The CACNews

CACNewsNews of the California Association of Criminalists • First Quarter 2001News of the California Association of Criminalists • First Quarter 2001News of the California Association of Criminalists • First Quarter 2001News of the California Association of Criminalists • First Quarter 2001News of the California Association of Criminalists • First Quarter 2001

CACNewsNews of the California Association of Criminalists • First Quarter 2001News of the California Association of Criminalists • First Quarter 2001News of the California Association of Criminalists • First Quarter 2001News of the California Association of Criminalists • First Quarter 2001News of the California Association of Criminalists • First Quarter 2001

The

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Distinguishing Characteristics

The Criminal Justice Department ofCalifornia State University, Los Angeles,hosted the “Last Seminar of the 20th Cen-tury.” Attendees had the opportunity toparticipate in interesting and unique work-shops, such as the Entomology Workshopwhere individuals had the pleasure of han-dling live maggots and the opportunity toexplore the fascinating world of decompo-sition on a dead pig. Our thanks goes toHiram Evans (and his neighbors) who al-lowed the bovine to rot in his backyard andthen he transported the carcass to the work-shop site. Individuals who participated inthe Forensic Anthropology Workshoplearned, among other things, how to dis-tinguish human and animal bones. Theydemonstrated their new found knowledgeby picking out human bones mixed with alot of animal bones. Who said there’d be atest?

The technical program began withthe Founder’s Lecture, presented by JerryChisum. Appropriately, Jerry reflected onthe ghosts of criminalistics past, presentand the future. Hopefully, the text of hislecture will be available in a futureCACNews. The technical papers presentedwere varied and interesting to all. Ourthanks goes to Tony Longhetti, Kathy Rob-erts, CSULA students and the multi-agency individuals who all worked topresent the CAC membership with an ex-cellent seminar.

As members of the CAC, we enjoy a number of benefitsthat help in our professional development. We are able to net-work and meet individuals from other forensic laboratories. Train-ing opportunities are available through study groups, dinnermeetings, workshops and seminars. The CAC has an endowmentthat funds training classes, research projects and scholarships.These are just a few examples of the benefits of CAC member-ship. The amazing thing is the CAC is a volunteer professionalorganization. All these benefits and programs I’ve listed are theresult of the active participation of the CAC membership. Thisactive participation can simply be attendance at CAC sponsoredfunctions to service on committees and the Board of Directors.

The Distinguished Member Award is pre-sented to an individual in recognition of theiractive participation and service to the CAC.I had the pleasure to present this award toGreg Matheson (LAPD) on behalf of the CACat the seminar banquet.

A member since 1979, Greg has at-tended forty semiannual seminars and nu-merous study group and dinner meetings.He has served on a number of committeesincluding Seminar Chair, Awards, Certifica-tion Chair, Financial Review, Publicationsand recently agreed to serve on the Endow-ment Committee. He is a former board mem-ber, serving as President Elect, President, Im-mediate Past President and Regional Direc-tor-South. Additionally, Greg was one of thechief proponents of certification when theCAC developed and sponsored the firstcriminalistics certification program in thenation. He continued his commitment on be-half of the CAC, and the profession, by help-ing in the transition of the CAC certificationprogram to the American Board ofCriminalistics. He has, and continues, to rep-resent the CAC on the ABC board. Greg rep-resents our profession with a passion and isan inspiration to us all.

Another Distinguished MemberAward recipient, Ed Rhodes, inspired theEdward F. Rhodes, III Memorial Award. Edwas a criminalist nationally recognized forhis technical abilities, commitment to certifi-

cation and his teaching ability. The purpose of this award is to givea CAC member, who is new to the field, an opportunity to attend amajor forensic or scientific meeting of benefit to forensic practitio-ners. This year’s recipient is Julie Leon, Ventura Co Sheriff’s CrimeLab. Although she is a newcomer, she has already demonstratedher commitment to the CAC by her attendance at study groupsand seminars, is serving on the Ethics Committee and was a Spon-sor Coordinator for the latest seminar.

It’s the contributions of the CAC membership, veterans likeGreg and newcomers like Julie that makes the California Associa-tion of Criminalists an exceptional professional organization!

The amazing thing is

the CAC is a volun-

teer professional

organization. All

these benefits and

programs are the

result of the active

participation of the

CAC membership.

The CACNews, ISSN 1525-3090, is published quarterly (January, April, July, and October) by the California Association of Criminalists (CAC), Editorial Secretary, CaDOJFresno, 6014 N Cedar Ave., Fresno, CA 93710, (559) 278-2982, [email protected]. The CAC is a private foundation dedicated to the furtherance of forensicscience in both the public and private sectors. Nonmember subscriptions are available for $16 domestic, $20USD foreign—contact the Editorial Secretary for moreinformation.Please direct editorial correspondence and requests for reprints to the Editorial Secretary.

©2001 The California Association of Criminalists, All Rights Reserved.

Notice to Contributors: We publish material of interest to our readers and are pleased to receive manuscripts from potential authors. Meetings and courseannouncements, employment opportunities, etc. are also solicited. Advertisements are also accepted, although a fee is charged for their inclusion in The CACNews. Pleasecontact the Advertising Editor for further information. Because of the computerized typesetting employed in The CACNews, submissions should be made in the formof MS-DOS compatible files on 3.5 inch floppy disks or by e-mail ([email protected]). Text files from word processors should be saved as ASCII fileswithout formatting codes, e.g. bold, italic, etc. An accompanying hardcopy of the file should be submitted along with the disk. Graphics, sketches, photographs, etc.may also be placed into articles. Please contact the Editorial Secretary for details. The deadlines for submissions are: Dec. 1, March 1, June 1 and Sept. 1.

4 CACBits / Section Reports

5 Jobs / Meetings / CoursesPositions Wanted / Offered

6 Review—C.S.I.Maybe art doesn’t imitate life.

7 Essay: English LessonDiane Burns on her British experience

8 EditorialNancy McCombs / Feedback

11 CAC Founder’s SpeechJerry Chisum

19 Quality AssuredJohn Simms

21 Distinguished Member AwardCall for nominations

22 The Evaluation of ABAcard p30 Test forthe Identification of SemenTeresa Spear and Neda Khoskebari

25 Upcoming Spring Seminar

26 Glendale 2000Snapshots from our Fall CAC Seminar

28 Hog WildA big pig goes a long way

31 Contemporary Russian 7.62x39mmAmmunitionLucien Haag

39 HumorMembers send in their funny stories/ More CourtroomCalamities

First Quarter 2001

C O N T E N T S

Editor-in-ChiefNancy McCombs(559) [email protected]

Art DirectorJohn Houde / Calico Press,LLC(805) [email protected]

P U B L I C A T I O N S T A F F

CACNewsTheTheTheTheThe

www.cacnews.org

TTTTThis little piggy went to collegehis little piggy went to collegehis little piggy went to collegehis little piggy went to collegehis little piggy went to collegeStorStorStorStorStory on page 28y on page 28y on page 28y on page 28y on page 28

FeaturesGreg Matheson(213) [email protected]

WebmasterMark Traughber(909) [email protected]

AdvertisingFrank Healy(559) [email protected]

TechnicalSuzanne Preaseaux(707) [email protected]

4 • The CACNews 1st Quarter 2001

CACBits • Section News��

CAC members Michael Haag (Albuquerque Police De-partment), Nancy McCombs (DOJ-Fresno Lab), John Murdock(ATF-Walnut Creek)and Robert Thompson (ATF Walnut Creek)were asked to join a team of instructors for the Bureau of Alco-hol, Tobacco and Firearms National Firearms Examiners Acad-emy in Rockville Maryland. The academy, in its second yearof operation, only accepts 10 students per academy from allover the country. This years students are Katharina Babcock(DPS-New Mexico), Aaron Brudenell (Idaho State Police), JonGardener (Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Inves-tigation), Travis Gover (Oregon State Police), Kendall Jaeger(Metro Police Nashville), Christopher Luckie (Alabama De-partment of Forensic Sciences), Mike Nickol (Maryland StatePolice), Leslie Poole (Sacramento County District AttorneysLab), Mike Thomas (Baltimore County Police Department) andJon Tew (Scottsdale Police Department). The academy beganon August 1, 2000 and the students are expected to graduateon March 16, 2001.

�� Medicolegal Death Investigators Training, Jan. 22-26, 2001, St.Louis, MO

American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Feb. 19-24, 2001, Se-attle, WA

Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Workshop, Mar. 5-9, 2001 Miami,FL

Human Skeletal Remains, Search, Recovery, and IdentificationCourse, Mar. 12-17, 2001, New Orleans, LA

Digital Analysis of Bite Mark Evidence Two day InstructionalCourse, April 6-7, 2001, Santa Barbara, CA

Medicolegal Death Investigators Training Course, April 23-27, St. Louis, MO

Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Workshop, April 23-27, 2001 St.Paul, MN

Mid-Atlantic and Southern Associations of Forensic ScientistsJoint Meeting, April 24-27, 2001, Williamsburg, VA

Spring Bloodstain Evidence Institute, April 30- May 4, 2001Corning, NY

Forensic Applications Symposium: Scanning 2001, May 5-7,2001, New York, NY

Advanced Bloodstain Pattern Analysis and Expert WitnessWorkshop, May 7-11, 2001, Miami, FL

California Association of Criminalists 97th Semi-Annual Semi-nar, May 11-12, 2001, Tahoe City, CA

California Association of Toxicologists Quarterly Meeting andWorkshop, May 11-12, 2001, San Diego, CA

Association of Firearms and Toolmarks Examiners 32nd An-nual Conference, July 8-13, 2001, Newport Beach, CA

�� Headlamp Examination, Jan 3-5, 2001

Hair Identification and Comparison, Jan. 8-12, 2001

Basic Forensic Serology, Jan. 16-19, 2001

EXX Advanced Ridgeology Comparisons, Jan. 29-Feb. 2, 2001

Statistics in DNA Analysis, Feb. 5-6, 2001

Latent Print Techniques, Feb. 26- Mar. 2, 2001

Paint Examination and Comparison, Mar. 5-9, 2001

DNA-PCR Short Tandem Repeat Analysis and Training, Mar.13-16, 2001

Detection/Recovery: Footwear and Tire Impression Evidence,Mar. 21-23, 2001

Footwear Impression Evidence: Detection, Recovery and Ex-amination:, Mar. 26-30, 2001

Tire Impression Evidence, April 2-6, 2001

Latent Print Comparisons, April 9-13, 2001

Microscopy of Explosives, May 14-18, 2001

Latent Print Techniques, June 11-15, 2001

�� The Contra Costa County Criminalistics Laboratory in asso-ciation with the FBI Evidence Response Team present the 40-hour course “Basic Bloodstain Pattern Analysis,” to be taughtby Tom Bevel, March 26-30, 2001 in Oakland. Class enrollmentis limited to 24 students. Contact Eric Collins at (925) 335-1600.

�� !��"32nd Annual Training ConferenceJuly 8-13, 2001 Newport Beach, CaliforniaContact: AFTE 2001, PO Box 12151, Santa Ana, California 92712E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.afte.org

#��$� #��$� #��Supervising Forensic Scientist Forensic Blood AlcoholVentura County Sheriffs Department $4504-$6320800 S. Victoria Ave. Ventura, CA (805) 654-2308

Criminalist ISanta Clara County Crime Laboratory $3980-$4815(408) 299-2220 [email protected]

CriminalistCity of Mesa, Arizona $47,299 $63,835 annually, 20 E. MainStreet, Suite 250 P.O. Box 1466, Mesa, AZ 85211-1466

Questioned Document ExaminerOregon State Police $2685-$3877400 Public Service Bldg., Salem, OR 97310-1380 www.oregonjobs.org

5

Jobs • Meetings • CoursesCriminalistCalifornia State Department of Justice-BerkeleyRange A $2674-$3132, Range B $3499-$4320, Range C $4215-$5208, P.O. Box 944255, Sacramento, CA 94244-2550

Crime Laboratory AdministratorIowa Division of Criminal Investigation, $63,336 - $78,790, (515)281-5138 [email protected]

CA DOJ: The Department of Justice DNA Laboratory in Berke-ley has several openings in the followings domains:1. Method Development & Training, 2. Missing and Unidenti-fied Persons DNA Data Bank, 3. Forensic Case Work, 4.Suspectless Case Work, 5. Convicted Felon DNA Databank, 6.Post Conviction DNA Testing Program, 7. Supervisory Posi-tions. For more information please contact Margaret Algere at(510) 540-2434

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR EMPLOYMENT WORKINGIN THE FAST GROWING FIELD OF DNA, the Department ofJustice has a job for you. Visit our Website at http://caag.state.ca.us for education requirements.

The Bureau of Forensic Services(BFS) has immediateopenings for Senior Criminalist/Criminalist/Laboratory Tech-nicians to work in our DNA Laboratory in Berkeley andthroughout the state. Incumbents will work with state-of-the-art laboratory equipment. Senior Criminalists are assigned tothe more complex forensic casework. In addition, they mayact as leadpersons to coordinate the work of lower-levelcriminalists. Senior Criminalists may also be assigned to pro-vide training, application, methodology development, and re-search related to the field of criminalistics. The Criminalist isan entry, training, and subjourney level that works under gen-eral direction and performs routine and less complex techni-cal laboratory analyses and assist senior criminalists in the ex-amination of crime scenes and in the scientific investigation ofcrimes. Laboratory Technicians perform physical and chemi-cal examinations of evidence, testify in court as to methods usedand results obtained, assist criminalists and other laboratorypersonnel as needed, maintain inventories and equipment, anddo other related work.

To apply for this examination, submit your name andaddress to the address listed below. Be sure to specify the exacttitle of the examination you are applying for. Names are ac-cepted on a continuous basis and you will be sent a testingapplication the next time the exam is administered.

Department of Justice, Testing & Selection Office, P.O. Box944255, Sacramento, CA 94244-2550, (916) 324-5039, Recruit-ment Hotline (916) 227-4883.

Assistant CriminalistSan Diego Police Department has an opening for an AssistantCriminalist/Criminalist position in the Alcohol and NarcoticsUnit. Salary: ($3779 to $4580 Monthly) Criminalist ($5046 to$6098 Monthly.) Assistant Criminalists and Criminalists are alsoassigned to the on-call field investigation team. Detailed infor-mation about the position is located at www.ci.san-diego.ca.us.Select “search/employment opportunities/current city jobs/open/professional.” For more information please contact Supv.Criminalist Patricia Lough at (619) 531-2460 [email protected].

% � ��&'CHAO TZEE CHENG

1934 - 2000

Professor Chao Tzee Cheng died in his sleep on 21 Feb-ruary 2000 in the New York flat of his sister. He was on hisway to the American Academy of Forensic Science conferencein Reno having just attended a bioethics conference in Hawaii.

Professor Chao was a giant on the world forensic stage.He was bom in 1934 and graduated MBBS from the Universityof Hong Kong in 1961.

There followed no fewer than 17 academic qualificationsfrom the cream of the world’s professional pathology and fo-rensic medicine organisations.

Professor Chao’s academic output was as substantial asthe man himself. He was the author of 164 papers, chaptersand books and was an energetic contributor on the interna-tional forensic lecture circuit. He was on the editorial boardsof the world’s four main forensic journals.

Anyone who knew Professor Chao will also rememberhis wit and humour, which extended on occasions to sponta-neous renditions and performances at conference dinners andceremonies. One story related by Dato’ Mahade Shanker,founder President of the Medico-Legal Society of Malaysia goesas follows. Dato’ Shankar had been troubled by some spiritualvisitations in his chambers. The next morning he asked Pro-fessor Chao if he believed in ghosts. He instantly replied thatghosts ran away from him for fear of being subjected to an-other post mortem!

For his services in Singapore Professor Chao was awardedthe Public Administration Silver Medal in 1975, the Gold Medalin 1979 and the Meritorious Medal in 1995. These, as did hisother honours, sat lightly on his shoulders. In the best tradi-tions of medicine, he was always ready to share his knowledgeand never displayed the slightest hint of intellectual arrogance.These characteristics may be related to the fact that he was adevoted family man. To his wife Joyce Wong Yoke Choy, hisson Dr. Alexandre Chao, daughter-in-law Dr. Koh Woon Puayand grand daughter Beatrice Chow we send our thoughts andsympathy.

Stephen Cordner,Congress Chairman

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Congratulations Bill Smithon his Retirement

Congratulations Caroline Garcia-Duncanon the Birth of her new baby

Congratulations to Ann Murphyon her marriage

! ! !


