Best Forensic Expert In India (Civil & Criminal Cases)

 

Prof. (Dr.) Bhoopesh Kumar Sharma

Professor, Forensic Science & Dean, Faculty of Applied & Basic Sciences, SGT University Gurugram

Qualifications: Ph.D., M.Sc. (Forensic Science)., M.Sc. Chemistry., PG Cyber Security., PGD Forensic Accounting

Total Years of Work Experience: 19

Email: bhoopesh_fosc@sgtuniversity.org ; sharmabk81@gmail.com

No of Recent Publications: 45

No of Conferences, Seminars & Workshops: 60+

Awards (International/National): 08

 

Dr. Bhoopesh Kumar Sharma, a renowned Forensic Expert, has an experience of over 19 years in Teaching, Research, and Academic Administration in Forensic Science and related areas. He has solved a large number of Civil and Criminal Cases in India and Abroad in respect to forgery, fraud, theft, burglary, crime scene etc. He is currently working as Professor, Department of Forensic Science & Officiating Dean at Faculty of Applied and Basic Sciences at Shree Guru Gobind Singh Tricentenary University, Gurugram (SGT University), Haryana, India. He has also served SGT University as an Associate Director, IQAC and contributed in bringing NAAC A+ grading in its 1^st Cycle. He is a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Forensic Science with PGP in Cyber Security and PG Diploma in Forensic Accounting. Previously, Dr. Bhoopesh has worked as an Associate Professor and Programme Leader, Forensic Science at Amity University Dubai (UAE) for almost 9 years, and at Amity University Uttar Pradesh (Noida, India) for 6 years. He has over 45 research papers published in various peer-reviewed journals of repute and has filed 12 Patents in various areas of Forensic Science and Crime Scene Investigation. Dr. Bhoopesh has supervised more than 350 students for PG/UG dissertations and projects during his last 19+ years of teaching tenure.

 

Teaching Interests

• Crime Scene Investigation
• Forensic Ballistics
• Forensic Chemistry
• Questioned Document Examination
• Forensic Fingerprinting 
• Artificial Intelligence in Forensic Investigations
• Smart Device Forensics

 

Research Interests

• AI in Forensics
• Forensic Ballistics
• Questioned Document Analysis
• Forensic Fingerprinting
• New Technology in Forensic Sciences

 

Application of the Criminologist Mindset and Forensic Science as a Crime Solving Technique

Authored by,

Ishara Archarrie

Criminologist, USA

ishararcharrie1@gmail.com

03/12/2023

Crime and causation, as well as the criminal mind in the 21^st Century, have evolved over time and become more complex in nature; thus, the Criminal Justice System (CJS) faces great challenges when it comes to, for example, policing, criminal investigations, evidence collection, identifying criminals and making the right arrests, prosecution, sentencing, incarceration, reintegration, and crime prevention. All these processes are incumbent upon the initial stages of conducting a thorough and pristine criminal investigation if the CJS is to function optimally, efficiently, and with greater accuracy and success thus negating issues such as tainted evidence, wrongful arrest and incarceration, life or death sentences based on shoddy evidence,  paroling of offenders who are not fully rehabilitated, reducing high costs incurred during these process and the list is endless but most importantly it will maintain the investigative integrity of all agencies within the CJS. 

 

Criminology, Psychology, and Forensic Science have expounded in leaps and bounds, and even though they are independent disciplines, they are co-dependent during the criminal investigation process by lending their unique crime techniques and knowledge to solve crime. First responders, law enforcement officers, detectives, forensic experts, emergency services coroners, and sometimes behavioral analysts/profilers are usually the first to arrive at a crime scene, especially if it concerns serious and violent crimes. Thus, as lead investigators, their actions are crucial to maintaining the sanctity and integrity of the crime scene, cordoning off the crime scene, proper collection of evidence, and so forth as this will ultimately determine the success or failure of a case as it moves through the CJS.  This process very often comes under severe scrutiny and criticism of the courts and society when there have been gross lapses in this initial stage of the investigation, as we have seen in cases such as Madeline McCann (2007), JonBenèt Ramsey (1996), Sushant Singh Rajput (2020), Trayvon Martin (2012), Danial Morgan (1987) and numerous others. 

