Chapter 10 - Shooting Scene Documentation and Reconstruction

Question 1

What are the three areas of study that make up ballistics?

Answer 1

·internal or interior ballistics
·terminal ballistics
·external or exterior ballistics

Question 2

What are three ways the crime scene technician might verify that a defect is associated to a bullet impact?

Answer 2

·visual inspection
·chemical testing
·evidence of a projectile

Question 3

How effective are angle of impact determinations for bullet holes in solid substrates? How effective are they for bullet defects in human skin?

Answer 3

Solid substrates: fairly accurate

Human skin: +-20°

Question 4

Why is effective documentation of bullet defects so important?

Answer 4

For courtroom testimony and reconstruction.

Question 5

What term applies to the projectile fired from a handgun?

Answer 5

Projectile/bullet

Question 6

True or false. Identification of a firearm to a bullet is accomplished by evaluating the lands and grooves found in the bullet?

Answer 6

True

Question 7

True or false. The deformation of a bullet as it strikes a target at an acute angle may allow the firearms analyst to determine the angle of deflection.

Answer 7

True.

Question 8

True or false. The range determinations offered by the medical examiner are all based on the absence or presence of soot, stippling, and burning in or around the wound.

Answer 8

True.

Question 9

True or false. The wake affect observed in metal and “metal splash” are observations that help the crime scene analyst determine in what sequence bullets were fired.

Answer 9

False, determines directionality

Question 10

True or false. Where each and every bullet defect is located is not of significant interest and bullet holes do not have to be located in the sketch and crime scene mapping data.

Answer 10

False

Question 11

What is an accidental discharge in relation to firearms?

Answer 11

An accidental discharge occurs when a weapon malfunctions and without direct effort of pulling the trigger the weapon causes a cartridge to be fired.

Question 12

What is an unintentional discharge in relation to firearms?

Answer 12

An unintentional discharge occurs when the operator pulls the trigger without the specific intent of doing so at that moment.

Question 13

Define close contact or hard contact in relation to muzzle-to-target range estimation.

Answer 13

The muzzle was in direct contact with the skin or pressed into the skin.

Question 14

Define loose contact in relation to muzzle-to-target range estimation.

Answer 14

The muzzle is in extremely close proximity to the skin, but at the moment of firing, a small Gap is created between the two.

Question 15

Define near contact in relation to muzzle to target range estimation.

Answer 15

The muzzle is generally said to be not more than 5 inches from the skin.

Question 16

Define intermediate range in relation to muscle to Target estimation.

Answer 16

The muzzle is typically between 5 and 40 inches from the target. Intermediate range gunshot wounds are deduced singularly from the presence of stippling around the wound.

Question 17

Define indeterminate range in relation to muzzle to target range estimation.

Answer 17

Indeterminate range means that no conclusion can be drawn on muzzle distance, this is found in situations where there are no markings except for the bullet defect. It does not take into effect for intermediate objects between the muzzle and the target.

Question 18

Primer residues consist primarily of what 3 metals?

Answer 18

·Barium
·Antimony
·Lead

Question 19

What is the angle of impact equation?

Answer 19

·Width ÷ length = N

·The inverse SIN of N is equal top the approximate angle.

Question 20

What is internal ballistics?

Answer 20

The study and examination of the firearm itself; including ejection patterns, gunshot residue deposition no, and other related aspects.

Question 21

What is terminal ballistics?

Answer 21

Terminal ballistics is the consideration of the effect of the bullet on a human target and includes defining the path of the bullet through the victim.

Question 22

What is external ballistics?

Answer 22

External ballistics considers the path and trajectory of the bullet after leaving the barrel of the weapon to its final impact, based primarily on evaluation of bullet defects in the scene.