REVIEW BY JOHN HOUDE"We gotta follow the evidence even if we don't like

where it takes us," says a forensic scientist on the new CBSshow C.S.I. (Fridays at 9pm, CBS.) That's a good philoso-phy, but it somehow gets lost as the "super crims" of thisTV drama rush around in helicopters, serve search war-rants and interview victims and suspects. Maybe they meanttestimony evidence and not the physical kind we werethinking of. Or perhaps what they do is what we shouldreally be doing. After all, some crime labs let theircriminalists work the “whole” case, but this is off the deepend. I haven’t seen a criminalist shoot anyone yet, but canthat be far behind?

I would be the last one to want the field of criminalisticsto be hidden away in a lab. On the contrary, we should takeevery opportunity to show the world what we can do. Themore jurors understand our abilities and limitations, the moreappropriate weight they give to our opinions in court. Un-

tific-sounding commands are barked out, "Reverse algo-rithm on that tape and then enhance it!" These are followedby quizzical looks on the faces of the ever loyal detectiveswho follow the energetic scientists around. Kind of the ModSquad of forensic science.

C.S.I.’s executive producer is Jerry Bruckheimer, anold hand at making action films including Beverly Hills Cop

fortunately, shows like C.S.I. pour out a stream of make-be-lieve that serves only to entertain, rather than educate theviewer. I know TV shows are for entertainment, but considerthat the premiere episode drew a staggering 17.3 million view-ers, beating out such venerable standards as NFL MondayNight Football and 20/20. These huge ratings indicate a realinterest, even a public hunger for information about forensicscience. The show hadn’t time to develop word-of-mouth.These ratings were the result of trailers and the rather intrigu-ing title of the show. That’s a lot of people who could havebeen shown a realistic picture of what forensic science is like,and be entertained, too.

The show opens appropriately with Who are you? byThe Who, while dramatic lighting and quirky camera anglesalong with a tense, pounding musical score heighten thedrama. The mood is dark and there’s a feeling of grim re-sponsibility weighing heavily on our heroes—“We have somuch power in this job,” one sighs. But criminalists aremade to look like wizards, reaching conclusion after con-clusion with little actual analysis. If only it were so! Scien-

Perhaps what they dois what we should

be doing?

Las Vegas P.D.criminalist (actorGary Dourdan)examines a shoe fortrace evidence onCBS’ C.S.I.

and Enemy of the State. And, like any good mystery, there’sa payoff scene at the end where the suspect/victim/wit-ness is confronted by the scientist with proof of what reallyhappened.

How I long for a show about forensic science that isrealistic and true. There have been some great shows on cable,Medical Detectives being one, but as popular as those showsmight be, they are like preaching to the choir. The millions ofviewers that only casually watch a show like C.S.I. and thenopen up their jury summons are the ones I want to influence.

Viewers may recognize the lead scientist, played byWilliam Petersen, memorable in his role as an FBI profiler inManhunter, the prequel to Silence of the Lambs. You may wantto rent Manhunter, as it portrays the crime lab more realisti-cally than most of the dramatic movies I’ve seen.

I immediately began wondering, who is the technicaladvisor for this show? I'd heard rumors that the writershad tagged along with Las Vegas P.D. crime lab for sometime, gathering stories and watching criminalists at work.But the credits don't list a scientific advisor. Instead, theymention Randy Walker, a recently retired LAPD SWATmember who has had a long career advising Hollywoodon all things police. But the CNN website identifies Eliza-beth Devine, a criminalist with Los Angeles Sheriff, as a“key adviser.”

To be fair, there is an occasional good scene, includ-ing the one where our hero discovers a toenail in the shoeof a suspect who claims he injured his bare foot in an inno-cent way. We see a painstaking examination of a shoe, notvery glamorous or dramatic, but to those who’ve spent theircareers doing it, exhilarating when it pays off.

"You wanna call it?" This is the most fun part of theshow where the criminalist, without benefit of much labo-ratory analysis, gets to play Sherlock Holmes and rattle offwhat they think happened during the commission of thecrime. Cool. But it’s done with such certainty! Almost likethey were reading a script—oh, yeah . . .

I think our profession blew a golden chance duringthe O.J. trial to inform the public about what criminalisticsis and can really do, and it looks like C.S.I. is yet anotherlost opportunity.

John Houde is the author of CRIME LAB: A Guide for Nonscien-tists, which received the Benjamin Franklin Award in science.

C.S.I.: Crime SceneC.S.I.: Crime SceneC.S.I.: Crime SceneC.S.I.: Crime SceneC.S.I.: Crime SceneInvestigationInvestigationInvestigationInvestigationInvestigationAnother Episode in Missed Opportunity

7

ESSAY BY DIANE BURNS

Only a handful of American criminalistshave had the opportunity to study forensic science

along side their coun-terparts in the UnitedKingdom. I have thegood fortune of beingable to do just thatwhile completing aone year MSc in Fo-rensic Science degreeat King’s College ofLondon.

King’s Collegewas established in

1829 and is situated in downtown London alongthe southern bank of the River Thames. The ven-erable river snakes its way through the heart ofthe city. Walking to classes each day, I cross overthe Thames by way of the Waterloo Bridge. Onmy right is Big Ben. To my left rises the majesticdome of the Old Bailey - the most famous court-house in the world, hosting eight centuries of crimeand ever looking the part.

There is no questioning the British contri-bution to the history of crime detection. English-men Sir Francis Galton in his book Fingerprints(1892) and Sir Edward Henry who wrote Classifi-cation and Uses of Fingerprints (1896) developed asystem of identification still in use throughoutmuch of the world today. Then there is AlecJeffreys, whose involvement in the 1986 ColinPitchfork murder investigation was made famousby Joseph Wambaugh’s book, The Blooding. Itgreatly changed the way we perform forensic in-vestigations altogether. One of my instructors atKing’s, a gangly stick of a man, said of Jeffreys,“Alec Jeffreys proves there is hope for everybody.When we were taking undergraduate courses to-gether he was just an ordinary chap who is nowworld famous.”

The British forensic thumbprint is em-bossed inside volumes of criminal history.For example, the Sherlock Holmeslegacy lives on in perpetuity. ScotlandYard is home to perhaps the most fa-mous police department in the world.The legendary Great Train Robbery tookplace on a night train from Glasgowto London in the summer of 1963. Ofcourse there are the “Rippers”, asin Jack and The Yorkshire. More re-cently, England experiencedHarold Shipman who murderedan almost incomprehensible onehundred thirty-two elderly womenby injecting them with lethal doses ofmorphine. Shipman was tried at The OldBailey in 1998 and sentenced to life, putting an end

to what proved to be a sensational case involv-ing human exhumations and forensic computersleuthing. This rich criminal backdrop made meeager to come to London to study forensic sci-ence.

In deciding to come to King’s, I consideredattending the other graduate forensic programthe UK has to offer—Strathclyde University lo-cated in Glasgow, Scotland. Graduates ofStrathclyde claim their university has the betterprogram, which may or may not be true. How-ever, Glasgow is not London. Samuel Johnsonsaid, “When a man is tired of London, he is tiredof life; for there is in London all life can afford.”After living here for the past three months, I haveto agree. London is history, tradition and excite-ment.

I knew I wanted to be part of a forensicprogram that was the real thing. I wanted myinstructors to be practicing forensic scientists, notprofessional academics one chapter ahead of mein Saferstein. I wanted rigorous physical sciencecourses, not a program that was capitalizing onthe popularity of the field by inserting the wordforensics in front of a pseudo-science class in or-der to fill seats. Lastly, I wanted hands-on expe-rience outside my classroom activities—an op-portunity to research a thesis topic and present itin a scientific format suitable for publication.King’s offers this opportunity by providing afour-month work placement with the LondonMetropolitan Police or The Forensic Science Ser-vice. Back home, a forensic education at this levelis rare or sadly non-existent altogether. I continueto be puzzled why this is.

In my studies, I am focusing on forensicanalytical chemistry. It is my own personal beliefthat analytical chemistry remains the cornerstone

of forensic science, despite white-hot ad-vances in molecular biology and the

DNA juggernaut. The coursework is broken up into mod-ules— mini courses, mostwith labs. For example, I re-cently completed a six-weekmodule in Forensic Statis-tics and Data Interpretation.

I am now onto ForensicAnalysis and Spectroscopy

along with AnalyticalChemistry and Chromatog-raphy. Both of these mod-ules cover theory in detail

during lecture and have labswith practicals. Our unknown samples are

actual controlled substances. Biologists will

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F E E D B F E E D B F E E D B F E E D B F E E D B A C KA C KA C KA C KA C KThe CACNews prints letters to the editor that are of interest to its read-ers. We reserve the right to edit letters for brevity and clarity. All sub-missions to this page become the property of the CACNews.

Who better compre-

hends our occupa-

tional encounters

than our own peers?

��(� )��*�� [I heard] that you do not intend to seek reelection as edi-

torial secretary for The CAC News. I’m sorry to hear that. I’msure the job has taken up a lot of your time and left less forinteraction with your family. But each issue during your ten-ure has been outstanding, and you will be very hard to replace.The CAC needs more people like you, and I hope you will con-sider serving in other official positions in the future.

Bob Blackledge

It only seems like yesterday that I was writing a fondfarewell for Raymond Davis. Has it been two years already?My, how time flies when you’re having fun!

Nancy, I will miss your steady hand on the tiller of thisnewsletter. During your tenure, we’ve had the pleasure of be a

part of some excellent achievements such as the creation of thecacnews.org website and the special Criminalistics 2000 issue.Thank you for all of your help and guidance in editing andespecially in being the “enforcer” of deadlines! Best wishes.

John Houde

+�� ,�� &��Paul L. Kirk left this world thirty years ago. Since that

time, a whole new generation of people have become the CrimeLaboratory population of California, many of whom had notbeen born until after 1970. I suspect that most of our member-ship know very little about Paul, that he literally created thefoundations, including the ontology, of what we now know asCRIMINALISTICS.

CAC Seminars are frequentlyreferred to as places to "exchange in-formation", "share ideas" or "makecontributions." Yet why do we limitour translation to strictly technicalinformation, ideas and contribu-tions? The CAC is much more thanthis.

It is not uncommon to visitwith friends and colleagues at semi-nars only to discover they, or theirlaboratory, is experiencing a time oflow morale. Just as no person is per-fect, neither is any laboratory. Re-gardless of how understanding ouroutside friends and families may be,with parallel professions come par-allel experiences. For who bettercomprehends our occupational en-counters than our own peers? CAC,in addition to functioning as a meansfor exchanging technical informa-tion, may also serve as a valuablesupport media for its members. In asense, attendance at meetings canprove to be mentally uplifting!

In addition to the hours dedi-cated to professional papers, CACSeminars are usually packed withbreaks, breakfasts, lunches, dinnersand evening social events. It is dur-ing these times that we habituallygreet fellow members with, "How arethings back at the laboratory?" If weare not prepared for an extended re-sponse, perhaps we just shouldn'task.

"Escaping" to CAC Seminars isoften a pleasant respite from the labo-ratory. Yet, the benefit we gain fromrecommendations by members whohave faced similar situations and thegratification we feel when ap-proached by those seeking our ad-visement is equally as rewarding.Suppose we adopt the viewpoint,"I'm honored my colleague feels com-fortable enough to entrust me withthis issue" instead of, "Oh no, not an-other dilemma", then a new dimen-sion could be added to the exchang-ing of information, ideas and contri-butions.

9

Editor’s Note: In the previous issue, two illustrations wereomitted from Bob Blackledge’s article, “Glue Traces on CottonSwabs in Sexual Assault Kits” because of a text-conversion soft-ware glitch. The figures are reproduced below.


Following is a memorial that I pre-sented at his funeral services, which waslater published in the Journal of CriminalLaw, Criminology and Police Science. Re-publishing this in the CACNews wouldbe an appropriate memorial to thememory of Paul L. Kirk on the thirtiethyear since his passing.

Lowell Bradford

+�� -.� ,�� /0123/041

There are many measures of suc-cess in life. Of these are the footprints onthe sands of time, such as a painting, apoem, a novel, community service, ser-vice to profession and service to Coun-try; i.e. a contribution to those who fol-low on. An even greater type of measureis the length and number of pioneer trailsor bridges of scientific achievement,which lead others into breakthroughs andover obstacles so that mankind canprogress; i.e. those who follow have thepathway and direction established andcan make rapid progress.

Paul L. Kirk has given us bothtypes of heritage. There are three charac-teristics which should be distinctivelyemphasized. The first is his gift of re-search. He was a prolific producer of re-search an development results. There areapproximately two hundred fifty scien-tific and professional articles to his creditwhich expound his contributions, as wellas five published books and two more inprogress. He was one of the most inge-nious microchemists of his day. He de-veloped a whole system of microchemis-try called “ultra-micro” or “drop-scale”analysis. This methodology has been ap-plied all over the world in medicine, re-search and industry. The methodologyinvolves simplicity and ingenuity, andplayed a key role in the development ofthe chemistry of plutonium and othercompounds in nuclear chemistry.

A second major gift was the bring-ing forth of criminalistics as an approvedacademic ,major in the USA. During thedifficult years of 1947-1950, he helped topreserve the entire criminology programat the University of California when itneeded help to avoid being disregardedand dropped. He transitioned subse-quently from professor of biochemistryto professor of criminalistics which in it-self is a unique event. This happened be-cause he had developed many methodsto deal with small samples, and they wereof interest to examinations needed in lawenforcement and medicolegal problems.

Many agencies in the criminal justice sys-tem placed demands upon his talents formethods of evidence problem solution.During this era he developed new sys-tems for the examination of all kinds ofevidence materials such as blood, soil,glass and hair. His development of meth-ods for application in forensic science areunprecedented and unparalleled.

The third characteristic is that ofPaul Kirk, the humanist. To his studentshe was the first professor that most hadencountered who had the time—nay, tookthe time to sit down and talk at lengthwith his students. He became interestedin their futures and problems; he coachedthem; he helped them; he advised them;but most importantly, he stimulated themto achieve new heights. By example, hedemonstrate that the candid position isnot always a popular one, that leadershipcan be a lonesome job and that contro-versial issues can be debated in a gentle-manly manner.

All of the people who use and ben-efit from his methods today, and espe-cially his former students, stand in a greatdebt to him for his altruism to researchand development and for the contribu-tions that he has so personally made toscience and especially to the forensic sci-ences. Those who have had the good for-tune to know him and work with himhave had an experience that is incompa-rable and knows no end.

5�� 6�� -�� Criminalists and investigators: I

am interested in narrative descriptions ofcases in which you felt that some luckycircumstance or event was critical or sig-nificant in leading to a successful inves-tigative conclusion. My intention is notto diminish the role of the investigator. Isimply wish to show that luck can be afactor. Photos or graphics would also bemuch appreciated. If published, fullcredit can be given, or full anonymity tothe investigator and the agency can beassured. For more information, contactMorris Grodsky. 912 638-7768, [email protected], or MorrisGrodsky, 1219 Beachview Drive, St.Simons Island, Georgia 31522

7�� ,��(� '��I was delighted to read Luke

Haag’s article and personal story in theSecond quarter issue of the CACNEWS.I’ve known Luke for over 25 years. And

like most of us, know him only as the manwho delivers those powerful, informativetechnical presentations at seminars &workshops. Further, that he is able to doso with such ease and grace that he keptus in rapt attention. It was a pleasuretherefore, to get to know more about Lukethe person. Thanks Luke. p.s.Who wantsto be next?

Raymond Davis

�� 68�(� 9��I have been a criminalist for LASD

for fifteen years and a CAC member forapproximately that long. . . and I am alsothe technical advisor for C.S.I. (See Re-view, this issue.) Another CAC memberHarry Klann of LAPD worked on the pi-lot and soon learned as I have quite early,that “technical advisor” means inform-ing the writers/producers/actors of whatreally happens and what is reallydone...and they either use it or not de-pending on what the story needs. Harryand I both worked on the first six epi-sodes until Harry had a scheduling con-flict, when I took over. We were involvedin script assistance and providing the TAresource on the set. Randy Walker’s com-pany “Call the Cops” hired Harry and Ito work on the show. His company hashad an excellent relationship with Hol-lywood for 12-plus years. There was al-ways an experienced criminalist givinginput on the technical aspect of the show,not “swat cops” as you so inaccuratelyimplied.

Some of your research was accu-rate; the creator of the show did followcrime scene investigators around in LasVegas for weeks prior to writing the pi-lot. Much of what the creator wrote wasbased on information he was given, orobserved while he was on his fact-find-ing mission. The gun-toting, interview-ready crims were his understanding ofcrime scene investigations conducted forLas Vegas P.D. When I first told thewriter’s that we don’t conduct interviewsor carry guns he replied “they do in Ve-gas.” The sources in Las Vegas also toldhim they were the nations second bestcrime lab (I didn’t know there wererankings). He was told that they inter-view suspects as I have already men-tioned although I am sure the context waswith property crimes and not murders.But, the seed was planted. There weremany other mysterious impressions the

please turn to page 24

Feedback, cont’d

11

Founder’s Lecture presenter Jerry Chisum (center)is congratulated by John DeHaan (left) and TonyLonghetti. The lecture was given at the GlendaleHilton.