 

In my observational experience and case study investigations, I have found that some crime scene investigators often lack a multi-disciplinary crime-solving mindset and function with tunnel vision that is, they only operate from within their own discipline or area of expertise, that is one-dimensionally focused. These experts lack the ability to synthesize their academic knowledge of Criminology, Forensic Science, and Psychology, all of which are the foundations of becoming Criminologists, Forensic Experts, Forensic Psychologists, or Behavioral Analyst / Profilers when conducting criminal investigations. Working on a crime scene requires a multi-dimensional mindset, that is, to apply academic knowledge of the afore mentioned fields and experience to an active crime scene. This ability I call, a “Criminologist Mindset”. This is an expert who possesses the ability to apply various fields of knowledge as mentioned above to a crime scene by create mental associations (pictures) of the crime, the crime scene and the possible suspect/s. Creating a film reel in the mind  as you walk through a crime scene documenting everything by using the greatest  tool that is unique to each crime scene investigator which is their mind and its ability to put the crime scene puzzle together as they combine their criminological, forensic, law of evidence and psychology backgrounds thus, setting the stage for an imminent arrest and conviction of the perpetrator/s. 

All law enforcement officers may not be equipped with the same level of knowledge as these experts, but they can be trained to see through the eyes of a Criminologist Mindset however, there may be some officers who may be naturally gifted with this ability and or academically qualified. Although Forensic Science has many new technologies to detect evidential matter the investigative mind cannot be underestimated to solve crimes especially when an area or country may not be well equipped with such technology or knowledgeable experts. Good old “police work” can also be undertaken by Criminologists and Forensic Experts when resources are unavailable thus, the Criminologist Mindset is a valuable crime solving tool. Back to basics inculcates the ability to think outside of the box per se. 

 

Having a Criminological Mindset means being able to navigate a crime scene whilst forming mental associations through synthesizing all academic knowledge and experience, utilizing all five innate senses, methodical thinking, assimilation of observational information at the crime scene, making logical deductions and exclusions when collecting and preserving evidence as per standard operating procedures (SOP), resulting in a successful and legally solid investigation, accurately identifying and apprehension of the suspect/s, and prosecution. As a Criminologist or Forensic Expert, it is essential to have these skill sets or Criminologist Mindset. Academic knowledge by itself therefore has limited value if it cannot be translated into a technique / tool to solve crime.

 

The Criminologist Mindset is a mental operational system (MOS) that reads a crime scene systematically and enhances the investigative process by negating errors and omissions as well as decreases the possibility of tainted evidence during what I call the “contamination phase”. This process will have a ripple effect on the CJS ranging from processing the crime scene, the arrest phase, trial, conviction, and sentencing phase through to the reintegration phase. Criminologists and Forensic Experts should therefore form part of the first responder teams when investigating especially serious and violent crime such as murder, sex crimes, kidnapping & abductions, pornographic crimes, trafficking crimes, serial offender crimes, cash in transit (CIT) crimes, terrorist related crimes and so forth. With this learned technique (Criminologist Mindset) law enforcement will reduce sloppy crime scene investigations, evidence collection, and also leave less room for wrongful arrests, minimize legal technicalities, increase convictions rates, refine the parole system in order to reintegrate genuine parolees, thus, reducing chances of recidivism and ultimately creating safer societies.

 

The Criminologist Mindset views a crime scene holistically and multidimensionally by incorporating Criminology, Psychology and Forensic Scienc into their thought processes thus eliminating tunnel vision because crime is fluid in nature and has a multitude of elements, reasons and possibilities which need to be explored from a Criminological, Forensic and Psychological standpoint in order to solve the crime. Crime scene investigators can hone their investigative skills by adopting a Criminologist Mindset when working on a crime scene.

 

Uses of Mobile Application in Crime Scene Investigation

Generally, crime scene is a place where the crime occurred. Crime scene reporting is an integral part of investigation and reconstruction. An Investigating Officer normally documents the crime scene with the help of photography, recording, sketching, and notes taking. Measurements for the overall crime scene and the documentation for permanent records, trial review, and crime reconstruction will be taken during crime scene sketching. Usually, measurement taking is a tedious task and time consuming as well. It requires much effort and several personals involvement.

Below, I would like to mention that in one of the study, how successfully I have used mobile applications in IoS, and Android to measure the crime scene and the evidences. This was done in a more sophisticated way and was way easier than the traditional measuring tape method. 

The accuracy of smartphone applications for crime scene measurements has not been analyzed widely so far. Previously few works have been done on MobileCSITM by Siamese Systems. In some previous studies researchers have implemented a series of difficulty metrics for the visual appearance of a user interface. Consumer analysis with several mobile apps to assess the quality of the metrics has been performed.

