Forensic scientific investigation
Forensic Scientific Investigations
Collection, Analysis, & Expert Testimony for Scientific Evidence
Evidence collection, analysis, and reporting, in a criminal case.
What can I expect?
Collection of evidence in criminal case is most often done by the first responding law enforcement officers and/or their evidence team. After evidence is collected and documented, it is preserved in a manner best suited for that type of evidence, and then secured in an evidence locker or secure storage area. A chain of custody will follow each collection showing each person that handled or tested it.
Not all evidence collected by law enforcement at a crime scene is automatically tested. Documentation of it being collected is put in a report that is filed as a supplement to the case police report. If testing was done a report of the test results are also added as a supplement. Copies of the reports are given to the prosecutor's office if charges have been filed on a defendant or defendants. They should give copies as discovery to the defense attorneys.
During pre-trial both sides can examine the collected evidence
and review reports of the findings. It may take a court order to retest the evidence privately pre-trial, for an appeal, or PCR.
It is often beneficial in a case to hire an expert to review
the findings and get a second opinion.
We have working relationships with court certified experts in many disciplines that after review or retest will give their written opinion and testify in court as to their findings. Experts in:
blood spatter, fingerprints, DNA, gunshot residue (GSR), cell towers, cell phone, GPS, bullet trajectory, ballistics...
Evidence testing by a trusted accredited lab
Do you have evidence you need tested?
Evidence for: Paternity, Infidelity, Drug Use, Identification of a Suspect, from DNA, blood, semen, saliva, drugs.
In domestic cases determining if a fluid found on clothing is semen, or a powder substance found is a drug, we collect your sample and do a presumptive test on part of the sample to determine if what you found is what you suspect. Semen, saliva, popular drugs... We leave the rest of the sample, so it is good for additional testing.
To test the sample further for DNA, chemical analysis, fiber samples, we have relationships with accredited private testing labs who provide a complete report that can be used personally or in court. We will give you a quote and how to secure the sample to be tested.
We are often asked if we can collect a sample or lift a print and have it tested by the police or FBI lab. The answer in No. They will only run
what law enforcement has collected, documented, and submitted
with their own chain of custody and has approval to submit.
If you have two fingerprint samples, we can have a fingerprint comparison done. If they match, this may be enough to get law enforcement interested into opening an investigation. Only law enforcement can run the suspect print through the Arizona or national crime computer for a match.
Case Review and Collection of Evidence
Your investigator and attorney will review all of the law enforcement reports, supplements, videos collected, officer cams, crime scene photos, including the test results from the collected evidence.
As investigators we check the police and crime lab work to make sure the chain of custody was not broken, that the lab equipment used to conduct the tests were calibrated, and that the people doing the tests were qualified, followed established protocols, and had their work verified by a second person before reporting the results.
We often check the crime scene to collect and document evidence missed by the initial law enforcement scene investigation.