Good Morning.Before I start, I wish to throttle —

er, I mean, thank John DeHaan for thetask, I mean, honor he stuck me with, Imean bestowed upon me by twistingmy—, I mean, asking me to give theFounder’s speech. I think I have thewrong set of notes.

Really, I am very honored to havebeen asked by John to be one of the per-sons who have given CAC FoundersSpeeches. Those persons are some of themost respected in the field and I amproud to be asked to join their ranks.

When I speak to a class, I knowwhat I am going to talk about. The sub-ject matter of the class, but I was not givena defined subject for this presentation. Ididn’t know what to speak about. SinceTony Longhetti is the host, and he gavethe last Founder’s Speech, I asked himwhat he thought the Founder’s Speechshould cover. He was no help. He said itwas up to me, but, he added, the themeof the meeting is The Past, Present, andFuture of Criminalistics. That sounds likea good theme, so I will try to adhere to it.

Having worked for Tony for myfirst four years in this field, I should haveexpected that response. He wouldn’t an-swer questions then either. He made meresearch my own answers. For example,he would mark red circles on my reports,for every slight grammatical error or mis-spelled word. If I made a mistake in logicor he questioned how I did something,he would write the dreaded words “Seeme!” He wouldn’t tell me what waswrong until I had researched the prob-lem myself. Then I had to submit the cor-rected version to him to mark up again.This wasn’t a correction on a word pro-cessor; we dictated our reports, includ-ing the punctuation. The secretary hadto type them on a manual typewriter. Shewould be upset if I couldn’t get it righton the second try. And you didn’t wantto ever upset the secretary.

He had an “open door” policy, butif I went to him with a laboratory or case-work problem he was the same way. Hereferred me to the rather extensive cardfile we had taken from the approximately60 journals we subscribed to. Part of ourjob was to abstract articles from thosejournals. I doubt that he has changed inregard to finding solutions, as I imaginethe students from Cal State have foundout. I thank Tony for making me learn toseek out answers and to try the things Ifound in the journals. If he is the same atthe University, you students should alsobe thankful, as you will know how tothink.

The problem is not always the an-swer, it’s the question. As in theHitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy1, theUltimate Answer is available, but youmust ask the right question for it to makesense. This field is much like that. Wedecide what questions to ask of the physi-cal evidence, then determine how to an-swer those questions. That, to me, is whatcriminalistics is about. When I started inthis field we found out everything wecould about a case before we started theanalyses. This might include respondingto a crime scene. I went to a number ofburglary scenes as well as homicidescenes. At each of those scenes, the teamsought the answers. By the team, I meanthe investigator, the identification tech-nician, and the criminalist. Each had theirown jobs to do but each contributed theinformation garnered to the commonknowledge pool.

Now everyone wants to be recog-nized as the expert in a specific field. Ifound it easy to become such an expert,but you don't always want it to be known.One of my first cases illustrates that point.In those days we worked on all types ofcrimes. But, this case established me asthe leading expert in a particular field andI haven’t heard that anyone has attainedor even challenged my expertise in thepast 40 years.

One Monday, a detective came inwith a test tube labeled: “Hairs removedfrom penis of Joe Smith.” He said that“Joe” was caught at a local stable and wassuspected of having committed bestial-ity on one of the horses. Actually thosearen’t the words he used, I’ll leave thoseto your imagination. I examined the con-tents of the vial and identified three horsehairs. I gave the detective the vial backand wrote a report.

The following Monday, the samedetective laid a vial on the counter la-beled, “Hairs removed from penis of JoeSmith.” I said, “Wait a minute! I’ve al-ready examined this and identified horsehairs.” He replied, “No, you haven’t,these were collected yesterday, from thesame man at a different stable.”

The man had made bail and re-turned to a stable next to the one he hadvisited before. Unfortunately for him, hetried to run past the owner, “an old manon canes.” But the “old man" was not soslow and the canes had built his armstrength. He hit Joe in the jaw, breakingit in three places.

The CAC Founder’s Speech(delivered October, 2000)Jerry Chisum


Not satisfied with the informationthat the hairs in the two cases were fromhorses, the prosecutor wanted to know ifI could identify the particular horses thatthe hairs came from. When I told them togo find the cutest one, they didn’t laugh.So, I went out to the stables, I removedhairs from the rears of several horses, in-cluding two geldings and one mule. Iexamined the hairs in the lab and madecomparisons. I spent hours studying thecolors, diameters, lengths, scales, etc. But,I couldn’t tell from which animal the hairshad originated. At the next CAC dinnermeeting, Tony told everyone about thecase, in great detail. I immediately be-came known as the “state’s leading ex-pert on horse’s asses!”

I must say that since that time Ihave seen a lot of them—and most arenot associated with horses!

The point is not that I’m still theleading expert on the subject, but that thisfield is not always serious. You must takesome time to have fun, even at your ownexpense. In fact, if you love this field as Ido, being involved in an investigation ofa criminal matter, trivial or serious,should be a personally enjoyable experi-ence. That extends to the witness standas well. If not, then either you were un-prepared to take on the case or the wit-ness stand or you should find anotherfield of endeavor. I had four sons, as theywere growing up they would ask mewhat they should do when they grew up.My answer was simple. Get the educa-tion to do what you really enjoy doing.Not a one of them is in any way workingin law enforcement or related field. Youin this room, have the education to do ajob, hopefully it is the job you enjoy do-ing. But, and I'm sure the “old timers"here will agree, schooling is not enough,you need to add to that education by de-veloping your expertise.

You develop your expertisethrough your experiences, not only casework, but life experiences as well. Some-thing I read recently reminded me of thephilosophy that should permeate yourprofessional life; I can only urge you tothink for yourself, and remind you thatthis is impossible unless you have some-thing to think about, a fund of factualinformation"2 You must use every expe-rience as a source of knowledge. HansGross, the Father of Criminalistics, statedthat we need to observe everything anddetermine the reasons for what happenedas a consequence.3 He felt that all of ourlife experiences give us an opportunityto gain knowledge about cause and ef-

fect. A criminalist must observe the effectsand extrapolate the causes. The problemis that we are dealing with what peopledo. An incident of human behavior be-comes a challenging puzzle4. One of myfavorite quotes on this subject is by Dou-glas Scott and Melissa Conner in thebook, Forensic Taxonomy.

“Reconstructing human behaviorfrom physical evidence is a multidimen-sional jigsaw puzzle. Pieces of the puzzleare missing, damaged, and some are evencamouflaged. The puzzle pieces come inseemingly incompatible data types—some are visual, some are in such micro-scopic form that it takes days of special-ized analysis to show their existence, andin some cases the evidence is intangible,such as oral testimony. But practitionersof these two disciplines, each for totallydifferent reasons, sit at their desks anddoggedly persist in completing thesepuzzles—archeologists and forensic in-vestigators."

That philosophy should be theguide for being a criminalist. Long beforeit was published I followed it. I learnedit from several people, Tony Longhettiand the persons I associated with thatwere the Founders of this Association.

didn’t exist, and the Internet was far inthe future. Long distance telephone callswere expensive and you had to, in mostareas, go through the operator, in a fewplaces you were able to put your fingerin a hole, rotate this disk on the front ofthe phone and dial the numbers, push-ing keys was not an option. The airlinesflew propeller driven airplanes. The free-ways you drive on weren’t even in theplanning stage, I-5 didn’t exist, U.S. 99went through the main part of every townin the central valley. Fresno and Bakers-field had roundabouts, the “new” trafficcontrol method recently installed in Sac-ramento. Travel was slower and morecomplicated than it is today. These mensimply wanted to get together to ex-change some ideas. They gave no thoughtto what this organization they had cre-ated would become.

I came in to the field some 12-13years after this Association was started.Those men, with one exception, were stillhere. It doesn’t seem that long ago that Iwould meet with these people at the CACseminars, dinner meetings, and in theirlaboratories. Some I knew better than oth-ers. A few of you, like me, knew them all.Many of you knew one or two. Most ofyou have heard of several of them, butthere are probably a number that youhaven't. To you they are just names or, insome cases, icons. But they were realpeople. I recently found a quote byMarcus Aurelias that I think applies tomy view of the world of the CAC.

“How soon it is that so many thatwere in this world when I came into itare now gone from it.”

I may not have it exactly correct, infact, not even near, as Marcus spoke inLatin, but I do have the meaning and sen-timent correct. Marcus was missing thosefriends and associates who had been hismentors. Likewise, I miss these men.

There are not any of the foundersstill working in this world ofcriminalistics, they have retired, only afew ever make it to the Seminars. It sad-dens me to think of so many friends whohave passed out of my life. Who were thefounders? Their names and agencieswhen they started are:

Jim Brackett, Santa Clara DA;Lowell Bradford, Santa Clara DA (actu-ally started in Sacramento CII); RonBriglia, Orange County SO; David Q.Burd, CII (DOJ); Jack Cadman, OrangeCounty SO; Bob Cooper, Oakland PD;John E. Davis, Oakland PD; RogerGreene, CII; Don Harding, Pasadena PD;Bill Harper (I'm not sure where he started,

��Who were these people that were

the founders of this association? Why didthey form the CAC? I think I have an an-swer to that question that I will coverlater.

Did the founders plan to have sucha prestigious organization? Were they soprophetic that they expected the CAC tobe the leading forensic organization in theworld? No, they were just people, likeyou.

You must realize that the worldwas different when this organization wasformed. The computer was calledVARIAC or EINIAC and there were onlya couple of them in the world at researchorganizations. The personal computer

If you love this fieldas I do, being involved

in an investigation,trivial or serious,

should be a personallyenjoyable experience.

13

Keep in toucKeep in toucKeep in toucKeep in toucKeep in touch.h.h.h.h.

he was expelled from CAC before I be-came a member. However, I met him ona case in Bakersfield and we had dinnertogether.); Harry Johnson, CII (The mostoverlooked Founder.); Lee Jones, LAPD;Paul L. Kirk, UC Berkeley; George Lacy,LASD; Ray Pinker, LAPD; HilliardReeves, Richmond PD.

I first met many of these men at aCAC Seminar dinner at the HotelClaremont in Berkeley; it must have beenin 1959. I was a student in Professor Kirk'sclass, even though I was a Chemistrymajor and couldn’t attend the day timeactivities of the Association. ProfessorKirk thought it would be a good idea toat least attend the banquet. I rememberedthat meeting this August when I went toCanyonlands National Park in Utah. Thespeaker, at the meeting, was HillardReeve, he showed slides and talked abouthis experiences hiking in the beautiful redcanyons in Utah. He was most probablyin some of the canyons now covered byLake Powell. His presentation was per-sonal, in those days we didn’t have spe-cial invited speakers.

At that meeting, I had a fellow stu-dent on my left and an “old man” on myright, he must have been 55. He kept upa constant conversation, even while eat-ing. I felt somewhat embarrassed by histable manners. At the next seminar1 I at-tended, now as a member of the hostingagency, San Bernardino, I sat next to thesame old man at the dinner. I knew hewould be at the next local meeting so Iasked Tony if he would make sure that Ididn’t have to sit next to him again. Assoon as we arrived, Tony called out to Ray

Pinker and told him I was tired of sittingnext to him at the dinner meetings. Ofcourse, Ray sat next to me again.

Little did I realize, at that time, howprivileged I had been, to be next to thefirst public criminalist. I soon had a lot ofrespect and love for that man. I wouldlike to tell you a little known fact aboutRay. He was the oldest man in the CAC.He attained the age of about 250. Eachmonth, at the dinner meeting, we wouldcelebrate his birthday, the restaurantswould bring him a dessert with a candleand everyone would sing Happy Birth-day. At Seminars, he would have two orthree birthdays.

I could tell you something abouteach of the Founders as I was fortunateenough to know and “break bread” witheach of them. However, that would de-tract from the direction I want to go. Suf-fice it to say, the CAC owes its existenceto these men. I would like to see a plaquewith their names displayed at everySeminar. That way, when people likeTony and I are also gone from this world,the CAC membership will not forget whostarted this Association.

You may wonder what kind ofcriminalistics did these men practice?With one exception2, I can only tell youwhat we did when I joined. That excep-tion was the oldest case I found in theCII files. A blood stained piece of glasswas submitted to the laboratory. Somepeople had heard a shot, then a car driveoff at a high rate of speed. There was ablood pool near the tire tracks.

I thought how quickly we couldhave resolved the case and told them

whether the blood was human or not. Wewould run the precipitin test. However,when Roger Greene worked this case,there was no precipitin test. He examinedthe blood under the microscope. Hestated that the blood contained a coupleof hair follicles, too small for identifica-tion, but didn’t look human, he couldn’tbe sure but they were probably from adomestic animal. The size of the bloodcells was also slightly smaller than hu-man cells. He then stated that he had cul-tivated the stain. The bacteria were iden-tified as that associated with mange indogs. Therefore, he concluded, the bloodwas from a mangy dog.

I realized, at that point, that wecould do things a lot faster, but not nec-essarily better.

When I graduated from Jr. HighSchool, a classmate wrote in my yearbook:

“May you know something abouteverything and everything about some-thing.”

That statement defines where wewere and where we are going today inCriminalistics. We are, in my opinion, ina transition stage from one part of thatapprobation to the other. In the old dayswe “knew something about everything.”We worked every aspect of the physicalevidence from the crime scene to thecourtroom. We advised the detectives re-garding investigative leads and the pros-ecutors regarding how best to present theevidence.

I would like to tell you somethingabout what we did in the laboratory. Themethods may sound crude to you with


the instrumentation available to you now.You may think, "I could analyze thosesamples quicker and easier and have abetter analysis than was possible with themethods used." But, remember my expe-rience in looking at Roger Greene's 30year old case, and could you do the analy-ses in each and every field. Don't be tooquick to judge.

In serology, we went to crimescenes and collected the blood. We exam-ined items submitted for stains and thepatterns of those stains. We would usepresumptive tests on the stains to deter-mine if the material was blood. The pri-mary presumptive test we used was ben-zidine3, we were totally ignorant of theconsequences. We determined whetherthe blood was human or not using theprecipitin test. Only then would we ana-lyze for the ABO types.

First we would try the Latte's crustmethod, but it was a test for the antibod-ies and wasn’t, therefore, reliable. If thecase was important enough we wouldanalyze it using the absorption inhibitiontest for the antigens. Blood typing took2-3 days, then it wasn’t always definitive.The absorption inhibition tests were sosensitive to contamination and error; theyfrequently had to be repeated.

We searched microscope slides forsperm similar to what is done now. Ex-cept we didn't use the Xmas tree stains,therefore, sperm were harder to find. Werelied on the acid-phosphatase test morethan we would like to admit.

In the trace evidence section, wevacuumed clothing, cars, beds, androoms for trace evidence. We spent hourscomparing the hairs and fibers under themicroscope. If the fiber and the color wasthe same microscopically, then we calledit a match. Of course, the variety of fiberswasn’t so great as it is now. We didn’thave an FTIR or a GC/MS to determinethe absolute identity and we didn’t try toidentify the dyes, we didn’t have instru-ments that were sensitive enough.

Glass and paint comparisons weresimilarly handled. We determined therefractive index and the density on glass.We compared color and layers on paint,sometimes, if there was only one layer,we did some basic chemical spot tests.

The week was interrupted byBlood Alcohols. We ran the Kozelka-Hinemethod of steam distillation with a mer-

curic oxide scrubber. The method wastime consuming, taking, at first, a day torun 10 samples. Let me describe how weanalyzed the samples.

The Kozelka-Hine apparatus wasa series of seven rather delicate pieces ofglassware, starting with a steam sourceat one end and a condenser at the other.The blood was orally pipetted into thefirst tube along with a measured quan-tity of a precipitating chemical. The steampassed through the sample into theHgCl/NaOH mixture, then to the con-denser where it dripped into a carefullymeasured quantity of Potassium Dichro-mate in Sulfuric Acid. The flasks weresealed with a clamp and placed in theoven for an hour. The amount of Dichro-mate left was determined by titrationwith Sodium Thiosulfate with a KI indi-cator. The burette had to filled and refilledfor each sample by hand.

I used to break something aboutonce a month. Those sidearm sinteredglass tubes cost about $40 then. This wasat the time we used to wash our slidesand even our coverslips to save money. Idon't know how Tony put up with me,except that I was willing to do the BA'sand he didn't have to.

Those of you running blood alco-hol samples today should be thankfulthat technology created the means toabandon the Kozelka-Hine method.

