5 Duties of a Crime Scene Reconstructionist

Have you ever wondered how lawyers are able to present in court exactly what happened on a day and time that they were not actually present for? If only the victim and the suspect were present, how can an attorney tell the judge and jury what happened with confidence? The answer is professional crime scene reconstruction! This scientific method blends observation, experience, collected data, and scientific methods to produce a probable explanation for the crime event.

Crime scene reconstruction is, by definition, the “use of scientific methods, physical evidence, deductive and inductive reasoning” to understand the series of events that led to the occurrence of a crime. In layman’s terms, this simply means that it is a process that helps investigators interpret and explore evidence and is used to arrest suspects and prove their guilt in a court of law. 

When conducting a crime scene reconstruction, a reconstructionist do the following:

#1 Conduct an initial, walk-through examination of the crime scene. This may involve taking photographs, logging evidence, as well as getting a general feel of the scene.

#2 Organize an approach to collecting evidence and relay that information to anyone else on the crime scene team.

#3 Formulate a theory of the crime based on the initial walk-through. This involves focusing on everything from blood splatters and fingerprints to tool markings. It may also involve the physical changes of the deceased, especially if this case involves personal injury reconstruction or a medical malpractice claim. 

#4 In the case of a scene resulting in death, they will scrutinize each piece of evidence and compare them to the results of the medical examiner’s autopsy. This will be used to determine whether it supports or refutes the expert’s initial hypothesis

#5 Last, they will reconcile all pieces of evidence that refutes the hypothesis. They may need to reformulate the hypothesis, if newly-found evidence shows this is necessary. 

Crime scene investigators make logical conclusions based on the evidence and on their observation. Therefore, it is paramount that they must remain impartial and objective. Their conclusions cannot be made until all evidence is gathered, analyzed, presented, and understood. Once this is finished, they’ll get to work creating a way to present the evidence that is easy to visually understand. Often, this is done through a 3D forensic animation. For over 17 years, the experts at the Evidence Room have developed both printed strategic exhibits, animations, storyboards, timelines, day in the life videos, legal photography, and video services.

The crime scene reconstruction experts you’re looking for are at The Evidence Room. Our shooting and crime scene reconstruction services are performed by crime scene investigators who make the pieces of the puzzle fit together. The pieces of the puzzle are bits of evidence and the puzzle being the who, what, when, where and why of the crime. There’s no scene too complicated or complex for our professional experts!