This blog is all about, where we created a mock crime scene to simulate the actual crime scene (please see the figure below). The evidences were well marked for the purpose of identification, and several photographs using close up lenses, and aerial photography were also taken. After which, we have started the measurements. There were three series of measurements taken as:

1. Traditional Measurement Tape Method.

2. Measurements by Android Application ‘Tape MeasureTM’

3. Measurements by Apple application ‘Measure’ 

Simulated Crime Scene

The statistical testing is used to check whether there is a significant difference between the means of samples of different measurements taken i.e., manual Tape Measure and mobile application methods that can be attributed to specific characteristics. Below are some of the images taken during the measurements:

Crime Scene measurement by manual tape method.

Below image shows one of the example of the measurement by Android application:

Crime Scene measurement by mobile application ‘Tape MeasureTM’

Below image shows one of the example of the measurement by IoS application:

Crime Scene measurement by mobile application ‘MeasureTM’

As detailed earlier, that statistical analysis (t-test) was performed to see the accuracy of the applications as shown in the table below:

This is just an example, full article link is given below

Conclusion: Accurate measurements of the evidence on the crime scene is a crucial activity to be done by the investigating officer or on the spot by the forensic experts themselves. This helps to better investigate the crime, create the modus operandi, the corpus delicti and helps to reconstitute the crime. The traditional method is quiet time consuming, required number of officials and have chances to misplace the evidences. After the thorough analysis of both the mobile applications considered i.e. Tape MeasureTM and MeasureTM it was found that both the applications are moreover better than the traditional measuring tape method, however, consideration should be given to select the accurate point of measurements in the application, correct position of the mobile camera, stableness of the mobile camera, and angle of photography selected. 

Truth Serum (Narco-Analysis)

Most of us have heard about the term "Truth Serum," also called "Narco-Analysis," which has become one of the prime methods for crime detection or getting the truth from the suspect. Though there are always questions about the accuracy and admissibility of this test in the court of law, however, despite all controversies, it has become one of the widely used methods along with POLYGRAPGY (Lie Detection) and BRAIN MAPPING to get revealed the truth from the accused or the criminal. 

What is Narco-Analysis?

Generally speaking, it's a kind of psychotherapy performed on a person by administering certain drugs, placing the person in a semi-sleep state. A person can usually lie easily, but in this test the subject's self-consciousness is allowed to sink by intrusion into his nervous system. In such a situation there is an attempt to extract information in the form of hints about the crime as it becomes extremely difficult for the subject to lie under the influence of drugs. This test is therefore a scientific technique for obtaining information from an individual in a natural state of sleep, and a person can not lie using his imagination.

Two most common drugs are used to put narco-analysis into action, and these are sodium amytal, also known as amobarbital or amylobarbition, and sodium pentothal, commonly known as thiopental or thiopentone used by psychiatrist in the controlled conditions on the subject to put him/her in the state of semi-sleep, so he is neither fully conscious nor unconscious, thus loses the ability to manipulate the answers from his consciousness. These drugs work on the principle of inhibiting the brain's process of thinking filtration. The narco-analysis is considered as the combination of hypnosis and narcosis. In a short time, the psychiatrist could gather more details of menial contents. Without large doses of sedative drugs, narco-analysis produces sleep.

Principle: 

The theory behind this is that when we lie, the brain processes our thoughts and chooses what to show and what to unreveal by the subconscious. A person can no longer sift his idea by applying this procedure and is supposed to speak the truth, or so. 

How the test is Conducted?

Narco-analysis test is conducted by 3 grams of Sodium Pentothal dissolved in 3000 ml of distilled water and the solution is intravenously administered along with 10 percent of dextrose over three hours with the aid of a trained anaesthetist. It is a barbiturate (thiopental sodium) that makes the neuronal membrane more permeable to chloride ions, leading to general inhibition, beginning with the cortex and progressing down to the lower brain regions with increasing biological effects to produce an alcohol-like disinhibition with only neural inhibitory effect. Hypnotist, who then has to frame certain leading question and evoke response in a way likely to produce accurate answer in the presence of the investigators, and forensic experts.

In short the person is quite close to unconsciousness, and is 

•Mentally incapable of resistance to questioning  

•Incapable of inventing lies to conceal guilt

•Looses inhibition & becomes talkative

•Depresses CNS,   BP decreased with slow heart rate

•Susceptible to suggestion & reveals repressed feelings/ memories

Requirements in the Narco-room:

Important things involved in the tests are: 

(i) Video recording set-up

(ii) Tape recorder set-up close to the subject

(iii) Narco-serum as mentioned-above

(v) A psychiatrist, hypnotist, anesthetist, a legal authority, and investigator.