We also did the coroner's toxicol-ogy. In San Bernardino, we analyzedblood, urine, and various organs for sus-pected poisons. When the DA requested,we would also analyze the low BA’s fordrugs. Using an acid/base extraction sys-tem with chloroform4 we analyzed theextracts on the UV spectrophotometer.

Jimmy Brackett had run all theknown drugs and distributed the curves.Nobody worked in toxicology without acopy of that paper. The method becameknown as the Brackett and Bradford (twomore of the Founders) or the B & BScheme. To identify the particular barbi-turate we used paper chromatography ingallon sized pickle jars, of course, thisonly worked when there was a high con-centration of drug.

Drug cases weren’t the full time jobyou have now. We only had a few a week,mostly marijuana or pills. Marijuana wasvisually identified under the stereoscopicmicroscope. A single fragment found in

the vacuum sweepings from a car wassufficient to seize the vehicle.

The most common pill was Seco-barbital. We used crystal tests to identifythe various barbs and amphetamine.Methamphetamine was almost unheardof, Heroin was a problem, cocaine wasnot. PCP, LSD, MDA, ETC. did not exist.

Sometimes, we couldn’t identifythe drug, I missed my first LSD case. Itwas on some sugar recovered from themail. It wasn’t until about 3 months laterthat we learned about this new drug andhow it was used on sugar cubes. Fluo-rescence was the only test we had untilDuane Dillon and John Thornton cameup with the Siamese Fighting Fish Test.LSD made them swim upside down.

Footprints and tire-tracks werefairly common types of evidence, thecomparison of shoe prints hasn’tchanged. Basically, the same science usedin those days is used now. Except, youcan scan a shoe or photo onto the com-puter and use overlay methods of analy-sis. In those days, we didn't even havecopy machines, all reproductions weredone photographically.

In firearms and toolmarks, wewould fire guns into a cotton box, recoverthe bullets and compare them with thequestioned. We used lead sheets to makeour test marks for toolmark comparison.Our microscopes were similar in basicdesign to those used today. However, theHeld Microscope we had in San Bernar-dino Lab had a single vertical eyepiece.The scope was so large that I could hardlyreach the bullets to rotate them and keepmy eye on the comparison.

We didn’t photograph the matches.Not that we couldn’t, we took photos ofother things. We developed our own filmand made our own prints. To send thefilm out was not acceptable. We used in-frared photography to determine thepresence of powder particles, a techniquethat has returned with some of the digi-tal cameras.

Arson samples were steam distilledusing an oil trap, which separated theorganic fraction from the aqueous. If wewere lucky enough to get an adequatesample we would burn it, if it ignitedthen, we concluded, a flammable liquidwas present. At CCI, Roger Greene madea devise to determine the flash-point. Inthe early sixties, the gas chromatograph

We can not be objective when the evidence we examine and the informa-tion we are furnished is biased by selection external to the laboratory.

15

became a common lab instrument. How-ever, and this will cause you arson ex-perts to shudder, some people were iden-tifying gasoline on a series of only 5peaks.

Many of us packed our own col-umns for our GC's. We found Tide was agood packing material for separation andidentification of arson accelerants. Itwould separate the gasoline into about40 or 50 peaks.

The chemical development of fin-gerprints was expected to be done in thelab, dusting, lifting and comparison workwas also done in some labs. Mostcriminalists were capable and qualifiedin the field of latent prints.

The Founders of CAC did all thosethings and more.

If you worked in a crime lab in Cali-fornia you were expected to be able to doall of these analyses and to be able to tes-tify about them and their significance inthe case. We were expected to know some-thing about everything. We were not ex-perts in all those subjects, rather we wereexperts in the identification and interpre-tation of physical evidence.

The interpretation of the results inlight of the case is what criminalistics isabout. It is not adequate to run a test, tech-nicians can run tests and write reports.To quote Paul Kirk, "A master of all tech-niques may remain merely a technician,and the best of all technicians is not nec-essarily a satisfactory criminalist. Thecriminalist must analyze the problem andunderstand the principle in order to ar-rive at the correct interpretation of thecriminal act."5 and "The underlying un-derstanding of what to do, and what itmeans is certainly as important as know-ing how to do it."6

The CAC's definition ofcriminalistics at that time included thephrase, "criminalistics is ...that professionand scientific discipline devoted to therecognition, identification, individualiza-tion, and evaluation of physical evidenceby the application of the natural sciencesto matters of the law." The lab techniciandoes not participate in the recognition orevaluation of the physical evidence.

The person who sees all the evi-dence is the trial attorney. Attorneys havetheir own agendas. They are partisans inthe matter and as Plato said, “The parti-san, when he is engaged in a dispute,cares nothing about the rights of the ques-tion, but is anxious only to convince hishearers of his own assertions.”7 Theywant to convince the jury that the defen-dant is guilty or, conversely, not guilty.

They should not be the ones to decide thescope of the laboratory investigation. Yetas you give up this role, they are the onestaking it on. We can not be objective whenthe evidence we examine and the infor-mation we are furnished is biased by se-lection external to the laboratory.

I recently worked on a case wherethe prosecution's primary witness wasshown to be lying by analysis of thebloodstains. The man was really afraidat the crime scene, but was too “macho”to admit it, so he made up a story whereinhe was a hero. The physical evidenceshowed that the incident couldn’t hap-pen the way he stated. The jury said theyrealized this and didn’t believe anythinghe said. If the pros-ecution had giventheir lab all the in-formation in ad-vance, they couldhave shown the lieand saved the ex-pense and time ofa lengthy trial. In-stead they basedtheir prosecutionon the story of thelying witness.Therefore, theywere partisan inwhat they told andshowed the lab.

One cannotsay they recognizephysical evidenceunless they go tothe crime sceneand collect theirown evidence. In-stead, we allow the evidence to be col-lected by the police then filtered throughthe district attorney. We cannot assumethat we are unbiased in our examinationsif our samples are biased to begin with.This is one of the dangers of not going tocrime scenes, of not getting as much in-formation about a case as possible beforeyou start your analyses in trying to iden-tify or individualize the evidence. How-ever, you cannot recognize evidence atthe crime scene unless you know some-thing about the capabilities of the entirelaboratory. You need to be a generalist.

This generalist concept is what thecertification examination was basedupon. The original Criminalistics Certi-fication Examination was put together bythe CAC. The Certification Board felt thatthe person should know something abouteverything. That concept was part of thepackage that the CAC sold to the ABC.

This remains one of the primary objec-tions individuals have to certification,people want to take only the specialtyexam, as they are imminently qualifiedin their specialty, but know little aboutthe other sections of the laboratory. Butthis field should never become as PeterDeForest put it, a "poorly coordinatedcollection of specialists."8

The next generation, of which, Iguess, I am, saw changes as technologydeveloped and the analyses became moreand more sophisticated. We contributedto that change; we were always seekingnew and better methods for the identifi-cation and individualization of physicalevidence.

We had timeto examine a prob-lem, to research it,come up with theright questions,and, subsequently,a solution. Wewould read some-thing in the journalsand give it a try.Don't panic, butsometimes we usedactual case materi-als for those trials.The slide method ofabsorption-elutionof bloodstain typ-ing was developedthat way.

I had justread an articleabout using an am-monia extract ofblood for typing by

the absorption-elution9 method in theJournal of the Forensic Science Society whena colleague told me he had a case heneeded to blood type by 7 am the nextmorning, it was 3 pm already. In thosedays, the methods of absorption-elutionin use took at least 24 hours. I suggestedtrying a modification of the method I hadjust read about. It worked!

The antigen determination, in hiscase, took only about an hour. I later re-fined that method to get it down to 10minutes and analyzed of several samplesto show that it worked. But, we tried itfirst on a case sample. We didn’t fear theconsequences, if it worked we had ananswer, if it didn’t we were at the samepoint we were before we tried.

The point is we tried somethingand it worked. The generations ofcriminalists before you weren’t so tied upin paperwork that they couldn’t experi-

The generations of

criminalists before

you weren’t so tied

up in paperwork

that they couldn’t

experiment, refine

parameters, and try

new methods . . .

We practiced

criminalistics.


ment, refine parameters, and try newmethods and ideas. We tried to determinethe questions and the answers. We prac-ticed criminalistics.

In his Founder's Speech PeterDeForest10 stated that the crime lab is re-lying more on technology and less onthinking through the problem. He blamespart of this on the development of labo-ratories in the 70’s because of federalfunds. Too many labs were establishedalong the lines of clinical labs. The clini-cal laboratory performs standardizedtests on a limited range of sample types.The laboratory analyst has little discre-tion. The testing is based on the evalua-tion of someone external to the labora-tory. In the clinical laboratory that per-son is at least a scientifically trained di-agnostician. In the crime laboratory, thatperson is first the investigator and sec-ondly the attorney. Neither of whom hasa real knowledge of the sciences used inthe lab. As Stuart Kind states in The Scep-tical Witness, "Training people to think ismore difficult than training them to op-erate machines.11" By thinking he meansin knowing how to think out a processor solve a puzzle. But, now the emphasisseems to be to make sure the crime labscientist can operate machines correctlyand gets the expected answers on profi-ciency tests.

Presently, criminalists or crime labscientists aren’t allowed to try newthings, experimenting, developing andrefining methodologies. We have to usestandardized approved methods ofanalysis. We must show we are capableof getting the “right” answer to the analy-sis of a sample using those methods. Wecannot use anything that varies fromthose approved methods in the slightest.In the past, we weren’t restricted to ap-proved methods. If we had been, youwould still be using paper chromatogra-phy in pickle jars.

Don't take this to mean that I amnot for accreditation and quality control.I wrote a paper for DOJ on quality con-trol in the early 80’s. It was rejected asbeing too strict and impossible to do. Thethings I recommended weren’t nearly asstringent as those you must operate un-der for accreditation. The same peoplewho rejected those suggestions went onto become the administrators involved inthe new standards.

A couple of meetings ago, after adiscussion about some of the things hap-pening in accreditation, Tony asked mewhy I was against accreditation. I restateI am not against accreditation. I am

against the way it is being administered.I am against anything that threatens todestroy criminalistics, this field of en-deavor that has been my life. I think thatthe way accreditation is currently beingadministered is doing exactly that, de-stroying criminalistics. When ASCLDLAB started and when the standards firstcame out, the program was to help thoselabs reach a minimum level of standards.I was very supportive of the program5.That "minimum level" has grown andgrown, until it is a full time job in the labto keep up with the myriad of things thatneed to be done to meet the criteria. Thetail is wagging the dog. I’ve stood on thissoapbox before and I will leave it for now,I am labeled a heretic anyway.

Let me turn to another area, howour development of new techniques haseffected the field. I can remember JimmyBrackett returning from an AAFS meeting,saying that one of the toxicologists toldhim that "we in the CAC were really ruin-ing the field." They had been content tosay there was a barbiturate in the blood.Then the criminalists in California devel-oped methods to determine how muchwas present— and then to identify thespecific barb. These developments causedthe toxicology departments in the Mid-west and the East so much more work theywere having a hard time keeping up.

Once something is done that ismore refined, whether it is a betterquantitation or identification, it must con-tinue being done. That is the nature ofthe field we work in. The legal profes-sion constantly tried to make us try toimprove upon the way we did our exami-nations. Now the legal profession is in-sisting that we follow approved methods.

In this transition period not onlyare you unable to develop methodologies,but many of you only work in only onediscipline or section in the laboratory.There is a trade off; the amount of infor-mation you now generate from an itemof evidence is far greater in establishingthe identification and individuality ofthat item than what we were capable ofdoing. You are the other part of the quote,you “know everything about some-thing.” You are assisted in this knowledgebase by the computer, storing informa-tion and automatically comparing it to alibrary of standards. This shortcuts thetime necessary to find an answer.

Another advantage of specializa-tion is that your qualifications in courtare impressive. One of the tricks attorneysused on Paul Kirk was that they wouldask him if he had qualified as an expert

on firearms, on blood analysis, on hairidentification, on fiber identification, etc.,etc. Then they would argue to the jurythat no one could be an expert in all thosefields. That can't happen when you are aspecialist in only one discipline.

Being a specialist also has disad-vantages. You no longer see all the infor-mation about a case. By not seeing all theinformation, you lose the ability to choosewhat tests to run. No longer can you ad-vise the officer or the attorney that whatthey are requesting is not going to showwhat they want it to. The answer theyseek is in a different area of the labora-tory. An example would be the requestto run DNA on a blood sample whenthere is no question as to whose blood ispresent, the pattern tells the story.

Time has become so much moreprecious than it was when I started. Thecaseload per criminalist has increasedmany fold. You don't have time at workto read the journals, or you only read thearticles in your field. That is another rea-son why criminalistics is not being prac-ticed as it once was. In the late 60’s orearly 70’s MRI did a study of crime labs.They stated that the number of officersper bench criminalist should be no morethan 60 to 1. What is it now? 300 to 1?How can you keep up with the work withthat ratio? You can't, you probably don'twork on burglaries or hit runs, certainlynot dog poisonings or other misdemean-ors. You haven't the time to consider any-thing but murders and sexual assaults.

Another problem with becoming aspecialist is that you don't listen to whatthe specialists in other fields have to say.This is accepted in the American Academyby having sections. But, in the CAC wehad a big loss by not foreseeing this trendearly enough. One of the first special in-terest groups in criminalistics was toxicol-ogy. The toxicologists first requested thatsections of the program be devoted to toxi-cology. Then Saturday was devoted totheir specialty. Finally, they met at a dif-ferent location, completely separate, oneday of the meeting. The next step was toform their own association, the CaliforniaAssociation of Toxicologists.

The CAC lost those persons andtheir successors. The analysis of drugswould possibly be easier if those mindswere still working on the analysis of grosssamples instead of just trace amounts.Will the same thing happen with DNA?or with Firearms? or Trace? You mustguard against separating the special in-terest groups from the rest of CAC. I praythat it doesn’t ever happen again. Perhaps

17

the CAC needs to consider the structureof the American Academy, While such achange in the structure the CAC wouldlose the original flavor of the organiza-tion, the whole will be intact. Eventhough it would also contribute to the lossof the generalist.

Will we continue to develop alongthe lines of the specialist? Will we con-tinue to give up the ability to seek theright questions, only giving answers tosomeone else's questions? Perhaps theanswer lies in history, if we look at thedevelopment of scientific investigation,we first find that there was considerableinterest in the interpretation of physicalevidence in the late 1800’s. The storiesabout Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Thorndyke had to be based upon someof the practices of investigators of thetimes. Dr. Hans Gross wrote texts for bothdetectives and criminalists in the 1890’s.This was a growth period in scientificinvestigation.

After the turn of the century, therewas a lull period, there was little develop-ment regarding interpretation of evidence.Then a resurgence occurred in the late 20’sand the early 30’s. The first public crimelab was started and Ray Pinker was hiredin Los Angeles in 1928. Henry T. F. Rhodeswrote articles and a text12 on the use ofscience in interpretation of the evidence.Edward O. Heinrich, the Wizard of Ber-keley13, turned his scientific and interpre-tative skills to the problems of criminalactivity. This too was a growth period.

Then new technological develop-ments such as the comparison micro-scope, new chemical methods, detractedfrom the development of interpretiveskills. We entered another lull perioduntil Paul Kirk became involved in theexamination of physical evidence. Heestablished first Criminalistics coursesthen the Program, at U.C. Berkeley. Whilehe taught methodologies, he emphasizedthe reasoning skills that need accompanythem. He and his students created anemphasis on the interpretation of evi-dence that lasted into the 70’s. Then theinflux of non-criminalistically trainedpeople was added to the mix by the sud-den growth of laboratories.

We are in a lull period again. Thetechnology has become so advanced, thequality control so regimented, that inter-pretative skills are not emphasized. How-ever, I believe we will recover from thislull, just as we have in the past. I thinkthe criminalist of the future will have tohave problem solving skills and will re-form the crime labs again.

As I stated earlier, the District At-torney, with his partisan attitude is nowtying everything together. There is a newgroup, a new “forensic science” calledprofiling. These profilers are looking atall the evidence and interpreting it for thecourts. They claim they need a crime re-construction prior to their analysis or as-sessment. Seldom, however, do they aska criminalist to do this reconstruction.These people are doing it themselves;many of them don’t know anything aboutthe natural sciences. If not the Criminal-ist as we know it, then perhaps thesepeople working in behavioral profilingwill do the interpretation of our cases.

Or perhaps it will be the computer.I remember seeing a Looney Tunes cartoonseveral years ago wherein Daffy Duckand Porky Pig were detectives in the farfuture when space travel is common.They went to the scene of a crime andvacuumed the floor. They returned toHeadquarters and dumped the debrisinto a computer. The name of the perpe-trator, Yosemite Sam, and his locationwere printed out for the waiting detec-tives. While far from reality it would begreat if the crime lab was involved in theinvestigatory stage and to provide mean-ingful answers to that phase.

