Case Study: Crime Investigation of a Death in Las Vegas

2239 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: crime investigation and evidence

The case is taking place in Las Vegas, United States of America. One morning, Tony Braun was found dead by the gardener of the house. The case has an appearance of a complete suicide. The body of Tony Braun is found in the living room in a laying position next to the couches. At the first look, there is no signs of any struggle or any other signs that could suggest murder. Investigators found a Xanax box, a prescription drug that is mainly used for anxiety disorders, laying near the body. There are no pills remaining in the box. However, the sticker on the box is stating that the prescription drug was refilled one day before the case took place. This might suggest consumption of many pills at a time by the suicide victim and also might suggest the cause of death as drug overdose. In addition to consumption of high number of Xanax pills, there is also evidences supporting heroin use. Aluminum foil and residuals of black tar heroin are found in the room. Other than drug box and other drug materials that were found in the crime scene, a back of an earring was also found near the dead body. Knowing that the rooms are vacuumed everyday by the maid, back of the earring must have been left there on the same day Tony was murdered. The earring might even belong to the murderer. There is no bodily fluids present such as urine or signs of vomiting. This might have been done by a second person who was trying to clean up the area and the body. This, therefore, is giving the case a homicide appearance. Crime scene investigators found tape residues on the victim’s wrist. This possibly implies that the victim’s hands were tied up by a tape and the tape was removed after. Investigators searched for any other possible evidences in the other rooms o...

... middle of paper ...

...ven an investigator who was not wearing disposable gloves. The other investigators that wear disposable gloves do not seem to be changing them frequently. Contamination must be avoided since it can destroy or alter an evidence. For example, biological evidences can easily be contaminated.

There are complications present with the time frames in this episode. It takes less than a minute for the scientist to develop the fingerprint from the tape. In reality, this process takes at least 4-5 minutes. This is also applicable for DNA analysis from the swab. In the episode the scientists are able to obtain results from DNA analysis at the same day. But this is not the case in real life for the same analysis. Extraction of DNA from the swab and obtaining isolated DNA takes at least a day. Therefore, it is not possible to obtain the DNA analysis results in a single day.

Show More
Related

  • Criminal Justice Case Study

    983 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ethics is “a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of questions of right and wrong and how we ought to live” (Banks, 2013). Also it involves making moral judgments about what is right and or wrong, good or bad. In the process of everyday life, moral rules are desirable, not because they express absolute truth, but because they are generally reliable guides for normal circumstances. Ethics or moral conduct, are of major importance in the criminal justice field today. If the police force condoned unethical behavior, there would be very little, if any, justice being served. A system of rules and principles helps to guide in making difficult decisions when moral issues arise. Ethics has been shown to be a central component in decisions involving ethical dilemmas. It is “concerned with standards of conduct and with “how I ought to act”, and standards of conduct may vary among different societies” (Banks, 2013). An ethical dilemma arises only when a decision must be made that involves a conflict at the personal, interpersonal, institutional, or societal level or raises issues of moral character. Richard Hare argues that we initially use an intuitive level of moral thinking when we consider ethical dilemma. There are “six steps in analyzing an ethical dilemma and they would be as follow” (NASW, 2014):

    Read More

  • The Casey Anthony Trial: The Trial Of O. J. Simpson

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    Even though the prosecution presented evidence to the court, the only clear-cut hard fact the prosecution had against Anthony was that she failed to file a report for her missing daughter Caylee and that when she finally did a month after her daughter had gone missing, she proceeded to lie profusely to the authorities on the events that took place. The prosecution focused highly on the forensic evidence of decay located in the trunk of Casey Anthony’s car. The use of a cadaver dog to search the vehicle led investigators to be able to determine that a decomposing body had been stored in the trunk of the car. The forensics department used an air sampling procedure on the trunk of Casey Anthony’s car, also indicating that human decomposition and traces of chloroform were in-fact present. Multiple witnesses described what they considered to be an overwhelming odor that came from inside the trunk as it where the prosecution believes Caylee’s decomposing body was stowed. Several items of evidence were ruled out to be the source of the odor, as experts were able to rule out the garbage bag and two chlorine containers located in the trunk as the source. The prosecution alleged that Casey Anthony used chloroform to subdue her daughter and then used duct-tape to seal the nose and mouth of Caylee shut, inevitably causing her to suffocate. Based off the

