Tools Marks
A tool presses into softer material and leaves a dent. Name this tool mark.
Indentation; accept impression or indention.
A visible paint handprint is left on a wall. What type of impression is it?
Patent
What handwriting features involve the letters t and i?
How t is crossed and i is dotted.
Which professional performs autopsies and investigates causes of death?
Medical examiner.
What should investigators do to control access and protect evidence before collection?
Secure the scene.
A hard surface slides across a softer one, leaving scratches. Name the tool mark.
Abrasion.
An oil or sweat print on glass is not readily visible. What type is it?
Latent
Name two other handwriting features examiners compare.
Any two: letter formation, slant, spacing, size, baseline, connections, or stroke habits.
Which existing records can be compared with teeth to help identify unrecognizable remains?
Known dental records, including dental radiographs.
How should bloodstained clothing be prepared and packaged?
Air dry appropriately, then package separately in paper containers.
A metal cable is severed with cutters. Which tool mark would you examine?
Cutting marks.
A boot sinks into soft clay and leaves a track. What type is it?
Plastic
Two notes have no complete words in common. What can still be compared?
Repeated individual letters and recurring writing habits.
Why should investigators not assume burned remains are the vehicle owner?
The location does not establish identity; comparison evidence must confirm or exclude that identity.
What container helps preserve volatile residues in suspected ignitable liquid fire debris?
An airtight approved container, such as a clean unused metal evidence can.
Explain how a negative impression can help compare a questioned mark with a tool.
It records tool shape and surface details that can be compared with known test marks.
A person touches a clean handle, then leaves a bloody print on tile and a track in mud. Classify each in order.
Latent, patent, plastic.
A shoe tread design appears on thousands of shoes, but one shoe has a distinctive gouge. Classify the two features.
Tread design is a class characteristic; the acquired gouge is an individual characteristic.
Why include a scale when photographing a bite mark?
To document size and support measurement comparisons.
After photographing a deep tire track with a scale, how can investigators preserve its three dimensional detail?
Make a cast using appropriate casting material.
A pry bar scrapes grooves into wood, then leaves a deep dent. Name both mark types and classify the three dimensional impressions.
Abrasion and indentation; both are plastic when they have depth.
At a scene, a faint oily print and a deep tire track are found. Explain the difference using visibility and depth
The oily print is latent and not readily visible; the tire track is plastic and records three dimensional detail.
A handwritten note has matching ink color and similar letter forms to a known sample. Which observation addresses handwriting, and why is ink color alone insufficient?
Letter forms address handwriting. Similar ink color can be shared by many pens and writers and does not identify a writer.
One case compares a deceased person’s teeth to dental records; another compares a skin bite mark to a dental model. Describe the purpose of each comparison.
The first supports identification of remains. The second describes similarities or differences in observed dental features; it does not establish a unique biter.
Responders leave shoe prints, and an evidence transfer is not recorded. Explain one step needed for each problem.
Obtain known or elimination footwear samples to account for responder prints. Document and investigate the transfer gap because it can challenge evidence integrity or admissibility.