(vi) The dose depends upon the suspect’s sex, age, health (physical and mental).

Every test is recorded in a video. How dosage was given to the subject, what questions were posed to him, what was his response, every minute detail is documented while the test is being performed. Entire process is recorded for the purpose to be presented in the court-room unbiasedly.

There are several legal consents to be obtained, guidelines to be followed, and precautions to be taken in the narco-room, which I will discuss in detail further in another post.

Limitations and Legal Implications:

1. The dosage itself is the biggest limitation in certain cases, that can raise a question in the court-room or to the human rights.

2. The subject's consent.

3. Any previous medical history, that may restrain this test.

4. If the person is already on medical treatment of similar drugs.

5. If the person is a drug abuser

6. Hypersensitivity to a particular drug

7. In many countries, it is still considered as a supportive tool in the criminal investigation, and many times is not admissible in the court (Human rights plays vital role here).

8. The success rate is not 100%, many subjects had been able to make false statements.

9. Right to self incrimination.

10. An analysis of a person without his or her consent will certainly undermine his or her individual rights

Conclusion:

As the world is changing rapidly, the pattern of crime is also changing rapidly. It seems to be very difficult in the present environment, where the eligible educated offenders begin to replace the suspect with obsolete investigative methods. In this case, the investigative authorities need to change the procedure according to the social environment and criminal behavior, and this can only be achieved by using analytical methodology in the investigation process. Hence, this can be well achieved by Narco-Analysis in this context. But keeping in mind the legal implications on the test, it is well suited as a collaborative and supportive evidence in the presence of other physical, circumstantial, and testimonial evidences.

Crime Scene Protection

By,

Dr. Bhoopesh Kumar Sharma

Forensic Expert & Associate Professor

Dear Students,

In the last few posts, we have already discussed the introduction to the crime scene, types of the crime scene, and crime scene processing. Now, let us start the first step of crime scene investigation i.e., Crime Scene Protection. It is done to ensure the safety, and integrity of the evidences as well as the crime scene.

Before starting with the protection of the crime scene, we must understand from what we want the crime scene to be protected i.e.; we need to identify the dangers. The common dangers to the crime scene and the evidences are:

1. Human Activity

2. Animal Activity

3. Natural Calamities, etc.

Let me take this with the help of an example:

A dead body of a 35-year-old woman has been found in an open desert area. In this case, we first need to identify the evidences like footwear impressions, blood stains (may or may not be), the weapon of offense (may or may not be), tire marks, dead body, injuries over the body, clothing, belongings, etc.

Do you think everything will remain as such for a more extended period? No. Because there are many dangers. A culprit himself can come to damage the evidences (human activity), there may be certain animals or scavengers (animal activity), or there may be rain, wind, storm, etc. (natural calamities). However, we can not control all the dangers, but as far as possible, we can easily control the human and animal activities as soon as we approach the crime scene. Else, as per the principle of progressive change, we may lose crucial pieces of evidence due to the delay.

General Consideration in Crime Scene Protection:

The very first step is to provide the medical assistance to the individual injured or fighting for the survival. After, that following steps should be followed:

1. Protection should be done to preserve the scene and the evidences.

2. No unauthorized people should be allowed to enter to the crime scene.

3. Unnecessary movement of the physical evidences should be avoided till the complete recording (photography, videography, and sketching) of the crime scene.

4. Barrication should be done at the entrance, exit, or surroundings.

5. Crime scene should never be left unattended. It is always better to position a post guard to note the activity, or to avoid the activity.

6. In case of road accidents, the traffic should be rerouted immediately to avoid the havoc.

7. The fragile evidences and the areas should be covered as soon as possible.

8. Avoid touching anything on crime scene bare-handedly, else we may damage or introduce our own fingerprints, etc.

9. Please, Please, Please avoid smoking, and eating on the crime scene.

10. Not to use the utilities (toilets, etc.) on the crime scene, and YOU KNOW WHY?

11. Do not discuss the crime scene with the bystanders, and other unauthorized people.

12. Please take the note of time of reporting of crime scene, who reported the crime, time of arrival of the protection team and the investigator, weather conditions, etc. These may be very crucial in the later stages of investigation.

