Contemporaneous Documentation
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2007 7:43 am
I was just verifying a case from 1975. We’re not that far backlogged, the case just got a new suspect.
Looking through the case, it seems funny that so many years later the industry is arguing about contemporaneous documentation and how ridiculous it would be. The notes they took back then were more contemporaneous than we’d ever consider today and I’m pretty sure they did this because they wanted too not because it was required.
This is from a section from items processed in 1984.
Looking through the case, it seems funny that so many years later the industry is arguing about contemporaneous documentation and how ridiculous it would be. The notes they took back then were more contemporaneous than we’d ever consider today and I’m pretty sure they did this because they wanted too not because it was required.
This is from a section from items processed in 1984.
Once I mentioned this, one of my coworkers showed me some other old cases and funny contemporaneous comments. These are all real and from cases that got convictions.2-29-84: Ten 9mm Lugar W-W spent casings placed in the Cy tank at 15:15.
3-1-84 Added more Cy. (initials, serial numer, and time)
3-2-84 Powder processed the 10 casings. Was surprised that a couple of ridges did show up. Nothing of value. No lifts were taken. It’s too bad these weren’t processed in 1975.
“I’ll do a comparison to my own prints first since I touched the item.”
“I’m in the trunk.
I’m in the trunk.
Whose prints are these?
I think they’re mine.”
“Whose prints are these?
How would I know with prints like these”
“There’s rice in the car. They must have been to a wedding”
“This is a real fun print to look at. I’m going to wait til Monday”
“Morphologically it’s off but even more that that, I didn’t come up with a single anchor point and there are several”
“In reference to examiner #1’s comments in the last verification notes – “This print won’t be here the next time we go to look for it”….In my opinion it never was there!!!”
“Let me tell you folks, am I ever sorry I said we should look for this. I see some things which really stopped me….I am going to make this ‘no value’ and save all of our eyes.”
Funny Stuff!“really faded but sure its #1 so ‘no value’ it”