    Read More

  • Using PCR and Gel Electrophoresis to Determine Genotype

    582 Words  | 2 Pages

    In certain situations, it is necessary to identify DNA retreived from a sample. When there is a

    Read More

  • Seven Mistakes in Suicide Investigations

    2673 Words  | 6 Pages

    When a death occurs suddenly, unexpectedly and from unnatural or unknown causes, a forensic scientist has the duty to gather and analyze evidence to determine whether the victim died from a previously undiagnosed disease or infection or from a homicide, suicide or accident (Lurigio, 2009). When considering suicide as the probable cause of death, we are looking at the act of intentionally killing oneself through one’s own effort or with the assistance of another (Sever, 2009). The resolution of the manner of death by a forensic pathologist as suicide is based on a series of factors which eliminate natural causes of death, homicide and accident (Geberth, 2013, p.55). The cause of death is also determined by the medical examiner in conjunction with the crime scene investigator; however, it can only be determined after a thorough investigation is concluded. Therefore, in the complicated process of doing a death investigation there are several mistakes that should be avoided, which are discussed in Geberth’s article, Seven Mistakes in Suicide Investigation (2013). Mistakes in doing any death investigation affect the integrity of the evidence in determining the cause of death and in its admissibility in court.

    Read More

  • Casey Anthony Court System

    1860 Words  | 4 Pages

    Ever since the start of using courts, the main goal of it was to deliver a fair environment where the accused could defend themselves and show the jurors that he/ she did not commit the crime that they were accused of. Sometimes this system fails us and they sentence an innocent man to jail for something they didn’t commit. The activity that I observed in the field of criminal justice was I went to the boulder court house and watched one of the cases that’s was happening that day. As I sat there watching I saw the defendant’s lawyer trying to convince the jurors that his client was innocent, I thought to myself: how can we improve the court room. Sometimes we see some cases where the criminal can be let go because of not a lot of evidence like Casey Anthony. We also might see that the case might be unfair to person being convicted of a crime that they didn’t do. An example of this is the jurors have some past experience with a person of that race and they don’t like them or they already come with a decision before they even hear the evidence found. We might also see a case where the jurors decide that the accuser is innocent even though there’s evidence that proves otherwise. The main point is how we can make

    Read More

  • CSI Effect

    1118 Words  | 3 Pages

    Another discrepancy between actual forensics and how it is portrayed in the media is the availability of information in databases. There is only a small percentage of the entire population’s fingerprints or DNA samples stored within databases such as the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). This makes finding a match between a DNA sample or fingerprint difficult, as a match would only be found if the person’s information was already stored within the database. If there is no match previously stored in a database, the fingerprint or DNA sample could be potentially rendered useless within a trial. Typically, in order to perform an analysis, investigators must already have a suspect in mind and request a DNA or fingerprint sample from him or her. If the suspect does not want to provide one however, the sample collected as evidence may not count as valid. The CSI effect creates an idealized image that all crimes can be solved with a hair or drop of blood, but this is not always the case in real life.

    Read More

  • Wrongful Death Case Study

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    Have you lost a loved one due to the negligent or willful actions of another? South Carolina has a cause of action for wrongful death under Code § 15-51-10. This statute allows a wrongful death claim to proceed where a person’s death was “caused by the wrongful act, neglect or default of another,” and the deceased person would have been entitled to recover damages from the wrongdoer if he or she had survived.

    Read More

  • Serial Killers and Criminal Justice

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most of the time people cannot comprehend why people that work in the forensic department are sometimes overwrought with anxiety when they have a serial killer case brought into their lab. These forensic scientists have these feelings due to knowing that this could potentially help advance technology. Over the years, serial killers have unpremeditatedly helped further advance the criminal investigation process by unintentionally leaving things behind for a forensics team to analyze. When the team finally solves these cases, it continually propels things such as DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) analysis, finger print techniques, and not to mention the investigation process itself.

