National Rules Set for Crime Scene Investigations

A special panel convened by the U.S. Department of Justice, including four defenders, has issued national guidelines on the proper way to conduct investigations of crime scenes in general, and a separate set on investigating the scenes of explosions or bombings.

"Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide for Law Enforcement" was issued in January 2000 by the National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the Justice Department, and is available online (pdf file). A preface by Attorney General Janet Reno describes the guide as "one method" of promoting quality crime scene investigation, which is "key to ensure that potential physical evidence is not tainted or destroyed or potential witnesses overlooked."

The Attorney General asked NIJ to develop the crime-scene guidelines after reviewing a powerful 1996 NIJ publication documenting 26 cases where innocent people had been convicted of sex offenses but later exonerated through DNA evidence (Convicted by Juries, Exonerated by Science: Case Studies in the Use of DNA Evidence to Establish Innocence After Trial; available on-line www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/crtpub96.htm.

Defender representatives on the 44-person Technical Working Group advising in the creation of the guidelines included Alaska Assistant Public Defender Galen Paine and New York State Defender Association Vice President Norman Shapiro, as well as private defense lawyers Drew Findling of Atlanta and Hal Arenstein of Cincinnati.

Still in draft form is a detailed curriculum guide for teaching the guidelines to law enforcement investigators, and a companion set of guidelines covering explosion and bombing scenes. The proposed "Guide for Explosion/Bombing Scene Investigation" was developed by a panel containing no defenders, though the draft has been furnished to NLADA for comment.

Both guides follow a similar approach to the elements of crime scene investigation, including sections on ensuring the integrity of the scene, written and visual documentation, victim/witness interviews, contamination control, the collection, preservation, packaging and transporting of evidence, and documenting the completion of all prescribed steps.

The crime scene guidelines state that they are intended for law enforcement and anybody else who has "responsibility for protecting crime scenes, preserving physical evidence, and collecting and submitting the evidence for scientific examination." The bomb scene guidelines state that they should cover the approximately 4,000 explosives incidents reported every year - mostly involving mailboxes, vehicles and homes, and mostly for purposes of either vandalism or revenge.

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