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.
If you look over previous answers, you'll see that it depends upon the requirements of where you want to work. My job requires only a high school diploma but gives extra points for college degrees, so we all have at least a BS. A larger lab might require a BS. If you're doing DNA work they might require a PhD. The only way to know for sure is to call a few places you might be interested in and ask what they require. Best of luck!
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Okay, i'll email you.
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Please see earlier answer about convicted felons. But as far as I know it would probably depend on the kind of crime, whether it was a misdemeanor or felony, etc. Many juvenile records can be sealed or expunged as well, so that process could be worth checking out.
You can have your student contact me Via my web site at www.lisa-black.com and I'll try to help!
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That's impossible to say, since there's no way to know if perhaps it was left but simply not discovered. Perhaps they touched something that didn't appear out of place so we didn't fingerprint it. Perhaps they touched everything but have very dry skin so they didn't leave prints. Perhaps they left DNA on the steering wheel of a stolen crime but we didn't collect it because the state lab doesn't do touch DNA analysis on non-violent crimes. There are too many factors involved.
I can say that burglars cut themselves climbing through broken windows perhaps 2-5% of the time. But only a fraction of burglars break windows, so....
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Investment Banker
What's the craziest partying you've ever seen among bankers?
Private Detective
What do you think is the most corrupt industry, city, and State in the country?
Bartender
How often would you date customers?
Without knowing you or your relative, I really couldn't guess. Maybe they hoped you'd read the instructions first?
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I think you mean to check for that wherever they're lying to see if the body had been moved?
Well, not everyone evacuates upon death. Also the clothing absorbs most of it, and any that leaks through could also have leaked through after being moved. But yes, that could be an indication that the body had been moved just as bloodstains would.
Hope that helps!
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Unlike what you see on TV, a hair and fiber expert never 'matches' hairs or fibers (except in the case of DNA analysis). We can say they are 'consistent with' having come from this person or this article of clothing in that all the microscopic characteristics are the same or within a group of the same characteristics. Though dyed hair is quite distinctive with the growth since dying and the color so it would be a strong indication that they came from the same person, you couldn't actually put a number on it (like 'there's a one in two billion chance this came from someone else', like DNA). That's largely why hair and fiber comparisons are rarely done any more.
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