The Sequences of Events in a Homicide - Case Study Example

? Homicide Case Introduction The purpose of this report paper is to explain in a detailed manner the sequences of events in a homicide case. This paper also aims to give a detailed understanding of the theory learned in class and as per level of understanding and how to apply in a practical context in this case the homicide investigative case at hand. This paper cover what happens in a typical homicide case, the people involved in the homicide case and the duties they carry out. The court of law also plays a major role in a homicide case as discussed in this paper. This paper emphasizes on the fact that in every homicide case what is very essential is the evidence as this will lead the investigators to track out the suspect. If an evidence sample is contaminated or destroyed by bad weather conditions, for example, sunlight and rainfall; then the evidence will be destroyed, and no case can be carried out. It is crucial in every homicide case for the evidence to be protected at all costs. Homicide is the unlawful killing or murder of a living human being committed by another human being with intent to cause major harm or to kill. Depending on the case it may or may not be a criminal action. For example in the case of a defense strategy, after a comprehensive investigation the homicide may not be ruled out as a criminal act. After every homicide incident, a methodical investigation should be executed so as to know the core cause of the demise as this is also in accordance with the protocol. A crime scene is a place set aside by the police force because an illegitimate action or activity took place there. A crime scene provides evidence of the events that took place in that area, the sequence of events, the time the crime took place, evidence from the suspect in the form of personal effects of the suspect and the evidence from the scene on the suspect. The main principle of a crime scene is to find the key evidence so as to provide investigative and interpretive leads. The crime scene in this homicide case study is a major parking zone next to an isolated forest. The forest where the body was discovered also acts as a crime scene. Blood is at the parking area, and a trail leads to the forest where the body was disposed off. The blood on the described areas acts as crime scenes; they give a definite proof that the crime took place there. From the photographic evidence; the victim was murdered at the major parking zone and later on dragged in the forest zone. Evidence that the victim was murdered in the parking area is the blood deposit as it seems some time passed before the victim was dragged in the forest; this is based on the photographs one can notice two blood stains from it. One blood stain has dried up while the other one is still fresh as compared to the first stain. From the crime scene, there is also blood splatter, seems the victim was trying to resist whatever was going on. The crime scene is as well near the victim’s residence as seen on the crime scene sketch map (Hess & Orthmann, 2010). The management for the synchronization of a homicide investigation depends on the Criminal Investigation Department/ Division. This is an agency that deals with the major crimes section. It is a division of the law enforcement force. The conclusions concerning a homicide case together with the proper presentation of the evidence gathered is a communal duty of the complete police force department. The investigative steps and strategies involved in this homicide investigation so as to obtain the correct evidence are described below; the people involved in the crime scene as well as the duties they perform so as to protect the crime scene are also explained in a precise manner as follows: The first person to arrive at a homicide scene is a responding police officer. The initial responding officer must be very swift in arriving at the crime scene as delays may result to fundamental observations, witnesses, evidence going unnoticed. The duties and responsibilities of the first officer at the scene of the misdemeanor have an effect on the accomplishment or disappointment of the homicide investigation. The police officer must appear at the scene safely, check the medical state and location of the victim, and if the victim is still alive perform first aid, observe all the activities taking place there, and document, determine the identity of all persons present, document the weather, time and lighting conditions, note all the evidence present at the scene, identify and defuse any potentially dangerous situations, apprehend any suspect present, secure the crime scene to authorized personnel only, identify the witnesses and call for help to the police force (Geberth, 1993). The next person to arrive at the scene after the initial responding officer is the patrol supervisor. He/ she is required to assign the personnel required to correctly safeguard the transgression scene, initiate a systematic search of the area, order a check of all local hospitals if the suspect is not on the scene and is supposed to be injured, give a hand to the Criminal Investigative department (CID) as requisite and keep the communications section conversant with all the up-to-the-minute developments in the case. In any homicide case, the senior ranking district officer is constantly in command. The chief contractual obligation of the higher-ranking official is to assign a police supervisor of the level of a sergeant to oversee the preliminary investigations of the homicide. The initial associate of the CID to turn up at the scene of the homicide will take over the control of the scene and initiate the follow-up investigation. The agent must talk to the initial responding officer so as to know detailed information concerning the matter at hand. The agent must then examine the body making sure not to tamper with the evidence. The floor and general surroundings must be carefully observed, and items which can act as evidence, must be found, as well. In this case, the blood stains on the parking area are the evidence materials. Samples of the evidence must be found and sent to the laboratory for DNA analysis. Drag marks of blood on the parking area also are evidence materials. The bruises on the back of the victim are also evidence materials, and all these are used to know what ensued of the victim as well as find the suspect by running several forensic tests on the victim. The investigator must also determine if the body was moved and if so by whom and what was the reason for moving the body? From the photographs, the body of the victim as moved. This is seen by the blood