I have high hopes for the future ofcriminalistics, but, then, I am an eternaloptimist. A pessimist believes things willget worse, the optimist, by believingthings will improve, is saying that thingscan’t be worse.

In conclusion, I would like to tryto answer the question I posed earlier,regarding why the founders created theCAC. This is also why, I have run for vari-ous offices and served on various com-mittees. I was, in 1964-67 in the last ofthe full service one-man labs in Califor-nia. I was in Bakersfield, which is over100 miles from any of the other crimelaboratories. I feel that my experiencethere gave me an understanding of themotives of the Founders. During thattime, I attended every monthly dinnermeeting in the South and a couple in theNorth. I attended every seminar. It wasn’tthat I was dedicated. But I used the CAC,and in retrospect, I think what the CACfulfilled for me it fulfilled for theFounders.

• CAC provided me with profes-sional companionship when I was lonely.

• CAC provided me people whocould answer my questions.

• CAC provided me a forum for myideas when I found something new.

• CAC provided me an outlet for

the extra things I wanted to do.• CAC provided me the opportu-

nity to grow.• CAC provided me fraternity.For those things, I am extremely

grateful.J.C.

NOTES1. May 1961, Apple Valley Inn,

Victorville.2. Report regarding a dog shooting

posted in the Classroom at CCI.3. In 1971, Congress published the

first list of 7 carcinogens, benzidine is onthat list.

4. Chloroform is now also on thelist of carcinogens.

5. I was President of ASCLD whenthe ASCLD LAB finished their study andset the standards. They were ready tostart accreditation of the first lab.

REFERENCES1. Adams, Douglas O. The

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy2. Anderson, P., Past Times, TOR

Books, NY, (1984) p. 1943. Gross, H., Criminal Investiga-

tion, 4th Edition, (1924)4. Chisum, W.J., Criminal Profiling,

Turvey, B., editor and author in chief,Academic Press, San Diego, CA 1999, p74

5. Kirk, Paul, Criminalistics, Sci-ence, v.140, April, 1963

6. Kirk, Paul, Criminalistics at theCrossroads, The Criminologist, v.4, No. 11,1969

7. Plato, Phaedo, Library of theFuture, 4th Edition, CD, Scr. 73: 127

8. DeForest, P.J., Recapturing theEssence of Criminalistics, Founder’sSpeech, 1997, Irvine, CA, JFSS Oct. 98.pp.198-208

9.Kind, S.S. & Cleery, R.H., The Useof Ammonical Bloodstain Extract in ABOGrouping, JFSS 9, p.131, 1969

10. DeForest, op cit11. Kind, Stuart S, The Sceptical

Witness, Hodology, Ltd., Harrogate 1999,p.142

12. Rhodes, Henry T. F., Clues andCrime, p. 54, John Murray, London,(1933)

13. Block, E. B., The Wizard of Ber-keley, Coward-McCann, Inc., NY (1958)


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CRIME SCENEC1 Bloodspatter Lecture —KnowlesC2 Bloodspatter Lecture — ChisumC3 Crime Scene Investigation Symposium—Fall ’88 CAC

GENERAL INTERESTG1 ABC News 9/23/91: “Lab Errors”G2 48 Hours 9/25/91: “Clues”G3 Founder’s Lecture: Stuart Kind— Fall ’93G4 Founder’s Lecture: Walter McCrone—Spr ’90G5 Founder’s Lecture: J. Osterburg—Fall ’91G6 Founder’s Lecture: Lowell Bradford—Spr ’93G7 OJ Simpson Tonight Show ClipsG8 “Against All Odds—Inside Statistics”

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19

Quality Quality Quality Quality Quality AssurAssurAssurAssurAssurededededed

JOHN��

A QA manager

must be patient

and detailed

enough to mea-

sure and assure

compliance, but

not so detailed

as to cripple a

work process.

Reading the LabelReading The Labels of QA Managers for the Ingredients

I am a QA manager. Some of you are.But what does that mean? What does a QAmanager look like? How is a QA managersupposed to act? Recently, there has been alot of discussion via the national networkof QA managers on this issue.

First, consider the background of thecriminalist. A criminalist brings to the tablevery specific work tools forged from an edu-cation in a physical science. Specializedtraining, both formal and on the job, helpsto sharpen the criminalist’s tools of thetrade. Experience guides the judgment andexecution of the work.

How does this play into the issue ofthe QA manager background? A criminal-ist or supervising criminalist is often as-signed to the QA task while a few of us vol-unteer. It usually happens this way becauseof limited resources which have a doubleeffect: 1) a QA manager almost alwayscomes from within the staff since gettingnew budgeted positions is very difficult, es-pecially if the positions are not geared to-wards casework. 2) a QA manager is rarelya dedicated position, having to usuallydouble up on various tasks of QA as well assupervision and this in itself may pose aninteresting conflict of interests.

As a consequence, most QA manag-ers have a science background as well asforensic casework experience. There aresome opinions that a true quality assurancemanager should not come from forensic sci-ence as this poses another possible conflictof interest. The laboratory, advocated bysome, should try to recruit someone from aquality field not related to forensics.

It seems clear, though, that having a forensic scientist inthe QA manager position is of benefit to the communicationwith the staff. When the QA manager understands the science,the process is more streamlined. Alternative approaches tosatisfying requirements may be easily identified. In the end,all are agreed that the QA manager must have specialized train-ing and this is certainly available from the FBI and CCI.

Networking is a vital part of the QA manager experienceas getting numerous perspectives on industry standards helpsto reasonably shape QA policy in your own system.

QA managers often answer directly to the manager andsit within the management circles. One lab director emphasized

that it is important for a QA manager not tobe a “yes” person or someone who simplyresides in management’s pocket. The QAmanager must, even in the face of disagree-ment, speak to the issues of QA requirements,realizing that any particular QA position maynot be how “the boss” sees it. The QA man-ager must take, at the appropriate times, theunpopular position and push for unpopularchanges. But the QA managers must alsonot be too stubborn in their opinion nor tooobstinate in their disagreement. They haveto be approachable and flexible enough sothat consideration of alternative viewpointscan sometimes change their mindset.

A QA manager must be patient anddetailed enough to measure and assurecompliance, but not so detailed as to cripplea work process. The QA manager must beorganized enough to be multi-tasked andefficient enough to track and monitor dead-lines and various types of documentationwhich must be producible upon demand.

To be truly effective, almost everyoneagrees that a QA manager needs to be dedi-cated to the task and not split between otherlaboratory functions.

A QA manager has to be able to writewell enough so that the main points of apolicy or procedure issue are clearly articu-lated, giving the best starting point for lateredits by the boss. This is perhaps the mostdifficult quality to satisfy consistently sinceeveryone has their own spin on any par-ticular written phrase.

Finally, the QA manager must be ableto persevere in the face of adversity, of con-flict, of resistance, and of always having to

run the policy decisions through the lab manager. In fact, a QAmanager may have less autonomy than a unit supervisor be-cause QA issues cross unit boundaries and affect everyone. Thisis the jurisdiction of the lab manager and this is where the QAmanager must be able first to articulate the issue and supportfor their viewpoint and then to realize when it is time to backoff and say, “yes, boss.” Different viewpoints are healthy andare encouraged. A good QA and lab manager team always worktogether to ensure that having to say “yes” to the boss will nevermean sacrificing or compromising quality standards.


Send us your

ArchivesThe CAC is attempting to gather and catalog all of the archival documentsand materials members have accumulated over the past 40-50 years. We’reespecially interested in board of director papers, membership documentsand old photographs and videos.

MILLENNIUM SPRING CLEANING!Ever run across CAC materials from committees, board meetings, seminars, etc.? You don’t want tothrow them away but you don’t want to keep them until the next millennium. Members of the boardand the historical committee would like to take those pesky materials off your hands. Please contactLisa Brewer regarding reports, photographs, objects or anything else that is of interest to the CAC.Lisa Brewer (408) 299-2224 x2575 [email protected]

find an equally comprehensive curriculum for DNA analysis.Toxicology is well represented at Kings. The Drug De-

tection Center, located upstairs from my laboratory, is worldrenown. The scientists at the unit are International OlympicCommittee accredited and have just returned from Sydneywhere they were in charge of drug testing athletes. These sameexperts will be teaching the Drugs and Toxicology module ofthe MSc program.

The main forensic science employer in England, Walesand Scotland is the Forensic Science Service. Its system is struc-tured much like the California Department of Justice in thatlabs are located throughout the UK and managed by a centralbody known as the Home Office. Recently I attended a jointmeeting of the Forensic Science Society and the Forensic Sci-ence Service held near the city of Birmingham. It was a pleas-ant surprise to have a fellow Californian in attendance—JohnDeHann, who was collecting yet another award for his work.The theme of the conference was “Crimes of the Millennium.”The intriguing Shipman case was presented in detail and to gointo this superbly developed presentation would take anotherarticle altogether. Instead, I will focus on a presentation thatafterward raised some thought provoking questions aroundmy FSS dinner table.

The English have embarked on a new registration sys-tem for forensic practitioners. It is known as the Council forthe Registration of Forensic Practitioners (CRFP). The CRFP isan independent regulatory body, whose objective is to promotepublic confidence in forensic practice in the UK. Like the ABC,registration is voluntary. It is worth pointing out that their Codeof Conduct seems to be drawn up in a remarkably similar fash-ion to the CAC code. Although most everyone at the confer-ence agreed that registering forensic practitioners is a positivestep, the issue nevertheless raised some interesting questions.

Professor Brian Caddy, President of the Forensic ScienceSociety, puts forth the following question: Does someone who

has searched a garment and recovered trace fibers which theythen analyze, prepare a report for and present to the courtshave the same registration status as someone who has extracteda DNA sample and run a gel? [1] Should a distinction be madebetween the forensic practitioner and the analyst/technologistwhen standardizing skills?

These and other questions were bantered about over arobust supper of Caesar salad, poached Scottish Salmon, sea-sonal vegetables and a curious dessert tradition from Scotlandthat I have to admit I was afraid to try called Spotted Dick,served with fresh cream or custard.

Before coming here, I had only a vague notion of whatthe British were like as a people, most of it perpetuated by me-dia stereotypes. Were British men anything like the eerilyeditorialising Hitchcock on his half-hour television programor were they more like the suave James Bond? After living heremyself, though, I would have to say that a local columnist de-scribed the difference between Yanks and Brits best this way.“As for the British, we never liked or trusted the people whowant to become really rich and devote their lives to it. WhenAmericans see a Rolls-Royce in the street, they want to meetthe owner and congratulate him. We want to scratch it.” [2]

Another great thing about London is its proximity to thecontinent. For instance, the next FSS conference is in Amsterdamin the spring. Round-trip to Amsterdam is less than $100. Whatcould be better than seeing the world while following one’spassion? For any of you who want more details about the pro-gram at King’s, please feel free to contact me by email. I’ll keepyou posted on my progress through future CACNews articles.Cheers!

References[1] B. Caddy. [2000] Science & Justice 40(2): 143-146[2] J. Humphreys. The Sunday Times: Nov. 12, 2000

Dianne Burns is a CAC member and is taking a one-year leaveof absence from the DNA Lab in Berkeley to complete her MSc inLondon, England. [email protected]

cont’d from page 7��

21

Distinguished Member Award 2001CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

The Awards Committee is actively soliciting nominations from the membership to add to this impressive list of Distin-guished Members: GEORGE SENSABAUGH (1983) • PETER BARNETT (1992) • JAN BASHINSKI (1984) • JOHN MURDOCK (1993) • EDWARD

BLAKE (1985) • JOHN DEHAAN (1994) • JIM WHITE (1986) • HIRAM K. EVANS (1995) • JERRY CHISUM (1987) • ANTHONY LONGHETTI

(1996) • LUCIEN HAAG (1988) • FAYE SPRINGER (1997) • JOHN THORNTON (1989) • DUAYNE DILLON (1998) • DOROTHY NORTHEY (1990)• FRED TULLENERS (1999) • EDWARD RHODES (1991) • GREG MATHESON (2000) Any member of the Association may nominateanother member for this award. Please use the accompanying nomination form, or provide the necessary information.

Nominations must be received by April 1, 2001

Distinguished Member Award criteria: 1) The candidate must be a member of the CAC (in any category). 2) The candidate musthave contributed significantly to the association in one or more of the following areas: A) Long term service to the association asa member of the Board of Directors and/or in committee(s). B) Sustained production of papers or technical notes in newslettersor at seminars. C) Organization of study groups or workshops, etc. D) Significant research and dissemination of the informationto the forensic science community (i.e. journal or newsletter publications, seminar papers, workshops, study groups, etc.) E) Anyother unusual or significant contributions to the improvement of the profession of criminalistics.

Distinguished Member Award 2001NOMINATION FORM

Candidate:________________________________________ Address:________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________Phone:( )___-____

CAC Membership Status: ________________________

Contributions: Please be as specific as you can when describing how the candidate has met the criteria. For example, give datesof service and type of service to the CAC, full bibliographic information on papers, etc. Attach additional pages as required. If acurriculum vitae is available, please attach a copy to this form.

Name, address and phone number of nominating party:

Additional references:1)

2)

Please return completed forms to:

Shanin SullivanCAC Awards Committee Chair

Ventura County Sheriff’s Dept. Crime Laboratory800 South Victoria Avenue,

Ventura, CA 93009Phone: (805) 654-2333, Fax: (805) 650-4080


The Evaluation ofABAcard® p30 Test for theIdentification of Semen

Theresa F. Spear and Neda Khoskebari

��The ABA card p30 test was evaluated as a tool to charac-

terize suspected semen stains. Our study focussed on the speci-ficity and sensitivity of this test. As described by the manufac-turer, Abacus Diagnostics, the ABAcard p30 test is “designed toqualitatively detect prostate-specific antigen (p30) for the foren-sic identification of semen. PSA or p30 is an accepted marker fordetecting semen in criminal cases including vasectomized orazoospermic individuals.” The test has been characterized bythe manufacturer as: “Highly sensitive & specific to PSA. . . Vali-dated for use in the forensic identification of semen.”

The ABA card p30 test is simple to perform. The test iscomprised of a plastic card with two “windows”. One of thesewindows allows the sample (typically 200ul) to be applied tothe test membrane and the other window permits the analystto view the antigen-antibody reactions. The sample can beextracted in distilled water or a variety of buffer solutions(HEPES buffered saline or “buffers suitable for further DNAextractions”). The stain extract is centrifuged and allowed tocome to room temperature before application to the card. Thetest requires 200ul of this stain extract to be added to the sample(“S”) well of the test device. Thus, the minimal amount of buffersolution to extract the stain should be at least 200ul. After thissolution is added to the sample well, it reacts with a mobilemonoclonal PSA antibody (with an attached dye) forming anantibody-antigen complex. This PSA- PSA antibody complexthen migrates across the test device membrane to the test areawhere an immobilized (polyclonal) antihuman PSA antibodycaptures the first antigen-PSA antibody (presumably formedin or near the “S” well). This reaction (an antibody-antigen-antibody sandwich) is visualized as a purple-colored bandformed by a dye attached to the mobile antibody. Above thetest area (marked “T” on the device) is a control area (marked“C” on the device) which captures unbound mobile antibodyby the use of an immobilized anti-immunoglobulin antibody.The control band (which controls for proper sample migration)needs to be visible in order to interpret a test result. A positivetest is a purple band in the control and test areas. A negativetest result is a purple band in just the control area. An invalidtest result is a result without a band in the control region.

-�� &�:��(In a paper entitled: “Evaluation of Prostate-Specific An-

tigen Membrane Tests for the Forensic Identification of Semen”(J. For. Sci. 44, 1057-1060, 1999), Hochmeister and his collabo-rators described the results of their evaluation of this product.The samples they used were semen stains stored at room tem-perature for up to 30 years, post-coital vaginal swabs, “maleand female body fluids” and previously analyzed casework

semen samples (spermic and aspermic). They did not obtainpositive reactions from any body fluid samples obtained fromwomen. Semen stains stored up to 30 years still produced apositive test for p30 with this test. They also determined that asemen sample which had been diluted 1:1,000,000 could elicita positive result for p30. With the exception of a liquid urinesample from male volunteers (applied directly to the test de-vice), the only positive reaction that they observed was fromsemen samples. They did obtain false negative reactions fromvery concentrated semen samples and attributed this to the“high dose effect”. These samples tested positive when theywere diluted 1:100 or 1:1000.

