Forensic Scientist

Forensic Scientist

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.

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Last Answer on July 21, 2022

Best Rated

a car VW jetta traveling at 30 or 40 mph hits a 67" tall 160 pound woman how far will she be thrown.

Asked by Sarah over 9 years ago

I'm sorry but I have no idea. You'd have to ask an accident investigator.

what is the most gruesome case you have ever worked with and was the person ever caught

Asked by gael luna almost 10 years ago

Probably either a (small) plane crash or a shotgun blast. The first was an accident and the second was a suicide, so I suppose you could say the person was caught.

Hello! I am doing an experiment on what common household substances oxidize luminol other than blood (and might interfere with an investigation). i was wondering if you had any personal experiences with this happening or any advice you could share!:)

Asked by Jessica over 9 years ago

Vomit, horseradish, copper (as in pennies) and some cleaning compounds can also give a positive luminol reaction.Good luck on your project!

Hello! I'm writing a research paper about Forensic Scientist and I was wondering if I could ask a few questions? My email is justincariaso13@yahoo.com Thank you!

Asked by Red almost 10 years ago

Sure, I'll email you!

My brother was killed. I believe he was murdered. His left arm was nearly severed from his body and his left mastoid process was crushed. The blood at the scene was descibed as an 8in in diameter patch. How much blood should have been at the scene?

Asked by autumndawn over 9 years ago

I'm sorry to hear about your brother. Unfortunately I have no idea how much blood there should be, you'd have to ask a pathologist, but from my experience I can guess it would depend on two things--what kind of surface was he on--concrete, tile, carpet, dirt? Also, how long the heart kept pumping after the injury. I have seen gunshot victims where they barely bled at all, and others were completely soaked practically head to toe. So there are a number of factors that will affect this.

If you were given a 20GB hard drive that had been used to image an 8GB USB device and
found during analysis that more than the 8GB image was on the disk, what would this
indicate? How would you then proceed?

Asked by Parbh over 9 years ago

I have no idea, so I asked my co-worker. She said:My first question would be was the 20GB forensic wiped? Was it completely empty when the 8GB was put on it?Second, does the software that you use to image produce working files or executable programs that are needed to view the image? Otherwise 8 GB is 8 GB so there can't be more.

Do you believe that more could be done to improve dna testing

Asked by kerrie dunbar about 10 years ago

Improved in what way?