trails on the parking area. From my conclusions, the body was moved so as to hide the victim. The misdeed took place very early in the morning or late at night and the suspect wanted to conceal the crime so the option was dragging the victim to the nearest possible area which was a forest in this case, the parking area is also a busy place and the suspect did not want to attract any suspicion from the public as the parking area is a busy public zone (Geberth, 1993). The investigator must also describe the condition of the clothing, carefully observing the fold and rolls. This assists in defining the technique of conveyance or placement of the corpse at the position where it was found. There could be evidence in the folds and rolls of the garments worn by the victim as this may help in finding a DNA sample of the suspect. The location and appearance of the wounds and bruises must be described. Missing items must also be documented. From this case study, the victim had wounds on her neck and head. Bruises can be seen on the back area, face and arms. The investigator must also document the initial documentation of the scene, note likely entry/ exit point, note misplaced objects, note locations of prints. The scene ha to be documented by the use of photographs, sketches and note taking. In the homicide case, documentation of the scene was by the use of photography. A close-up photograph on the victim was taken where the orientation was closely focused on. That is; all directions of the crime scene, a close-up, outside and inside the crime scene area.360 degree overall orientation photograph was taken; this is a photograph from each side of the scene. The purpose of taking photographs is to carefully examine the scene before and after the shots in order to see if anything was taken (Hess & Orthmann, 2010). The note taking action done by the authority must be detailed and chronological. Information such as dates, time, scene descriptions, and items collected and body descriptions. This helps with coming up with the correct information. Crime scene sketching is very essential as it will aid in the documentation of the relationship of evidence, to describe to the higher police force members what transpired in the crime scene and to provide an overall view of the scene. A crime scene diagram must be drawn; this diagram describes the crime scene in a detailed manner. In the case under discussion, the crime scene diagram was a scaled diagram; which showed the area of the crime as well as the residence of the victim. The investigator must also come up with questions that will help relate to what transpired the questions are usually based on what? Who? Why? When? The motive of the homicide must be established, when the homicide took place must also be known, who was behind the crime must be know, what the suspect took or left behind must also be identified. These questions always lead the investigator to the need of finding answers. Color of the skin, eyes, mouth nails, hands and lips of the victim must be carefully observed. The temperature of the body must be checked, the surface the body is lying on and the interface between the two. From the photographic evidence provided, the victim is tanned on the lower body. The skin is dull; this is due to loss of blood. The surface the body is lying on is filled with blood especially near the head. The victim must have been dragged with the position facing head up. This can be seen by the bruises on the back region. The victim suffered blood loss originating from the neck region; therefore the victim might have been tied by a rope and pulled forcefully after her demise (Hess & Orthmann, 2010). The friction of the strong pulling might have caused the neck injuries. The victim might have been unconscious when she was dragged into the forest area; she might have passed out when she was at the parking area due to the head injuries she received. Hypothetically she might have been seriously hit on the head directly using the pavement on the parking area, this is because the skull seems fractured therefore she must have been hit with something heavy in this case basing the facts on the bloodied pavement. The blood might have coagulated immediately after the hit and considering it was coming from the skull, the blood might have been thick thus the deep reddish- black coloration. It is essential for the criminal investigator to know the personal details of the victim. This includes the name, age, sex, family relations, home, friends as well as the personal life of the victim. Knowing this will give the investigator an easier time in trying to know the motive of the homicide. From the photographic evidence, the residence of the victim is traced as per the findings she lives close to where she was murdered. The investigator must at all costs try to find out what transpired before the murder. He may do this by talking to the neighbors of the victim and also the friends of the victim. This will help the investigator trace the time and even date of the murder. Immediately the victim’s identity is traced, the immediate family members are contacted and also interviewed so as to try and know the lifestyle of the victim, and be able to establish what took place. From the photographic evidence the victim is a woman, she was sexually abused. This is evident from the fact that she has no clothes in the lower part of her body, only her undergarment is seen and focusing on the upper part of her body; her top was pulled such that the suspect wanted to take it off her body. This can lead to a hypothesis that she was resisting the sexual assault. The victim also suffered from neck injuries and massive neck bleeding. The bleeding may have resulted to her death. There is also evidence of blood splutter. Blood splutter analysis may be used to restructure brutal crimes. As an investigator, finding witnesses helps in the advancement and eradication of probable suspects. Most homicide cases have been solved by the CID agents going around the area of the crime several times and asking the residents of the area several questions in order to gather the correct information. Passersby’s who were present in the scene also are interviewed severally in order to come up with the correct information. Only significant actual eyewitnesses are required immediately so as to give the correct information of what transpired. The eyewitnesses are required to give precisely familiar statements. (Dieckmann, 2001) If the suspect is located, he/ she is arrested and is advised on his or her rights before the commencement of questioning. And the suspect must not be questioned if he/she requests for an