Chapter 5: Crime Scene Reconstruction

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms and concepts related to crime scene reconstruction, including techniques, notable individuals, and analysis methods.

Crime Scene Reconstruction

The process of using evidence collected to determine how a crime was committed, including the sequence of events.

Locard's Exchange Principle

The principle stating that the perpetrator of a crime will bring something into the crime scene and leave with something from it.

Bloodstain Pattern Analysis (BPA)

A specialty field that involves the interpretation of bloodstains to recreate the mechanism that produced the pattern.

Accident Reconstruction

The examination and analysis of vehicle accidents, including evaluations of speed, skid marks, and witness statements.

Trajectory Analysis

The study of the path that a projectile follows, used in forensic shooting reconstruction.

Parent Stain

A bloodstain resulting from which a satellite stain originated.

Satellite Stain

A smaller bloodstain that originated during the formation of the parent stain as a result of blood impacting a surface.

Swipe

A bloodstain resulting from the transfer of blood from a blood-bearing surface onto another surface.

Wipe

An altered bloodstain pattern resulting from an object moving through preexisting wet bloodstain.

Cast-off

A bloodstain pattern resulting from blood drops released from an object due to its motion.

Void

An absence of blood in an otherwise continuous bloodstain or bloodstain pattern.

Angle of Impact

The angle at which blood strikes a surface, determined using geometric calculations.