Shoe Printing

1. Shoe Printing Abigail Gooch Mr. Kimble Period 2 Forensics

2. Basic Facts Evidence Pictures Lifting Prints Example

3. Basic Facts Back • can be used in legal events to help find the people at the crime scene • Footwear evidence is very helpful and sometimes tells more than finger print evidence • Investigators usually first look for the shoe brand • Information about the owner can be developed from the depth in the • each sole of a shoe has a unique characteristic • First recorded evidence from shoe prints was in 1776

4. Evidence Back • A shoe print can lead evidence leading to… • The person’s weight • The person’s height • How old the shoe is • How long ago the crime happened • How the person walked • Their foot structure • What size foot they had

5. Lifting a Print Back • A foot wear impression is three dimensional • The crime scene investigators might make a casting of the print • If a print is found in mud, he/she will photograph it before taking a cast • To make a cast, you take the cast material and combine it with water in a “Ziploc” back and knead it until it is like pancake batter • They then pour it into the print making sure there are no bubbles • The cast then has to sit for thirty minutes to harden

6. Pictures Back

7. Bibliography Exampleaccording to http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/feb/13/shoe-print-murder-scene-similar-victims-daughters • Several shoe prints from the scene where Jennifer Jackson was found stabbed to death in 2005 are similar or consistent with tennis shoes owned by her daughter, a TBI expert testified this morning. • Linda Littlejohn, however, said her testing was limited by the general nature of the crime scene photographs and said she could not declare any prints to be an exact match to the shoes of defendant Noura Jackson. • “I’m not saying it was that shoe, but one similar to it,” said Littlejohn, adding that one gelatin-lifted shoe print was a grade better or consistent. “It was consistent in size, shape and design.” • The agent’s testimony came in the fifth day of the first-degree murder trial of Noura Jackson, 21, who faces life in prison if convicted of killing her mother. • Jennifer Jackson, 39, an investment banker, was found stabbed more than 50 times on June 5, 2005, in her bedroom at the Jackson home at 5001 New Haven at Mendenhall. • Noura Jackson told police she came home around 5 o’clock that Sunday morning and found her mother dead. • Littlejohn said she made her conclusions after examining 669 crime scene photos and three shoe prints lifted from the scene with gelatin and adhesive paper. • She said she was given a gray pair of New Balance tennis shoes and two pairs of sandals owned by Noura Jackson. • The TBI agent said ideally photographs should be made with a tripod and controlled lighting with the camera directly above the print and a ruler in the frame for scale. • The photos she had to work with in this case, Littlejohn added, were at assorted angles, did not include a ruler and in many cases the details of the shoe prints were obliterated by the camera flash. • More than 260 pieces of evidence - including photographs, doors, bloody bed sheets and other items - have been presented so far in the trial that is expected to last another week.

8. Bibliography • http://www.ask.com/wiki/Forensic_footwear_evidence • http://science.howstuffworks.com/csi4.htm • http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/if-the-shoe-fits-impression-evidence • http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/feb/13/shoe-print-murder-scene-similar-victims-daughters-/ /