    Read More

  • Forensic Toxicology Essay

    1530 Words  | 4 Pages

    The term forensic toxicology is defined as examination of all aspects of toxicity that may have legal implications (James & Nordby, 2009 p. 61). In the past, poisoning was one of the most popular forms of murder. There are countless natural substances in the world that when ingested into the body in high doses, can become lethal to the human body. What made this form of murder so famous is that most poisons mimic common medical diseases, leading physicians to believe a victim died of natural causes (Ramsland, n.d.). Aside from murder, this forensic discipline is also essential for determining accidental deaths and suicides.

    Read More

  • Crime Case Study

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are multiple crime television shows that are based on a true story or fiction. A well known television show is Law and Order Special Victims Unit, which deals with rape and assault cases. This particular episode deals with a domestic violence case between a retired football star, AJ Martin, and his girlfriend, Paula Bryant. I will be using the National Crime Victimization Survey, which is an interview with the members in a household about reported and unreported crime that occurred within the last six months. “NVCS provides information of characteristics of victims, including age, race, ethnicity, gender, marital status and household income” (Truman and Morgan). Official statistics like the NCVS would be used for comparing its demographics

    Read More

  • Why Is M-Vac Important

    207 Words  | 1 Pages

    M-Vac is a valuable tool to forensic investigators as it can dramatically improve the chance of generating a DNA profile. This makes it particularly relevant and valuable to forensic scientist. While there are already promising research studies conducted on this technology, further research on M-Vac is necessary to demonstrate its effectiveness as well as make it more popularized in society. While researchers are already beginning to move towards the M-Vac ways of conducting investigations, it is necessary that more research be conducted on this product to ensure that investigators know that this product is available to them and effective. Also, developing innovative research on this tool

    Read More

  • Crime Scene Investigation

    933 Words  | 2 Pages

    Crime Scene Investigation For my assignment, I will be looking into the case of James Bulger, aged 2 years old, who was kidnapped and murdered by John Venables and Robert Thompson on February 12th 1993. Through evidence found at the crime scene and testimonial statements, the police saw that the two boys, ages 11, abducted James from Bootle Strand Shopping Center, Liverpool. They took him on a long, aimless walk where they brutally attacked him and left him for dead. In my assignment I will show how work done by the police, forensic scientists and Investigators helped to convict Jon and Robert.

    Read More

  • Essay On Medical Asepsis

    967 Words  | 2 Pages

    (2014) shed light on two key components for infection control, which includes protecting patients from acquiring infections and protecting health care workers from becoming infected (Curchoe et al., 2014). The techniques that are used to protect patients also provide protection for nurses and other health care workers alike. In order to prevent the spread of infections, it is important for health care workers to be meticulous and attentive when providing care to already vulnerable patients (Curchoe et al., 2014). If a health care worker is aware they may contaminate the surroundings of a patient, they must properly clean, disinfect, and sterilize any contaminated objects in order to reduce or eliminate microorganisms (Curchoe et al., 2014). It is also ideal to change gloves after contact with contaminated secretions and before leaving a patient’s room (Curchoe, 2014). Research suggests that due to standard precaution, gloves must be worn as a single-use item for each invasive procedure, contact with sterile sites, and non-intact skin or mucous membranes (Curchoe et al., 2014). Hence, it is critical that health care workers change gloves during any activity that has been assessed as carrying a risk of exposure to body substances, secretions, excretions, and blood (Curchoe et al.,

    Read More

  • Child Murder Case Study

    1160 Words  | 3 Pages

    The legal system in the United States doesn’t have a lot of gray areas when it comes to murder cases, usually someone’s going to jail at the end of the day. However there are certain cases involving children where the law needs to be viewed with exceptions. Sometimes the laws need to bring new ideas and concepts into consideration that weren’t thought of when the laws were originally written. For instance in most cases when an adult kills another adult, the adult who killed the other person will be convicted and sent to prison. But in the cases of when a young child kills another person the law cannot be too quick to convict them due to many discoveries in the field of childhood development. A young child ages 2-6 is still developing biologically,

    Read More

  • Essay On Forensic Toxicology

    1258 Words  | 3 Pages

    Forensic toxicologists have faced numerous challenges throughout the 1800’s and are still facing some of these challenges today. In Gettler’s and Norris’s time of being head of forensics in New York, they faced problems within toxicology study, and some out of toxicology. One of their main problems was metabolizing a poison and determining the lethal dose.

    Read More

More about Case Study: Crime Investigation of a Death in Las Vegas

Open Document