Klansman Trial Highlights Tech Use in Case Management

Sitting in on the Klansman Gang trial provides insight into how police cases are managed. Several testimonies reveal the plethora of advanced resources and techniques used in processing a case from start to finish. 

As the trial takes another break with plans to resume Thursday morning at 10, we take a look at how the case has unfolded with evidence and technology. Acting on intelligence police first secure the scene using the signature yellow tape. This gives the police the opportunity to scan the scene for evidence using the 2019 double murder/ arson in fisheries, St. Catherine as reference.

The police witness through, photographs highlighted what was found on the scene. 

The primary crime scene or where the crime took place was identified. Areas related to the crime but not where the crime took place or the secondary crime scene was pointed out. Evidence identified must be secured and collected using specific techniques that may interfere with forensic evidence. In this case, spent shells, the burnt house, the burned bodies, the lighter used to start the fire as well as a bottle was identified. Each piece of evidence is logged into an evidence log and marked with an evidence label.

The label features a chain of custody. Each person that touches the evidence must complete the chain of custody. This is required for the items to be admissible, or acceptable as evidence, in a court of law. At the scene of a crime forensic evidence is taken. This could be biological evidence such as blood or bone. There is also latent evidence. Fingerprints and footprint would fall into this category. In the fisheries case, the police witness told the court that a partial print was found on the bottle at the crime scene, but no matches were found in their database.

Forensic scientists who appeared in court explained in great detail how a match was made to the bodies, comparing DNA swabs from the mother to get the most accurate DNA match. Digital Forensics has also played a role in gathering evidence. One witness who is a cyber-incident response specialist explained how data was accessed from phones using digital forensic software from CTOC. This software can even indicate if and when an application malfunctioned. 

Court is slated to resume on Thursday.