FORENSIC SCIENCE, CLOSE UP: Oakland experts fighting crime, just like on 'CSI'

April 26, 2004







BY FRANK WITSIL
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER




If the TV show "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" were set in Oakland County, here's how it might begin:

At 3:30 a.m. Thursday, an Oakland Township woman in her 30s says two masked men raped her on an Oriental rug in her living room. Forensic specialist Ann Horsman is called to the house.

There is no sign of forced entry. Horsman photographs the scene. Suddenly, she sees something. Or does she?

(Cue theme music.) Forensic specialists -- the unheralded crime fighters in the Oakland County Sheriff's Department -- led curious residents and students through their new, $3-million crime lab Thursday.

Opened in December, the 11,500-square-foot lab at the Municipal Complex in Pontiac is several times larger than the cramped quarters the specialists left at the county jail.

This year, a dozen crime scene investigators will try to solve an estimated 3,000 cases for the Sheriff's Department and 43 other agencies in Oakland County.

Besides Horsman, this episode's cast includes:



Kent Gardner, the lab director.


Barbara Martin, the forensic artist.


Bill Foreman, the fingerprint expert.


John Jacob, the firearms expert.
Every case begins with a crime. The forensic specialists' job is to find evidence, determine what it shows and preserve it so it can be used to prosecute criminals. The evidence -- guns, bullets, hairs, fibers, papers, fragments of glass or wood or plastic -- gets bagged and tagged.

"You need to keep track of the evidence at all times," says Horsman, who returns from the scene with the rug, carefully folded and placed in a paper bag so it can be analyzed later. "The evidence is everything."

She marks the bag with her initials and badge number.

Sometimes, investigators hold drugs for evidence. Another room is full of seizedbags of heroin, envelopes of marijuana, suitcases of cocaine. In this room, a sweet, herbal smell fills the air.

Down the hall, Martin explains how she turns words into pictures. Victims and witnesses describe what they saw. She sketches a face.

"Forensic art helps narrow the search for people," she says.

In another part of the lab, Foreman sits in front of a monitor. A large fingerprint covers the screen. He scans a fingerprint into the Automatic Fingerprint System and tries to find matches in a statewide database. It usually takes about 15 minutes, he says.

Before the county acquired the computer about a decade ago, matches were made only with the human eye. This is the only computer in the county with this kind of capability, and one of only about a dozen in Michigan, Foreman says.

Foreman also demonstrates how the chemical Luminol works.

"It actually is just like what you see on TV," he says. The chemical reacts with blood. "We'll spray it on and you can still see where there is blood."

In the room where firearms are identified, Jacob explains how every gun barrel has unique groves that are imprinted on a bullet. Like fingerprints, these marks can be used to identify which gun fired a bullet.

This room has extra-thick walls: 7 inches of concrete. The ceiling is 5 inches of concrete. Jacob shoots bullets into a tank of water to look at their marks.

"Firearms identification has to do with variables," Jacobs says. "Everything we do in forensic science has to do with comparing an unknown against a known."

There is no DNA analysis in this lab. Evidence that requires DNA testing is sent to the State Police crime labs in Northville.

Gardner says he would like to expand the lab and add DNA testing equipment. It would speed the time it takes to process DNA evidence and possibly catch criminals quicker, he says.

The equipment is expensive: about $120,000, he says.

In this episode, Horsman's crime isn't solved in an hour. "It's not really like you see on TV," she says.

If a physical exam confirms the woman was raped, the forensic specialists probably will comb the rug for clues that would reveal the identity of the men.

Perhaps, they left something behind -- clothing fibers, hairs, DNA.

Stay tuned.




Contact FRANK WITSIL at 248-351-3690 or witsil@freepress.com.
http://www.freep.com/news/locoak/lab26_20040426.htm

I think it's a nice article, Ann. Congrats! Also sounds like perhaps they intend to do a follow up.

Thanks Judy, that will be interesting to see if they do so. I just ID'ed a serial rapist on some fingerprint evidence.

Dang, Ann, that's gotta be rewarding....

How long does it take to get rid of the smile on your face after seeing one of those slimeballs convicted?



Congrats.

Rick.

>>I just ID'ed a serial rapist on some fingerprint evidence.<<

COOL! Gads, I didn't even know we HAD one in the area! Great work, Jordan, er, I mean Ann!

Well, the actual conviction process takes a long time on a major case. Usually a year. Sometimes things happen in court unrelated to my work and they go free. That is sad. But getting the creeps off the street, even if temporarily, is a relief to the populus I am sure.

Did they call you in to present any good forensic evidence against the prosecuter they turned in to the grand jury ? What a mess. I hope that does not derail any of your cases. I sincerely hope they waste all of our tax dollars and try to prosecute him three or four times like they did with Dr. D if he is not convicted the first time.

Wouldn't it wonderful if the convicted rapest had a big red 'R' tattooed on his forehead then turn him loose in a N.O.W. convention. Can you imagine the look of horror on his face when some delicate flower of feminity, like Janet Reno, Hillary Clinton, Bella Abzug locks eyes with him and starts to root in her purse.
Just so the ladies do not become jaded only release on rapest in the morning and one in the afternoon. After all it's more sporting.

Jim

Chuck Wagon,

I believe you are thinking of Carl Marlinga, he is the prosecutor for Macomb County. Ya never know, he might come out innocent on this one. That's for all the attornies to decide, no forensic evidence in that case. I avoid politicains anyway as I would never make a good one myself!

I do know this sad fact: The South Africans now are getting some "new" legislation that if they shoot someone who is attacking them, robbing them, etc, etc, etc, they are guilty until proven innocent. So the victim there will have no justice at all, no matter the evidence. Another way of imposing gun control on the law abiding citizenry. I am so thankful I live in the good ole USA!

Ann, yeah I had them mixed up. Sorry about that. I guess that shows just how much I pay attention to local politics. Between our past Sherrif and our Prosecuter I think we should they should pay a salary refund for the court fees and housing in the pokey. That new building you guys have sounds like a nice place....except that its in Pontiac.