The Northern Illinois Police Crime Laboratory also un-dertook a validation of the ABA card p30 test. This study wasentitled: “The Validation of the OneStep ABA Card PSA (p30)Test for the Forensic Identification of Semen” and was presentedat the 9th International Symposium on Human Identification.They determined that a spermic semen sample diluted 1:1000could produce a positive reaction and a 1:100,000 dilution ofan aspermic semen sample could produce a positive reaction.They found that although the ABA card p30 test was more sen-sitive than a p30 test by the crossover method, it was less sen-sitive (for a spermic sample) than a microscopic examinationfor sperm. They noted that their acid phosphatase (AP) resultsfrequently correlated with the results they obtained with theABA card p30 test.

Finally, an evaluation performed by the Texas Depart-ment of Public Safety, entitled: “Analysis of the ABA cardOneStep PSA Test For Use in the Forensic Laboratory” detailsits findings on this test using diluted semen, body fluids otherthan semen, washed semen stains and semen stains extractedwith a variety of buffers (from pH 4 to pH 10) and with glyc-erol. They were able to detect the presence of semen dilutedmore than 1:800,000 using the ABA card p30 Test. Vaginalswabs, blood and urine all produced negative reactions for p30.However, saliva samples produced an “invalid” test result onsome occasions and a false-positive reaction on another occa-sion. A washed semen stain tested negative. A diluted (1:10,000)semen sample still produce a positive test result in a pH 4, pH7 and pH 10 solution. Mixtures of saliva and semen appropri-ately produced positive reactions with the ABA card P30 test.

�� In the present study, we evaluated both the sensitivity

and specificity of the ABA card p30 test using human semensamples, human bloods and human body fluids other than se-men (urine, saliva and semen-free vaginal swabs). Most of thesamples were prepared by saturating a cotton swab with thesample and allowing it to dry. The samples were stored frozenuntil they were extracted with 100 ul of deionized water, placedinto a spin basket and centrifuged to recover a fairly concen-trated body fluid stain extract. For most of the samples in thisstudy, 10ul of this water extract was then added to 290ul ofdeionized water. The final step was to add 200 ul of this di-luted sample to the test device. The test results were recordedat 2 minutes, 5 minutes and 10 minutes after sample addition.A control line was obtained with all of the tests run during thisstudy and all of the test results were interpreted.

6�� : � �Positive test results were obtained on a liquid semen

California Criminalistics Institute, 4949 Broadway, A-104,Sacramento, CA 95820

23

sample diluted 1:10,000. At the 1:100,000 dilution, a negativetest result was obtained. This indicates that the test is rela-tively sensitive.

Tom Keener at the DOJ - Chico laboratory determine thatthe SERI semen standard could be diluted 1:100,000 and stillproduce a strong positive result using the ABA card p30 test.When this sample was diluted 1:1,000,000 a relatively weakpositive result was obtained.

6��All unmixed, semen stains tested in this study produced

positive reactions. Semen samples from 5 different subjects allshowed a positive “T” and “C” band. A weak “T” band wasnoted with some of these concentrated samples. Dilution ofone of these samples produced a stronger “T” band.

Post-coital swabs (all containing semen) showed mixedresults. Positive test results were obtained on swabs with thefollowing indicated post-coital intervals: 30 minutes, 2 hours and24 hours. Negative test results were obtained on post-coital swabs(with semen) showing the following indicated post-coital inter-vals: 24 hours, 48 hours (2 swabs), 72 hours and 105 hours.

All 11 saliva samples (from 4 males and 6 females) testedproduced negative results with this p30 test.

Bloodstains from six different people (1 female, 5 males)produced only the “C” band indicating a valid, negative testfor p30.

Tom Keener at the DOJ-Chico laboratory determined that3 plasma samples (from males) which had been diluted 1:100and one, undiluted plasma sample produced negative resultsfor p30 with the ABA card p30 test.

None of the 11 urine stains (from 4 males and 6 females)that were tested produced a positive reaction with the ABAcard p30 test. This included one “post-ejaculatory” urine stain.However, when Tom Keener tested 4 liquid urine samples (2males, 2 females), the two male samples produced a positivetest reaction while the two female samples produced a nega-tive test reaction.

None of the 6 semen-free, vaginal swabs (from 6 females)that were tested produced a positive reaction for p30.

Of the 6 blank samples (consisting only of deionizedwater) that were tested, one “blank” sample showed a weakpositive test result. This sample was re-tested with anotherp30 test and a negative reaction was obtained. This could meanthat there are card-to-card differences in the same lot. Thisfalse-positive phenomenon was seen again when deionizedwater extracts from 3 fabric “unstained” controls (newly pur-chased/washed fabric) were applied to p30 test cards and werefound to elicit a very weak positive band at the “T” area. Anew set of fabric “unstained” controls were prepared withdeionized water and again produced a set of weak (false) posi-tive reactions. When a portion of this fabric was sent to TomKeener at DOJ-Chico for testing, negative results were obtained.The need for running appropriate negative controls with thistest is apparent.

9��The ABA card p30 test is easy to perform and requires a

minimal amount of equipment (centrifuge, timer and pipettes).This test is also easy to interpret: a purple line at the controltest area and at the test area is a positive result. A valid, nega-tive result is a single purple line at the control area. Theinstructions that are included with the kit warn of a “High Dose

Hook Effect” which may result in a false- negative result if thesemen sample is too concentrated. As in any test relying uponan immunological reaction, if the antigen concentration in thesample is too concentrated, the antigen will saturate the anti-body and prevent the “antibody-antigen-antibody” sandwichfrom forming. This will result in a false- negative reaction. Weobserved two concentrated semen samples that produced aweak positive result. When one of these samples was diluted,the positive result (“T” band) was stronger. If it appears likelythat a stain may be a concentrated semen stain (e.g. produces astrong AP test), it would be a good idea to test the sample us-ing the standard stain extraction protocol and a 1:100 dilutionof this stain extract.

The only body fluid (other than semen) which produceda positive test result with the ABA card p30 test was liquid urinesamples (applied directly to the test device) from males. Noneof the urine stains (including a “post-ejaculatory” urine stain)tested in this study produced a positive test result. Saliva stains,vaginal swabs, and bloodstains all produced negative results.Although none of the bloodstains tested in this study produceda positive test response, it could be anticipated that a bloodsample from a male with prostate cancer could elicit a positiveresponse with this test device.

Positive results were obtained on post-coital swabs (con-taining semen) with a post-coital interval of up to 24 hours.Although one swab with a 24-hour post-coital interval testedpositive for p30 using this test, all of the swabs with post-coitalintervals more than 24 hours were negative. This would notbe the test of choice to use to identify semen from a sample thatwas likely to reflect a long post-coital interval (more than 16hours). This finding is probably not surprising in light of in-formation in the literature (An Evaluation of Gamma-GlutamylTranspeptidase [GGT] and p30 Determinations for the Identi-fication of Semen on Postcoital Vaginal Swabs, JFSCA, Vol. 30,No. 3, pp. 604-614) which indicates that p30 is not usually foundon post-coital swabs taken 16 (or more) hours post-coitus.Spermatozoa are a more stable marker for the identification ofsemen (with sperm) from a swab with a post-coital interval ofmore than 16 hours.

The most problematic results obtained with the ABA cardp30 test were the weak positive results obtained with one“blank” and several “unstained controls”. These samples pro-duced a relatively strong “C” band and a relatively weak “T”band. These “blank/unstained” samples were simultaneouslytested with other body fluid tests with negative results. Therewas no indication of contamination of these samples with anyhuman body fluids. Although pH, temperature and “viscos-ity” can impact test results, all of the samples tested were ex-tracted in deionized water and run at room temperature. It isnot known what caused these particular results. It is impor-tant that negative controls (blanks / “unstained” controls) berun at the time suspected semen stains are being tested for p30with the ABA card p30 test.

Unfortunately the intensity of the bands can not be con-sidered in test interpretation. The manufacturer indicates thatthe intensity of the test band “T” and the control “C” band“should not be compared to each other for OneStep ABAcardp30 Test and no quantitative interpretation should be basedupon differences in the intensity. The appearance of both linesmerely proves the presence of p30.” It appears that based uponthese instructions, an analyst would need to call any test resultshowing both a “C” and “T” band positive for p30. Howeverthe manufacturer of this test also states (in the product insert):


“Even if the test result is positive, careful forensic judgementshould be made in conjunction with other information avail-able from other testing and diagnostic procedures.” Due toreports of positive results from saliva samples (Texas DPS),possible reactions from concentrated male urine samples andweak false-positive reactions from sample that do not containhuman body fluids, this test can not be considered a “stand-alone” test for the identification of human semen. The analystmust have other supporting information from chemical or im-munological or microscopic tests to make a conclusive deter-mination of the presence of semen.

The cost of each test device is approximately $4.00/test.This test can be obtained from Abacus Diagnostics, 6520 PlattAve. #220, West Hills, CA 91307 Phone (818) 716-4735.

�� (��The staffs of the BFS-Chico, BFS-Fresno Laboratory and

the BFS-Riverside Laboratory supplied validation test resultsand many of the samples needed to perform this evaluation.

Advertise your product or service

to over 550 forensic

professionals worldwide!

For information, callFrank Healy

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��

��

��

creator got from his “sources at LVPD” and real or imagined,these impressions were the basis of the show. In LVPD’s defense,some people only hear what they want to hear on certain topics,this may have been a major factor with the creator also.

Let’s look at the context of the show from an entertain-ment standpoint and not in our ivory tower of all things forensicand perfect. 17.3 million viewers watched a show aboutcriminalistics and continue to make it the number one new dramaof the season. An incredible amount of research goes into everystory line and scenario, with experts being consulted on issuesall over the country. It is the most highly researched program onTV. Very popular shows like NYPD Blue and Law and Orderdon’t even mention criminalists or give them a moment on screen,yet I’ll bet most CAC members have enjoyed an episode or twoof each of these top rated shows. Is it real? No. But we all watch.

Perhaps this show can clean up the only reference “MiddleAmerica” has of criminalists which is the OJ Simpson Case.Clearly the interest is there. Be realistic, if they followed John Q.Criminalist around the lab or at a crime scene with a TV camera,the viewer would quickly go make that sandwich or get thatbeer. How would this play out for sweeps week: our heroes goto a crime scene and collect evidence...the promo would be “Nextseason on CSI we will find out where the evidence takes us.”WHO WOULD WATCH THAT? CSI crams weeks/months ofwork into a 48 minute episode. That’s not accurate either butthat’s TV. This isn’t a Frye hearing and the TV lab doesn’t haveto be accredited, so the time cheats are there, and I grant youthey are there whenever a technical occupation is portrayed onTV. Ask any ER doctor if that show is accurate. We are not spe-cial in this respect.

To quote Hugh Miller the author of “What a Corpse Re-vealed”:” If a book (or a TV show in this case) of factual informa-tion is to attract a readership, humdrum elements must be vig-orously trimmed. Most cases handled by Forensic scientists areanything but spectacular, the description of colourless routinehas no power to divert.” The show does speed things up so theaudience can stay focused on the story, they don’t have to sitthrough peer review and data analysis and all the other tediousthings we need to do. This isn’t jury training, It is entertainment.

People want to know what we do and how we do it, butthey also want to be caught up in the mystery. CSI is a mysteryshow with a forensic lens not the other way around. The viewerwants the suspense, intrigue and cool science. Lets face it, themost exciting part of DNA analysis is not the long tedious ex-tractions, instrument runs and data analysis, it is the results.That’s what the audience wants, Forensics intertwined with thestory. I have told the writer’s repeatedly that the criminalists donot interview, if you notice in later episodes our crims are stillasking questions, but our detectives are present and involved.The evolution of more accurate forensics is one of my goals withthe show, but this is a business. There are many people involvedin the making of a television show all who have a tremendousamount of money at stake. My input is a very small part of thewhole scheme.

I think the forensic field should be glad that there is a showon TV that is loved by the layman about criminalists. It is a flashy,fun program with good music and allot of glitz. OK admittedlyI don’t look as good as Marg Helgenburger in my jumpsuit andJohn, you are no Billy Petersen...It is Hollywood. If you wantaccuracy watch a documentary, if you want a fun diversion,watch CSI and remember....That’s Hollywood.

Elizabeth M. Devine

Feedback continued from page 10

25

Spring 2001 CAC Seminar: May 7 – 12, 2001The First CAC Seminar of the New Millenium

Preliminary Information

97th Semi-Annual Seminar, Granlibakken Resort and ConferenceCenter at Lake Tahoe, Tahoe City, CA

Victor Reeve, Seminar Chair, California Criminalistics Institute,Room A-104; 4949 Broadway, Sacramento, CA 95820

(916) 227-3575 • fax: (916) 454-5433 • email: [email protected]

About the Location: In Norwegian, Granlibakken means “a hill sheltered by fir trees.” This resort andconference center combines breathtaking surroundings and rustic lodging to create a unique atmosphereof inspiration and relaxation that will certainly enhance the Spring 2001 CAC Seminar. The appeal of thislocation attracted ski enthusiasts dating back to the 1920’s. The Olympic tryouts were held there in 1932and Junior Olympics in 1952. University of California Alumni built the original main lodge in 1958. In 1989and 1995, new conference facilities and an executive lodge were completed.

Daily conference center package rates include one night’s lodging, full breakfast, lunch and dinner plususe of meeting and recreational facilities. Recreational opportunities (depending on season) include: river-rafting, lake cruises, golf, mountain biking, skiing, ice-skating, hiking, tennis, swimming, horseback riding, apar course, etc.

Workshops: Microscopy of Rape Workshop (3 Days: Monday – Wednesday, May 7 – 9th)Adobe PhotoShop® Workshop (2 Days: Monday – Tuesday, May 7 – 8th)Fluorescein Workshop (1 Day, Monday, May 7th)GHB and Related Compds Workshop (6 Hours, Monday, May 7th)Donner Party Archeology Workshop (6 Hours, Tuesday, May 8th)

Computer Based Training –Bloodborne Pathogens Workshop (4 Hours, Wednesday, May 9th)DNA Workshop (1 Day, Wednesday, May 9th)Courtroom Testimony (4 Hours, Wednesday, May 9th)Footwear Impression Evidence Forum (2 Hours, Wednesday, May 9th)

Meeting Theme: Learning Opportunities for Forensic Scientists in the 21st Century

Technical Presentations and Poster Session: Abstracts for presentations and posters arecurrently being accepted. Topics already offered for potential inclusion into the technical program or postersession include:

The Evidential Portable Alcohol System (EPAS) • Analytical Profiling of Clandestinely Manufac-tured Methamphetamine • New Features Available through the CCI Virtual Library and ItsSherlock Search System • Twin Firing Pin Impressions • SEM vs. Light Microscopy • ElementalAnalyses • Clandestine Synthesis Utilizing 1-Phenyl-2-Nitropropene • An Interesting CrimeScene That Required Blood Spatter Pattern Interpretation

Additional Meeting Features: Keynote Speakers to Address Meeting Theme • Banquet • VendorDisplays and Introductions • CAC Board Meeting •New Members’ Orientation • CAC Business Meeting • ABC Examinations


Glendale 2000

27

The 96th semi-annual CAC semi-nar was held in Glendalethis October, and proved tobe a feast for the eyes andears (and noses?) Althoughthe majority of the eventwas located at the GlendaleHilton, Cal State LA playedhost to a key workshop.

The CAC board of di-rectors met prior to the gen-eral meeting, President LisaBrewer leading the waywhile Editorial SecretaryNancy McCombs and Re-gional Director North AnnieMurphy listen with rapt at-tention (top right).

Weighty topics werepondered by Past PresidentHiram Evans and TreasurerMichelle Fox (below right).

The opening ceremo-nies were begun with re-marks from James Kelly,dean of the school of Healthand Human Services, CalState LA. After a welcomefrom Seminar co-Chair, TonyLonghetti (with PennieLaferty, near left), each of thevendors and exhibitors in-troduced themselves, in-cluding Dick Rogers ofEviPaq, a regular supporterof our seminars (far left).Former DOJ criminalist andcurrent ThermoQuest salesrep Duane Mauzey was ob-served chatting with formerL.A. Coroner ThomasNoguchi during one of thegenerous breaks (middle left).

All photos by Calico Press, LLC


oThere’s little doubt about which workshop be-

came the most talked about (and joked about) at the96th semiannual seminar: Forensic Entomology was thedeceptively sedate sounding title. Bugs. But the work-shop, taught by Dr. M. Lee Goff, of Hawaii, was byfar the winner of the most unusual, if not the mostpungent category.