attorney. DNA samples of the suspect may be taken so as to compare with any foreign DNA samples that might have been collected from the crime scene. The crime scene investigator and scene supervisor are obliged to notify the medical examiner of the basis and method of passing away the casualty suffered from. This usually depends on the evidence collected at the crime scene. From this case study the cause and manner of death is an involuntary homicide. The victim bled to death. The affiliation of the agency with the therapeutic examiners is very imperative for the successful inquiry since the investigation’s success relies on teamwork and cooperation of both parties (Dieckmann, 2001). For every homicide case filled in the court of law, a medical report about the medical condition of the defendant is required. This is to give a vivid explanation concerning the health of the defendant. In addition to that, a case of murder or homicide filled in the court of law must include a receipt of a pathologist’s statement commenting on the cause of death. The American Civil Liberties Union considers the penalty of death as that which violates the constitutional ban aligned with unkind chastisement and guarantees of the appropriate procedure of the decree of an equivalent defense under the law. This union believes that it unlawful for the murder of mortal creatures such as man and in this case, it believes that the penalty for death row is not fair to the murder suspects even though the suspects killed another human being brutally, more than ever when the state kills with premeditation and ceremony. This union protects the rights of murder suspects at all costs. The American Civil Liberties Union interprets the death penalty as uncivilized, unfair and inequitable. It argues that the death penalty sentence depends on the skill of the attorneys, the race of the suspect, the money the suspect has, where the crime took place and if the victim was white and the suspect black then the suspect will be given a death penalty immediately. This union aims to protect the rights of the suspects and defends them irrespective of their race, financial stability and color. Constitutional challenges are raised by this union. The argument is that a death penalty is a waste of taxpayer’s money and brings no benefit to the public. A majority of law enforcement professionals agree with the American Civil Liberties Union that the death penalty does not justify to murder suspects. The law enforcement professionals argue that the death penalty is the least successful method to curb violent crime; the best and most effective way to reduce the crime rates in the city is by creating awareness on the dangers of drugs thus reducing drug abuse cases, putting more police officers on the street to patrol so as to secure the neighborhood and prevent the rate of crime, longer sentences for suspects linked to homicides instead of the death penalty sentence, gun control for the citizens in order to facilitate their protection, job creation for individuals so as to reduce the crime rates. In a recent investigation carried out by the FBI, the states with the death penalty rank the highest in homicide cases. Moreover, many innocent people are sentenced to death due to false accusations, mistaken identity and wrong forensic evidence (Dieckmann, 2001). In some homicide cases filed in the court of law, death penalty has been relieved on murders on the grounds of age, mental state of mind thus suppressing the evidence obtained. Also the application of international law and international opinion on the issues of the death penalty brings about constitutional challenges. This is because of the foreign national defendant’s sentenced to death relay and appeal to the international tribunals. Defense efforts in most cases have been used to suppress evidence. As in the case of an eyewitness changing the sequence of events that took place, this leads to automatic disqualification of the evidence provided by the eye witness. Therefore the identification by an eyewitness providing a testimony in a criminal prosecution is not always dependable evidence. Unjust convictions have also been based on misidentification, counterfeit confession, forensic error, perjured testimony, and prosecutorial delinquency. These unjust convictions are usually provided by the key eye witnesses who may give out wrong information based on their own conclusions. A suspect in a murder case may be unjustly accused of the crime even though they never committed the crime in the first place. Another reason to doubt the suppression of evidence and the interference of innocence would be based on the decision of the jury members. Some jury members may base their initial facts based on the appearance of the suspect that the suspect is guilty. Likewise some jurors may defend the suspect in fear of making the decision of the suspect being on death row. Such reasons may lead to the suppression of evidence and the interference of innocence of the suspect. My view of the agency that deals with investigating homicide cases are; the agency provides competent investigators who are well educated and experienced and thus credible results are given out. Thanks to the good cooperation between the agency and the medical practitioners who focus on giving a detailed medical report as well as examination in order to know the cause of death of homicide victims, cases are solved in a just manner. Due to the advancement in technology, evidence found is solved faster and in an accurate manner. The agency also relates well with the forensic investigators, photographers and the whole police force therefore such cooperation would lead to better results obtained and better collection of data and interpretation of data (Geberth, 1993). The cooperatively of the forensic scientists and the investigators leads to a detailed and comprehensive account of what took place in the crime scene and evidence obtained from the crime scene. The investigators hired by the agency also perform thorough investigations and ask the witnesses and suspects questions in a sequential manner in order to come up with accurate findings. By the efficient working of the members of the agency, constitutional challenges are avoided. References Geberth, V. J. (1993). Practical homicide investigation: Tactics, procedures, and forensic techniques. Boca Raton: CRC Press. Dieckmann, E. A. (2001). Practical homicide investigation. Springfield, Ill: C.C. Thomas Hess, K. M., & Orthmann, C. M. H. (2010). Criminal investigation: Karen M. Hess ; Christine Hess Orthmann. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar, Cengage Learning. Read More