab report?
Thank you very much!

Asked by Judy Prochnow over 2 years ago

Blood is not touch DNA. Touch DNA is DNA left by skin cells or sweat or oil, basically, not a visible stain. So it sounds like this sample 57-1 was either touch DNA or something visible that they thought might be blood but wasn’t.

I don’t know what cc might mean, other than carbon copy (like a copy of the report was sent somewhere else) or cc’s as a unit of measure.

Hope that helps at all!

Hi, I am an Indie author and I have written a nook that involves a murder. The murder is set around 1946. My question is would detectives of that time be able to match the blood on clothing worn by a suspect to that of the victim's?

Asked by Ritu over 2 years ago

Not positively…as far as I know they could tell the blood type and gender, but of course not the positive ID of DNA. I don’t know when they started doing serological testing such as secreter status and PGM sub typing. Hope that helps!

Tragically I have lost a family member to an accidental drug overdose can someone explain the below toxicology and what they think has ultimately caused death.
0.04mg/L of Cocaine

0.022 mg/L of 8-Aminoclonazolam (which is a metabolite of clonazolam)

0.017 mg/L of Alpha-hydroxyetizolam (which is a metabolite of etizolam)

Asked by PARENT over 2 years ago

How was your experience becoming a forensic scientist, how long did you study and where, after graduating was it hard to get a job, what's the monthly pay like and do you think it's a good career to get into, money and employment opportunity wise?

Asked by Temperance Brennan about 1 month ago

Hi Lisa! I'm an author doing research for a new novel, hoping for help 1. If a body is wrapped in plastic and hidden in a wall, what would it look like when found 40 years later? 2. If he died from an overdose of sedatives, could you tell after 40 y?

Asked by Frida over 2 years ago