CAC Past President HiramEvans had the dubious honor of pro-curing the hog carcass whichweighed approximately 135 pounds,and letting it sit staked to the groundin his rural backyard. He reports thathe got some strange looks fromneighbors as he allowed the hog to“ripen” and attract insects over thecourse of the next few days. Theweather at his high altitude homewas particularly cold, even to thepoint of snow, but wasn’t so cold asto deter a bear from clawing the car-cass at least once, he says. By the endof the workshop, students were ableto collect and identify not only sev-

eral species ofinsect, butalso correctlyidentify thestage of de-v e l o p m e n tthe insect wasin. This skillwould be use-ful in gaininga d d i t i o n a lclues aboutthe time ofdeath.

oHog Wild

29

All photos by Calico Press, LLC

Hiram Evans and Marty Fink hoist the hog carcass (in a body bag) from the back of a pickup on to awheelbarrow (top, middle left). Dr. M. Lee Goff demonstrates the succession of insect sorms present on de-caying flesh as a few workshop attendees hold their noses.


��

it’s just about us

31

Contemporary Russian7.62x39mm Ammunition

Lucien C. Haag

ABSTRACT

Substantial quantities of ammunition in 7.62x39mm have been,and continue to be, imported into the United States from a number ofcountries due to the large number of firearms chambered in this cali-ber. Some novel design and construction features have taken place overthe last few years among former Soviet-Russian manufactures of mili-tary ammunition. Careful examination and disassembly of cartridgesin 7.62x39mm imported into the U. S. during this period has revealedfeatures that set them apart from all other sources of ammunition inthis caliber and even distinguish the factory or origin in the presentday Russian Republic.

The recognition of these features by the laboratory examinerstands to provide useful information to both the laboratory and inves-tigators confronted with crimes involving such ammunition.

KEYWORDS: Russian ammunition, 7.62mm bullets,7.62x39mm, M43, AK47, SKS, hunting bullets, steel jacketedhollow point bullets, plastic base plug, polyethylene, Barnaul,Tula, Ulyanovsk

INTRODUCTION - HISTORICAL INFORMATION

The 7.62x39mm Russian cartridge (properly called theM43 but commonly referred to as the AK47 cartridge) wasadopted by the Soviet Union shortly after the World War II.The first production rifle chambered for this new cartridge wasthe semi-automatic SKS45 carbine. This rifle was quickly su-perseded by the selective fire AK47. Other so-called East Blockcountries allied with- or armed by the Soviet Union adoptedthe same or similar rifles chambered for the M43 cartridge.Communist China and a number of Arabic countries also pro-duced military guns in this caliber. The cartridge is now manu-factured in a number of countries including the United States.

Large numbers of obsolete, surplus SKS carbines wereimported into the U.S. from Communist China, Russia and anumber of former Communist block countries. Their low cost,robust nature, modest recoil and generally acceptable accuracymade them very popular with recreational shooters. Semi-au-tomatic clones of the AK47 were also made for importation bythese same countries. The relative low cost of foreign-made7.62x39mm ammunition coupled with the desire by many toown a piece of the “Evil Empire” has resulted in large numbersof semi-automatic rifles and carbines being imported and soldin the U.S. It should come as no surprise that some members ofthe criminal element in American society have also made theseguns a popular choice.

DESIGN FEATURES AND BALLISTIC PROPERTIES

The M43 round is considerably less powerful than thestandard battle cartridges of World War II. It is a cartridge of

intermediate size and power- more powerful than the 30 M1Carbine cartridge but less powerful than the .30-30 Winchestercartridge developed near the end of the 19th Century. The stan-dard bullet weight for the M43 cartridge was slightly less than8 grams (122 gr.) Muzzle velocities for this bullet fired fromSKS carbines and AK47 assault rifles are typically 2300 f/s to2400 f/s ( 720 m/s). Although described as 30 caliber bullets,they typically measure .310 in. to .311 in. (7.87mm-7.90mm) indiameter rather than .308 inches. This is in keeping with groovediameters of Soviet 7.62mm rifles.

The overall length of the M43 bullet is about 1.045 in.(26.5mm). The center of gravity for the M43 Soviet ball roundis about 9mm forward of its base. The G1 ballistic coefficient forthis bullet is approximately 0.30.

In accordance with the military practices of virtually allcountries in the 1940s and thereafter, the Soviet M43 bullet wasof full metal jacketed design and possessed a spitzer point. Amild steel core (rather than a lead core) was employed in theM43 service round. This core is about 0.775 inches (19.7 mm) inlength and 0.226 in. (5.74 mm) in diameter with a flat point andis both centered and secured inside the mild steel bullet jacketby means of a lead sheath of about 0.020 in. (0.5 mm) thickness.This core weighs about 55 gr. (3.57g).

This hard, non-deforming bullet is one of the most bal-listically stable rifle bullets in existence and as a consequence,it often produces entrance and exit wounds in gunshot victimsthat look more like wounds from full metal jacketed pistol bul-lets than so-called high velocity wounds. This ballistic stabilityincreases the likelihood of surviving a gunshot wound fromone of these bullets as compared to a soft point .30 M1 Carbinebullet, a .30-30 Winchester bullet or even a hollow point pistolbullet fired into the same area of the torso. This is not necessar-ily undesirable from a military standpoint since the woundingof ones adversary rather than the outright killing of him willtie up more of the enemy due to the need to treat and removethe wounded soldier from the battlefield.

Much, if not all, of the Soviet service ammunition pos-sesses a clear red lacquer sealant at the junction of the bulletand the cartridge case mouth. Vestiges of this lacquer oftensurvives the discharge process and can be seen in the grooveimpressions of recovered bullets. Most other sources of mili-tary 7.62x39mm ball ammunition do not possess this lacquersealant.

POLITICAL-LEGISLATIVE EVENTS

The anti-firearms ownership political climate that arosein the U.S. following several tragic multiple shootings by de-ranged gunmen took a number of irrational and emotionalcourses during the last decade and a half. Most imported7.62x39mm ammunition was built around the Soviet model andpossessed bullets with steel cores. This ammunition wasdeemed armor-piercing ammunition by certain American poli-ticians and policy makers. That this is untrue did not dissuadethe federal government and BATF from banning the importa-tion, sale or transfer of such ammunition in 1987. Ironically,this resulted in specific design changes in Russian-made7.62x39mm ammunition which produced more lethal (but le-gally importable) ammunition. This ammunition is the primarysubject of this paper.

MANUFACTURING CHANGES

Following the collapse of the Soviet political system, the

Forensic Science Services, Inc., P.O. Box 5347, Carefree, AZ 85377

This paper was presented at the Spring 2000 combined meeting of theCalifornia Association of Criminalists and the British Forensic Sci-ence Society held in Napa, California, May 2000.


desire to obtain hard currency and the import ban on steel corebullets, Russian ammunition manufacturers replaced the steelcore with lead so their products could once again be importedand sold to the substantial shooting fraternity in the U.S. Boththe surplus military ammunition (with the steel cores) and theredesigned ammunition was significantly cheaper than ammu-nition manufactured in the U.S. so there was a ready marketfor the imported Russian ammunition.

The early version of the new Russian bullet simply in-volved replacing the entire interior of the same mild steel bul-let jacket with lead. This produced bullets weighing 140 gr. ± 2gr. rather than 122 gr. bullets. The jackets of these bullets weigh33 gr. and the lead cores weigh 107 gr. The external shape anddimensions of the bullet remained the same as the M43 ballround although the faint impressed cannelure found in the mili-tary bullets was missing in the 140 gr. projectiles. The authorobtained a number of these redesigned FMJ-BT bullets as re-loading components.

It is unclear if any of these bullets were ever loaded inRussian 7.62x39mm cartridges and imported into the U.S. buttheir outstanding characteristic is that they are much heavierthan the standard M43 bullet or any of the subsequent replace-ments. The greater weight is, of course, due to the greater den-sity of lead compared to steel. It should also be noted that themuzzle velocity of these bullets stands to be lower than thelighter 122 gr. bullets if the peak pressures are to be kept withinthe normal limits of approximately 38,000 psi (2775 kg/cm2) .Tests in FSSI’s 7.62x39mm pressure/velocity system revealedthat the loading of these 140 gr. bullets with the same powdercharge as for the standard service load used in the standard122 gr. M43 bullet produced an average peak pressure of 52,000psi (3800 kg/cm2) and velocities on the order of 2400 f/s (732m/s). Pierced primers (due to excessive pressure) also occurredwhen these over-weight bullets were loaded with the samecharge of powder as for the lighter 122 gr. bullets. Some lim-ited testing indicated that muzzle velocities on the order of 2100to 2200 f/s (ca. 650 m/s) would be produced by cartridgesloaded within normal peak pressure limits.

This modification (the complete replacement of the steelcore and centering sheath with lead) would logically simplifymanufacturing procedures and cost of production but the over-weight nature of these bullets must have caused the Russianmanufacturers some concern because in the early 1990s a newbullet appeared in imported Russian 7.62x39mm ammunition.

RUSSIAN “HUNTING” AMMUNITION AND BULLETS

In the mid-90s 20-round boxes of Russian 7.62x39mmammunition appeared labeled “for Hunting Purposes.”

When these cartridges first appeared in gun stores, theheadstamps were typical Russian military (arsenal code at 12o’clock and year at 6 o’clock). More recently they have had sym-bols and English lettering such as TCW (Tula Cartridge Works)and “WOLF” after the American importer of 7.62x39mm car-tridges manufacturer at the Tula factory.

The hollow point “hunting” bullets were constructed withthe same mild steel jacket with a gilding metal wash, nose pro-file and open boat tail base. It was clear that the Russians hadsimply cut off the tip of their military bullet. There was alsosome semantic confusion on their part because some of the earlycartridge boxes included the word “ball” which denotes a mili-tary style full metal jacketed bullet. An example of this is shownin one of the photo-illustrations appended to this article.

The weight of these bullets was back to 122 to 123 gr. (7.9- 8.0 g). This was achieved in a most novel way. Lead core ma-terial weighing approximately 88 gr. (5.7 g) had been insertedinto the mild steel jacket followed by a plug of translucent poly-ethylene plastic weighing approximately 1.5 gr. (0.1 g). Thisplug can be seen at the open base of these bullets. Because of itstranslucent nature and the underlying lead core material, itlooks like lead but closer inspection under the stereomicroscopeand/or probing it with a needle will quickly reveal the plasticnature of this material.

To date (September 2000) this design is uniquely Rus-sian and therefore of special forensic value.

The exterior ballistic performance of these bullets appearsnormal out to considerable distances based on multiple firingsand trackings with Doppler radar carried out at the U.S. ArmyProving Grounds in Yuma, Arizona. Table 1 provides a highlyabbreviated printout of a Weibel Doppler radar track of an M43bullet fired at a departure angle of +5o from an SKS carbine.The twenty-two rows of data out of the 1024 actually recordedshould provide the reader some idea of the wealth of informa-tion available with this technology. A shot fired from the samecarbine and at the same +50 departure angle with a round ofthe TCW (Tula Cartridge Works) 122 gr. JHP-BT bullet gave thefollowing results:

Muzzle velocity of 2411 f/s (734 m/s)2057 f/s (627 m/s) at 100 meters1770 f/s (540 m/s) at 200 meters1294 f/s (394 m/s) at 400 meters539 f/s (164 m/s) at 1869 meters (2044 yds) + ground

impact with an angle of fall of -9.80

Note: the nominal G1 BC for this bullet in the supersonicrange (derived from the Doppler radar data) was calculated tobe 0.28 which is essentially the same as the standard M43 bul-let (0.29).

Somewhat more detailed exterior ballistic data for theTula JHP-BT bullet is given in Table 2.

The terminal ballistic performance of these hollow pointbullets in tissue and tissue simulants is erratic. Because of thesteel jacket and the small hollow point cavity, these bullets of-ten fail to expand. In this situation they act like a full metaljacketed bullet. When they do expand, they frequently frag-ment rather than mushroom like a copper jacketed hollow- orsoft point bullet. When they expand and fragment in a body,the plastic base plug may separate from the base of the jacketand be left in the wound track. It will only be found throughluck or special diligence on the part of the forensic pathologistsince it is totally transparent to x-rays.

The recovery of one of these plastic base plugs means thebullet associated with the injury came from a 7.62x39mm car-tridge, it was of Russian manufacture and made during the1990s.

The packaging of these “hunting” cartridges and othersthat have followed has undergone a number of interestingchanges and refinements during the 1990s and has ultimatelyended up with colorful 20 round boxes from at least four Rus-sian manufacturers- the names of which are derived from thetowns or districts in which they are located. These are the Tulafactory about 50 miles south of Moscow, the Ulyanovsk factoryabout 550 miles east of Moscow and the Klimovsk factory (about25 miles south of Moscow) and the Barnaul factory in South-ern Siberia. The military code numbers for these and otherRussian ammunition plants along with a description of actual

33

bullets disassembled from individual cartridges are given inTable 3. A more complete listing of Soviet and post-Soviet Rus-sian ammunition factories is given in Table 4.

A more recent design change in the Russian “hunting”bullets and full metal jacketed bullets has been discovered whichI shall call New Millennium Russian 7.62x39mm Ammunitionsince it started appearing in January 2000.

The multi-step requirements to assemble the previously-described “hunting” bullets with the lead core and plastic baseplug must have been troubling to the Russians because the newbullets represent a simplification. The author’s first encounterwith one of the new “hunting” bullets was immediately afterNew Year’s Eve-2000 when a Phoenix homicide detectivebrought this writer a pristine 7.62x39 JHP bullet recovered froma person that had been struck and slightly injured shortly aftermidnight by a falling bullet (as determined from the nature ofthe wound, the path of the projectile and absence of any nearbygunshots). The recovered bullet possessed the expected 4-rightrifling characteristics of the SKS/AK series of firearms and ves-tiges of clear red sealant about midway up the bullet and in thegroove impressions. The astute detective had also noticed thatthe hollow point cavity was very deep and not like previousexamples of Russian “hunting” bullets. Simple examination ofthe open base of this bullet under the stereomicroscope alsoshowed a lead core rather than the plastic base plug. These fea-tures were found to be in agreement with some WOLF brandammunition (manufactured by the Tula factory) and recentlypurchased by the author. A lengthwise sectioning of one of theWOLF brand JHP bullets quickly revealed the reason for thedeep hollow point cavity and the exposed lead base. The Rus-sians had redesigned the hollow point “hunting” bullet to elimi-nate the plastic base plug yet keep the bullet weight at 122 gr.(7.9 g). The overall bullet length was also unchanged as wasthe gilding metal coated mild steel jacket, the open, boat tailbase and the ogive shape. The weight had been retained byforming an internal shelf or ledge inside the steel jacket againstwhich an appropriately sized lead core was inserted throughthe open base of the bullet jacket. The weights of this new jacketand core arrangement were 33-34 gr. (2.1 g) for the jacket andabout 89 gr. (5.8g)for the soft lead core. The various features ofthis new bullet and other Russian 7.62x39mm bullets are de-scribed in Table 3 along with the other Novi Russ bullets.

Pressure and velocity values (as measured with theOehler PBL system) were approximately 2400 f/s (732 m/s)and 39,000 psi (2847 kg/cm2) respectively for the WOLF brandammunition in both hollow point and full metal jacketed ver-sions.

The exterior ballistic performance of these bullets withtheir aft center of gravity has yet to be examined by this writer.Doppler radar tracks are planned for December 2000. The readeris advised that a copper jacketed version of the WOLF productline has also been noted in some recent advertising literaturebut yet to be examined by this writer.

Several other Russian entries into the non-military stylebullets appeared in sporting goods stores in the late1990s. Oneof these was a jacketed hollow point with an open flat basewith a rolled heel and manufactured by the factory inUlyanovsk. The jacketing material was mild steel with a gild-ing metal coating. No cannelure or crimp groove was presentnor were the bullets lacquer-sealed at the case mouth. Theheadstamp on these cartridges was “7,62x39 98" with a uniquesymbol denoting the Ulyanovsk factory. This symbol is also

depicted on the blue and white, 20-round cartridge boxes whichdescribe the contents as “hunting cartridges” loaded with 124gr. bullets. Additional details regarding these bullets can befound in Table 3 and the photo-illustrations appended to thisarticle.

The second entry comes from the factory at Barnaul. Thesebullets, loaded in steel cases headstamped “7,62x39 0 98" in-cluding a unique symbol for the Barnaul plant , consisted ofclosed base, jacketed soft point bullets with exposed lead at thetips. The jacketing was, once again, mild steel with a gildingmetal coating, no cannelure but a clear red lacquer sealant atthe case mouth. The closed, flat base was slightly concave. The20-round red, white and blue cartridge boxes describe the con-tents as “Hunting Rifle Cartridges”.

SUMMARY

A number of interesting and presently unique bullet de-signs loaded in 7.62x39mm cartridges are coming out of facto-ries in Russia. These are clearly for export and the design varia-tions are an effort to comply with U.S. import requirements forsmall arms ammunition as well as to simplify earlier efforts tomeet these import requirements.

The unique design features described and illustrated inthis paper should alert the firearms examiner to the forensicvalue of such characteristics in instances where such ammuni-tion is used for criminal purposes.

