Hillary Moses, Lecturer on Forensics at Chaminade University and Crime Scene Investigator, was our special
guest speaker for February 20, 2013. She received
a hardy Aloha welcome from the members of The Sisters in Crime/Hawaii members!
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| Rosemary & Hillary |
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| Sandy, Ray, Julia |
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| Gene |
Members in
attendance: Sandy, Ray, Julia, Gene, Doris, Dennis, Rosemary, Dawn, Leslie (and
Gail behind the camera!)
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| Doris, Dennis, Rosemary |
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| far left: Dawn |
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| far right: Leslie |
From the
meeting minutes taken by SinC/Hawaii Secretary Rosemary Mild:
Our Speaker
Hillary Moses, Lecturer on Forensics
at Chaminade University and Crime Scene Investigator, gave a riveting
presentation and demonstration on Fingerprinting. Her specialty is fingerprint
analysis; she’s writing a textbook on the subject (with a lab workbook), for
Taylor & Francis, an international academic publisher. It will be the first
student-friendly textbook on the subject.
Hillary also works with the Medical
Examiner’s office in Honolulu. Gunshot victims are the majority of her cases.
She has also started a YA novel in the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys genre. She got
into Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) at an early age. Her father headed the
crime lab of the San Francisco Police Department. She helped process her first
crime scene at age five. “I have no problem with dead bodies. I can’t deal with
the medical stuff of live bodies,” she said. She was a police identification
(ID) specialist in California and a geneticist for ten years in forensic
science. She spent 14 months in Iraq processing crime scenes: suicide bombings,
sniper attacks, etc.
Highlights on Forensic Science
There’s the Investigative Side, then
the Forensics Side. Hillary starts with a crime-scene walk-through to get her
bearings and assess the scene. Ninety percent of Forensic Science is
documentation, including; a briefing from the detectives; an artist’s sketch;
notes; photos. Immediate photos of hair, tire tracks, shoe prints, etc. are
necessary because they can change (or disappear) during the investigation.
Types of evidence (she brought us
examples):
1. Tire tracks, shoe prints. After photographing them, cast them
using a liquid casting material.
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| Material for casting footprints |
2. Firearms. Bullets that had been fired and also
cartridge casings.
3. A “presumptive test,” such as casting tire tracks or
testing for blood, should be done first; blood and tracks can break down
quickly or be washed away in weather; hair or fibers can be lost. She discussed
synthetic blood, engineered to react like real blood.
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| Dusting the plate for prints |
4. Touch DNA. Swabbing isn’t always necessary. If
someone touches something, DNA is found on the object (unless it’s been
bleached).
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Hillary taking fingerprints of
Rachel Funk-Heller |
5. Fingerprints. They’re delicate, especially on a
nonporous object like a shiny knife. They’re difficult-to-impossible to obtain
on porous or rough material. Paper absorbs fingerprints well. The Automated
Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) is a database of prints of convicted
criminals. In Iraq and Afghanistan, after suicide bombings, our soldiers use
AFIS scans on everyone they can who might be connected to the bomber. Also iris
scans, a quite new technique.
Hillary did a fingerprint
demonstration, using black fingerprint powder (ground carbon) and a fiberglass
brush (in Britain they use camel hair). An unknown (latent) print is kept in
the computer permanently.
Biometrics = the future (unique
physical or behavioral characteristics). The FBI is using iris scans in the
Customs areas of some airports. The goal is to put them in every major
airport.
Blackberry Fingerprint Scanner: an
advancement coming for police work.
Small police departments outsource
DNA. It can take as long as six months to process, especially in rape cases.
The fastest technique takes twelve hours to extract it. “We have all the
techniques,” Hillary says, “but only the Federal Government—the military, the
FBI, etc.—has the equipment.”
The first Forensics techniques were
developed in China in 300 AD.
Q & A:
Q. On suicides.
A. In Hawaii, hanging (if that is the
choice) is overwhelmingly preferred by men. Women prefer prescription pills
because pills can be accumulated. Some women are now choosing a gun. A
22-caliber bullet kills faster and more efficiently than a bigger bullet
because it’s less likely to exit.
Q. How do you beat a murder rap?
A. Hillary gave us a sharp
tongue-in-cheek answer:
“Kill
someone you have no connection to.
Use
gloves.
Don’t
sneeze on anything.
Take
your weapon with you.
And
don’t tell anyone about it.”
She left us with a final encouraging
thought. “As a tree-hugging liberal from San Francisco, I always look at the
Defense side and always give individuals the benefit of the doubt.”
Suggested References
The Journal of Forensic Sciences, very technical, for those who go to
the scene of the crime.
The Journal of Forensic
Identification.
AAFS.org (the American Academy of
Forensic Science).
IAI.org. (the biggest, the
International Association of Identification).
Where to buy forensics tools:
