Crime Scene Animations For Use w/ Forensics?

Sleen asks: "How common is it to have access to a forensic animator as part of criminal investigation? Drawing likenesses is cool, but what if the event is complex and involves multiple parties? A witness may have a difficult time communicating the circumstances for a linear dialog description of a crime. An animation of the circumstances may be a better vehicle for information bulletins for the investigation. NASA does a very good job of animating in CAD and so forth all the concepts, and its probably expected when submitting grant proposals. Has this technology trickled into criminal investigation?" with all of the computer use in forensic analysis today, I can't see this being a real help except when trying to explain the circumstances behind a crime to those not familiar with intricacies of criminal-investigation. Might something like this proove better off in the courts as a visual aid for the Jury? Would something like this improve how Crime Scenes are investigated?

Comments

The complications of precise forensic animation

[Marasmus]

My father was a blood spatter analyst for the FDLE (Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement) for some years before becoming the chief forensic investigator for this district's medical examiner's office. I've often tried to help him (since ~1987) try to implement viable visualization tools for crime scenes, courtroom examples, etc. The complications on the technical side are very difficult, but what's most difficult is trying to match the exacting scientific rigor of forensics.

In order to build an accurate animated example, you need a CAD-level rendering engine that will allow you near-perfect specification of distance and relation. Secondly, this rendering engine has to be capable of making 2-D 'snapshots' at different depths on the axis you are intersecting, in order to make a graphical cross-section of the event. This is necessary for all sorts of fun stuff like determining how far an assailant's knife is from the victim at the point when she hits him over the head with a frying pan, etc.. Next, you need isometric 3D-like point of view for mathematically-useful 3D representations. Lastly, you need 1-point, 2-point, and 3-point perspective for the sake of providing clear visuals to the non-mathgeeks in the jury.

Sure, if you're DAMN good with some of the CAD and rendering tools out there, it CAN be done, but the problem is that it can't be done by most, if any, qualified and apt forensic investigators, who need to ensure the scientific accuracy and validity of such renderings.

A number of companies had come to my father and offered tools that were easy-to-use and supposedly mathematically precise. However, these tools ended up being very shoddy walk-through demos at best, and did not allow for any sort of scientifically-reasonable use. Essentially, none of the tools out there were capable of meeting the technical precision required for forensic investication and still be user-friendly enough for a reasonably computer-smart person to build in less than a month's time, just for one scene.

The big boys (FBI, etc) have the money to hire full-time ubergeek engineers to develop engineer-level-accuracy worlds for their displays, but the sort of money and expertise needed just isn't available to the medium-to-large forensic offices (serving 1.5 million people).

I'd love to see such tools, and look forward to playing with them in the future. I had a hell of a lot of fun with AutoCAD and MicroStation all those years ago!

This is already done

[SaxMaster]

The FBI has a unit that already does this. Additionally, a company called Advanced Solutions LLC provides such services. The technology was also used in 1991 to convict Jim Mitchell of killing Artie Mitchell of voluntary manslaughter. (The Mitchell brothers revolutionized the pr0n world by creating the movie Behind the Green Door :-D )