Photographs of these bullets and the cartridge boxes areappended to this article.

References1. K e Ma Ha aTpoHax Opy (Marks on Cartridges and

Weapons) Y.M. Dildin and A. V. Kokin ISBN-5-7542-0036-6,Expert Criminal-Technical Center, Ministry of Internal Affairs,Russian Republic (MVD Laboratory)

2. Dujanovich, Michael B., “Unusual 7.62x39mm Am-munition” AFTE Jour. 27:1 (Jan. 1995) p. 5-6

3. Maruoka, Richard K. and Michael B. Dujanovich, “Un-usual 7.62x39mm Ammunition Revisited” AFTE Jour. 30:4 (Fall1998) p. 662 (discusses 711 / 94 Russian Hunting ammunitionwith plastic base plug and previous mis-identification of coun-try of origin)

4. Crumley, Ron, “Headstamps of 7.62x39mm Car-tridges”, AFTE Jour. 30:1 (Winter 1998) p. 124 gives the follow-ing codes for Russian ammunition: 3, 17, 38, 60, 188, 270, 304,539, 711, TN3 (should be T 3) Ty a aTpoH 3aBo (Tula PatroniiZavod =Tula Cartridge Factory)

5. Personal communication with Nikolai VictorovichMartinnikov - Ballistics Unit, MVD Laboratory, Moscow


TABLE 1

7.62x39 122 gr. FMJ-BT (M43)YPG* DOPPLER RADAR TRAJECTORY RESULTS

muzzle elevation : +5.00 deg

DATA PT. TIME VEL. VEL. X-DIST Y-HEIGHT Z-OFF. SLANT DIST.ms. m/s. mach m m m m

Muzz 0.0 727.90 2.1204 0.00 0.00 0.000 0.00

50 313.7 551.86 1.6079 197.89 16.87 0.272 198.61

100 618.4 435.30 1.2685 346.84 28.75 0.469 348.03150 923.1 352.66 1.0278 465.82 37.42 0.619 467.32200 1227.9 308.29 0.8986 565.46 43.83 0.738 567.16250 1532.6 285.16 0.8314 655.37 48.74 0.839 657.18300 1837.4 270.08 0.7876 739.86 52.47 0.930 741.72350 2142.1 256.44 0.7481 820.07 55.12 1.011 821.92400 2446.8 244.22 0.7127 896.38 56.75 1.083 898.18450 2751.6 233.20 0.6808 969.20 57.42 1.148 970.90472 2885.7 228.54 0.6674 1000.20 57.41 1.174 1001.85500 3056.3 222.58 0.6502 1038.77 57.16 1.206 1040.35550 3361.1 212.55 0.6213 1105.21 56.03 1.256 1106.63600 3665.8 202.90 0.5935 1168.67 54.05 1.300 1169.92650 3970.5 193.90 0.5677 1229.32 51.27 1.338 1230.39700 4275.3 184.97 0.5421 1287.25 47.72 1.370 1288.14750 4580.0 176.37 0.5176 1342.51 43.45 1.397 1343.21800 4884.8 167.83 0.4933 1395.18 38.49 1.418 1395.71850 5189.5 160.30 0.4719 1445.33 32.89 1.435 1445.71900 5494.2 153.31 0.4522 1493.23 26.67 1.446 1493.47950 5799.0 146.85 0.4342 1539.07 19.82 1.454 1539.20

1000 6103.7 140.85 0.4176 1582.97 12.37 1.457 1583.02

The Table 1 bullet had a muzzle velocity of 727.9 m/s (2388 f/s) and was fired with a departure angle of+5 degrees.

The mean sea level elevation of the gun position was 182 meters (199 ft. MSL). It was tracked out to1602.9 meters where it was traveling 138.19 m/s (453 f/s) after 6.25 seconds of flight and was still 8+meters above the terrain. Its angle of fall at this distance was calculated to be -10.50 .

This bullet became transonic at a disance of 481 meters (526 yards) after 0.966 seconds of flight.

At a distance of 1000 meters (the bold entry in the table) the bullet’s velocity had dropped to 228.5 m/s after 2.886 seconds of flight.

The G1 ballistic coefficient for this bullet based on the first 200 meters of flight was 0.29.

The maximum range for an M43 round fired at a departure angle of +37 degrees was 2747 meters (3004yards) after a 27.3 second flight.

*YPG = Yuma Proving Grounds, Yuma, Arizona

35

TABLE 2

7.62x39 122 gr. JHP-BT (Tula mfg. - plastic base plug)ABBREVIATED EXTERIOR BALLISTIC RESULTS

fromYPG DOPPLER RADAR TRACK #101 12/5/98

muzzle elevation : +5.00 deg

DISTANCE VEL. FLIGHT TIME CALC. G1 B.C.m m/s (f/s) sec

muzzle 710.6 (2331) 0.0000 -100 606.9 (1991) 0.1530 0.257200 520.5 (1708) 0.3318 0.281300 444.0 (1457) 0.5403 0.280400 378.0 (1240) 0.7830 0.264500 330.3 (1084) 1.068 0.258

1000 242.7 (796) 2.858 0.305overall avg. B.C. = 0.285

Gun position 199 ft. MSL, temperature 600F, Relative Humidity 40%, barometric pressue 998.5 mbs

TABLE 3CONTEMPORARY RUSSIAN 7.62x39mm BULLETS

HEADSTAMP- SOURCE BULLET DESCRIPTION PROPELLANTYEAR of MFG.

17 76 Barnaul Machine-Tool 123 gr. FMJ-BT, steel core, tubularFactory 1.05" OABL, red lacquer

3 93 Ulyanovsk Machine-Tool 125 gr. JHP-BT, lead core, flattened ballFactory 1.00" OABL, plastic base plug,

rolled heel, open base

3 94 Ulyanovsk Machine-Tool 124 gr. JHP-BT, lead core, tubularFactory 1.01" OABL, plastic base plug,

heel not rolled, open base

3 96 Ulyanovsk Machine-Tool 124 gr. JHP-BT, lead core, tubularFactory 1.00" OABL, plastic base plug,

rolled heel, open base

711 93 Klimovsk - Moscow Region 125 gr. JHP-BT, lead core, flattened ball1.01" OABL, plastic base plug,rolled heel, open base

711 94 Klimovsk - Moscow Region 121 gr. JHP-BT, lead core, flattened ball1.01" OABL, plastic base plug,rolled heel, open base

7,62x39 Tula Cartridge Factory 123 gr. JHP-BT, lead core, flattened ball ___ (____ ________ _____) 1.02" OABL, deep HP cavity,

very shallow cannelure at 0.33"heel not rolled, lead flush atopen base


TABLE 4

SOVIET AND CONTEMPORARY FACTORY CODESON RUSSIAN SMALL ARMS AMMUNITION

(military pistol and rifle cartridges)

Russian Name - LocationFactory Code3 Ulyanovsk Machine-Tool Factory17 Barnaul Machine-Tool Factory (Southern Siberia)29 Ulyanovsk Machine-Tool Factory38 Youryouzan Mechanical Factory46 Sverdlovsk (Ekaterinburg)60 Frunze (Bishkek)188 Novosibirsk270 Lugansk* (Ukraine)304 Moscow-Kuskovo529 N. Lyalya - Sverdlovsk Region539 Tula Cartridge Factory (So. of Moscow)541 Cheljabinsk543 Kazan545 Orenburg710 Podolsk - Moscow Region711 Klimovsk - Moscow Region904 Lugansk* (Ukraine)911 Lugansk* (Ukraine)

Note: pre-revolution codes for St. Petersburg are 09, 13, 14*The Ukrainian factory at Lugansk has gone out of business according to the author’s contact in Russia.

TABLE 3 (cont’d)CONTEMPORARY RUSSIAN 7.62x39mm BULLETS

HEADSTAMP- SOURCE BULLET DESCRIPTION PROPELLANTYEAR of MFG.

7,62x39 Tula Cartridge Works 122 gr. FMJ-BT, lead core, tubular TCW* 1.05" OABL, red sealant,*inverted heel not rolled, lead flush at

open base

7,62x39 122 gr. JHP-BT, lead core, tubularWOLF* 1.02" OABL, deep HP cavity,*inverted very shallow cannelure at 0.33"

with red sealant, heel not rolled,lead flush at open base

7,62x39 Ulyanovsk Machinery 126 gr. JHP-FB, lead core, tubular98 Plant 0.876" OABL, open base with

recessed lead core

7,62x39 Barnaul Machine Tool 125 gr. JSP-Concave Base, lead core tubular0 98 Plant 0.867" OABL, shallow square-cut

cannelure at 0.16" above base, red sealant

37

Sectioned SovietM43 Ball Round

Steel Core

Lead Sheath

Steel Jacket

First GenerationSectioned “Hunting”BulletSteel Jacket

Plastic Base Plug

Lead Core

Sectioned full metaljacketed bullet and“hunting” bulletmanufactured atTula and importedby “Wolf”ammunition

FMJ-BT

JHP-BT

Second generationsectioned bullet:Closeup view

Lead core

Steel Jacket ledge—>air space

Jacketed hollowpoint bullet fromUlyanovsk (top)jacketed soft pointbullet from Barnaul(bottom)

Oblique base views ofthe H.P. bullet fromUlyanovsk (left) andthe jacketed softpoint bullet fromBarnaul (right)

Representativeheadstampson Russian“hunting”cartridges

1. Soviet style headstamp: 3=Ulyanovsk 94=1994 year of manufacturebullet=123gr JHP-BT with plastic base plug

2. Barnaul 125gr JSP, 1998 manufacture (note symbol at 12 o’clock)3. Ulyanovsk 124gr JHP, 1998 manufacture (note symbol at 4 o’clock)4. “WOLF” Tula 122gr JHP-BT, current (1999-2000) production

Closeup views ofcartridge box endflaps showingfactory logos thatare included in theheadstamps on thecartridges.

Representative cartridge boxesfor Russian ammunitionTop row: Early development of hollow point loadings in7.62x39mm. Note description on the middle box”-HPL.C.B. 123 BALL--” All of these boxes contain 122-123gr.JHP-BT bullets with plastic base plugs. Bottom row: Recent(1999-2000) entries from Ulyanovsk, Barnaul, and Tula.

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Lawyer: “Have you ever made a mis-take?”

Criminalist: “I hope so.”Lawyer: “What?”Criminalist: “The last person who

didn’t make a mistake they crucified!”-Anonymous

As I was approaching the stand thebutton fell off my shirt and I tried to ignore itduring testimony. Later when I told the DDAwhat happened he said, “Oh, I thought thatwas just your style.”

-Jennai Lawson

Attorney: “Is slurring of speech an in-dication of the consumption of alcohol?”

Criminalist: yyyyy....eeee...ssss-Jerry Massetti

Attorney: “From where did you receiveyour degree?”

Criminalist: “UC Santa Barbara”Lawyer: “Oh, the party school. Is that

where you learned to be an expert in alco-hol?”

-As told about a criminalist by PennieLaferty

I was late for court so I ran right in andraised my hand to be sworn in:

Judge: “No, your other right hand.”-Iqbal Sekhon

Before testifying on a DWI case, I in-formed the DDA I might have to leave thewitness stand to use the facilities due to anasty stomach flu. After taking my seat, theDDA informed the judge and jury that I wasexperiencing diarrhea and projectile vomit-ing and might have to leave to throw up(among other unspeakable things.) I wasmortified. I never had a jury more interestedin the possibilities of my demise rather thanin my testimony.

-Raymond Davis

�8�� ;� ,�� &��——————————

A big-city California lawyer went duckhunting in rural Texas. He shot and dropped abird, but it fell into a farmer’s field on the otherside of a fence.

As the lawyer climbed over the fence, theelderly farmer drove up on his tractor and askedhim what he was doing. The lawyer responded,“I shot a duck and it fell into this field, and nowI’m going to retrieve it.”

The old farmer replied, “This is my prop-erty, and you are not coming over here!”

The indignant lawyer said, “I am one of thebest trial attorneys in the U.S. and, if you don’t letme get that duck, I’ll sue you and take everythingyou own!”

The old farmer smiled and said, “Appar-ently, you don’t know how we do things in Texas.We settle small disagreements like this with theTexas Three-Kick Rule.”

The lawyer asked, “What is the Texas Three-Kick Rule?”

The Farmer replied, “Well, first I kick youthree times and then you kick me three times, andwe continue, back and forth, until someone givesup.”

The attorney quickly thought about the pro-posed contest and decided that he could easilytake the old codger. He agreed to abide by thelocal custom.

The old farmer slowly climbed down fromthe tractor and walked up to the big city lawyer.The first kick of his heavy work boot was plantedfirmly between the lawyer’s legs, causing the law-yer to drop to his knees in agonizing pain. Thesecond kick nearly wiped the man’s nose off hisface.

The lawyer was flat on his belly, clutchinghis groin in agony and bleeding profusely froman obvious broken nose, when the farmer’s thirdkick to the kidney nearly caused him to pass out.

The lawyer summoned every bit of his willand remaining energy, managed to slowly get tohis feet and said, “Okay, you old coot! Now, it’smy turn!”

The old farmer said, “No, I give up. You canhave the duck.”

Via the ‘net. (Last one to touch it was BobBlackledge!)

9��(�� (��(Marty Fink says one wins this award by

dying in a spectacularly dumb way. HonorableMention to those proposed for nomination but ruledineligible because the potential nominee lived in spiteof life-threatening foolishness.)

Paul Stiller, 47, hospitalized in AndoverTownship, NJ, and his less seriously injured wifeBonnie. In an effort to relieve boredom, Mr. & Mrs.Stiller were driving around a suburban neighbor-hood at 2:00 in the morning. They lit a quarter-stick of dynamite intending to throw it from thecar to create a bit of excitement. According to Mrs.

Siler, they failed to notice that the car win-dow was closed.

Kerry Bingham of Tacoma, Mr.Bingham and several friends were drinkingwhen one claimed to know a person whohad once bungee-jumped from the TacomaNarrows Bridge. About 4:30 AM, 10 mentrooped along the walkway to the midpointof the bridge where they realized that no onehad brought a bungee rope. Bingham spieda coil of lineman’s cable lying in a construc-tion area and volunteered. The cable wassecured around Bingham’s leg and tied tothe bridge. He fell 40 feet before the wiretightened and cut his foot off at the ankle.Although he survived the icy river,Bingham’s foot was never located. At thehospital, Bingham was quoted “All I can sayis that God was watching out for me. There’sjust no other explanation for it.”

DETROIT, MICHIGAN: In an ill-fatedattempt to retrieve his car keys, a 41-year-old man squeezed headfirst through an 18-inch-wide sewer grate. He became stuck. Itrained. He drowned when the sewer filledto a depth of about 2 feet.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA: a 49-year-oldstockbroker who, according to his wife, “to-tally zoned when he ran” jogged off a 100-foot cliff.

BUXTON, NC: Daniel Jones, 21, ofWoodbridge, VA, was vacationing on theouter banks when he decided to dig an 8-foot-deep hole in the sand. He was sittingin a beach chair at the bottom of the pit whenit collapsed burying him beneath 5 feet ofsand. It took rescue workers using heavyequipment an hour to free him. Jones waspronounced dead on arrival at a hospital.

DAHLONEGA, GA: ROTC cadetNick Berrena, 20, was stabbed to death whenhe challenged fellow cadet, Jeffrey Hoffman,23, to have at him with a bayonet in an ill-conceived attempt to prove to Hoffman thatKevlar body armor affords protection fromknife as well as bullet wounds. (It doesn’t)

AND THE WINNER OF THEDARWIN AWARD FOR 2000:PADERBORN, GERMANY -

Zookeeper Friedrich Riesfeldt was killedwhile attempting to give his constipated el-ephant an olive oil enema. Prior to adminis-tering the enema, the overzealous Riesfeldthad administered 22 doses of animal laxa-tive and had fed the plugged-up pachydermmore than a bushel of berries, figs andprunes. Flabbergasted Paderborn police de-tective Erik Dern gave the following expla-nation of the incident to local reporters: Therelieved beast unloaded on him like a dumptruck full of mud. The sheer force of theelephant’s unexpected defecation knockedMr. Riesfeldt to the ground, where he struckhis head on a rock and lay unconscious asthe elephant continued to evacuate his bow-els on top of him. The-fated Friedrich, 46,suffocated under no less than 200 poundsof poop!

Granlibakken Conference Centerat Lake Tahoe

Co-hosted by the California Criminalistics Institute and the CA DOJ Sacramento Regional Crime LaboratoryFor further information, contact seminar chairperson Victor C. Reeve at

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CALIFORNIAASSOCIATION OF CRIMINALISTS

97th Semi-Annual Seminar

May 7-12, 2001

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