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Tales From the ‘Tails’ of Bloodstains

Loaded on Feb. 15, 2024 by Douglas Ankney published in Criminal Legal News February, 2024, page 15
Filed under: Commentary/Reviews, junk science, Eyewitness Testimony. Location: United States of America.

by Douglas Ankney

Protrusions that deviate from the boundaries of otherwise elliptical bloodstains—known as “tails”—may provide additional relevant crime-scene evidence, according to James Bird, scientist and co-author of a study appearing in the journal Physics of Fluids.

A group of scientists from Boston University and University of Utah demonstrated that tail length can generate information regarding “the size, impact speed, and impact angle” of the droplet that formed the stain. By measuring several stains in a bloodstain pattern, “the trajectories of the drops can be backtracked to their presumed origin.”

Previous studies focused primarily on large blood drops falling vertically on either flat or inclined surfaces where gravity may either obscure or reshape tails. But this new study “involved a series of high-speed experiments with human blood droplets with diameters of less than a millimeter impacting horizontal surfaces at various angles.”

Bird said, “[k]nowing the origin of blood stains at a crime scene can help detectives determine whether a victim was standing or sitting, or help corroborate or question a witness’s testimony.”  

 

Source: forensicmag.com

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  1. Geofence Warrants: The Mass Location Surveillance and Privacy Threat Created by Google May Be Eliminated by Its Creator, by Anthony Accurso
  2. Minnesota Supreme Court Announces Odor of Marijuana Alone Emanating From Vehicle Insufficient for Probable Cause to Search Under Automobile Exception, by Anthony Accurso
  3. Michigan Supreme Court: Defendant’s Statements Involuntary and Inadmissible, by Douglas Ankney
  4. Tales From the ‘Tails’ of Bloodstains, by Douglas Ankney
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  13. FBI Works to Expand Court Authority for Its Offensive Cyber Operations, by Anthony Accurso
  14. Third Circuit: Defense Counsel Ineffective Under Strickland Where Counsel Sat Silent After Judge Threatened to Charge Witness With Perjury Unless Testimony Changed, by Douglas Ankney
  15. Study Raises Alarms About Inaccuracies and Bias in Gun Forensics Reporting, by Jo Ellen Nott
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  18. Federal Habeas Corpus: The Savings Clause Remedy for Federal Prisoners, by Dale Chappell
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