Types of Barrication Tapes and Recovery Kits:

a. Yellow barrier tape is used to create an outer perimeter and staging area when determined appropriate.

b. Red barrier tape is used to create an inner perimeter when determined appropriate.

c.   Crime scene evidence markers are used only when:

1. Evidence may be lost, stolen, or damaged prior to the arrival of Forensic Services Division personnel, and

2. Use of the crime scene evidence markers reduces the likelihood that the evidence will be lost, stolen, or damaged, and

3. An inner and outer perimeter is created by the use of red and yellow crime scene barrier tape, or

4.  When directed by a supervisor.

I hope, this brief protection guide will help you to make your detailed notes with examples.

Crime Scene Processing

By,

Dr. Bhoopesh Kumar Sharma

Forensic Expert & Associate Professor

Crime Scene Processing is a complex process involve several steps like securing a crime scene, recording the crime scene, searching for the evidences, collection of the evidences, and cleaning up the crime scene. It takes great attention to detail and nuance to process a crime scene. Appropriate steps must be taken in chronological order to preserve proof. There are several people involved in the crime scene processing:

• Team Leader 
• Photographer and Photographic Log Recorder 
• Sketch Preparer & Notes Taker
• Evidence Recorder/Evidence Recovery Personnel
• Specialists

Team Leader (Investigating Officer)

1. 
   Taking power-ensuring personnel health and on-site security. Ensure that personnel use adequate protective equipment and follow standard guidelines to protect them from any health hazards that may result from blood or other human body fluid.
2. Conduct initial walk-through for purposes of making a preliminary survey, evaluating potential evidence, and preparing a narrative description. 
3. Determine search patterns, and make appropriate assignments for team members. 
4. Designate command post location and ensure exchange of information between search and investigative personnel. 
5. Coordinate with other law enforcement agencies and make sure a cooperative spirit is maintained. 
6. Ensure that sufficient supplies and equipment are available for personnel. 
7. Control access to the scene and designate an individual to log everyone into the scene. 
8. Continuously re-evaluate efficiency of search during entire course of operation. 
9. Release the scene after a final survey and inventory 

Photographer and Photographic Log Recorder

1.     Photograph entire area before it is entered. 

2.     Photograph victims, crowd, and vehicles. 

3.  Photograph entire scene with overall, medium and     close-up coverage, using measurement scale when appropriate.

4. Photograph major evidence items before they are moved; coordinate this effort with Sketch Preparer, Evidence Recorder, and Evidence Recovery Personnel. 

5. Photograph all latent fingerprints and other impression evidence before lifting and casting are accomplished. 

6. Prepare photographic log and photographic sketch. 

Sketch Preparer

1. Prepares the rough and the finished sketches of the crime scene and the evidences
2. Ascertains the direction of each evidence in the sketch
3. Indicate the inter-relationship of all the evidences in the sketch.
4. Diagram immediate area of scene and orient diagram with sketch. 
5. Set forth major items of evidence on sketch. 
6. Designate and label areas to be searched and advise team leader and all other search members of nomenclature for designated areas. 
7. Obtain appropriate assistance for taking measurements and double check measurements. 
8. Ensure necessary administrative information, such as scale disclaimer (not drawn to scale), is recorded on sketch. 

Evidence Recorder/Custodian

1. Have significant evidence photographed before collection. 
2. Describe evidence and its location on appropriate bag or envelope. 
3. Sign and date evidence container/maintain chain of custody. 
4. Appropriately collect and package evidence to maximize evidence integrity. 
5. Maintain evidence log. 
6. Use appropriate protective equipment (gloves) and methods when dealing with potentially infective evidence (blood). 

Specialists

It is sometimes necessary to bring in expert on the crime scene. The field of forensic science is so broad today that variety of evidences may require different specialist to process the evidences.  Typically, specialists are brought in from forensic labs, industry, the academic community, private scientific laboratories, and similar concerns. Specialists should be identified before they are needed in an actual case. A current list should be maintained, if possible. The agency should meet with these individuals to determine the best manner to jointly conduct search planning, operations, and follow-up activity.

The following list provides examples of specialty assistance to be considered 

(it is not meant to be completely inclusive):

·      Anthropologist

·      Blood Pattern Analyst 

·      Bomb Technician 

·      Criminalist

·      Engineer

·      Entomologist

·      Medical Examiner 

·      Odontologist

·      Surveyor

·      Ballistic Expert

Following are the steps in brief to be considered while processing the crime scene:

Preparation

Approach Scene 

Secure and Protect Scene 

Initiate Preliminary Survey 

Evaluate Physical Evidence Possibilities 

Prepare Narrative Description 

Photograph Scene 

Prepare Diagram/Sketch of Scene 

Conduct Detailed Search/Record and Collect Physical Evidence 

Conduct Final Survey 

Release Crime Scene