EXAMINATION
OF BLOOD
PART 2
LECTURE 6
PROPERTIES OF BLOOD
INJURIES, DEATH, AND
BLOOD
Dead people do not bleed.
If a body part is struck with an
object the first blow will not
cause blood spatter.
Spatter occurs after the first
blow when the wound begins
to bleed.
PROPERTIES OF BLOOD
1. SURFACE TENSION
It causes the blood drop to pull itself in; both horizontally and
vertically.
It maintains the sphere shape of the blood drop until it impacts the
surface.
Blood will not break up unless it is acted upon by force.
Blood forms a spherical shape almost immediately upon separating
from the blood source.
Blood’s surface tension is 0.058 N/m.
PROPERTIES OF BLOOD
2. VISCOSITY
It is defined as a fluid’s resistance to flow. The SI unit is
Pa-s.
Blood is thicker than water and is vicious primarily due
to cellular components.
Blood’s viscosity is three to four Pa-s.
PROPERTIES OF BLOOD
3. DENSITY
It is defined as mass per unit volume. The density of
water is 1000 kg/m3.
The density of blood is proportional to the total protein
concentration or cellular component of blood. It is
influenced only to a minor extent by other ions, gases,
etc. dissolved in plasma.
A human's average density of whole blood is about 1060
kg/m3.
What does blood spatter tells us?
IMPORTANCE OF BLOOD SPATTER ANALYSIS
1. Type and velocity of use of weapon
2. Number of blows
3. Handedness of assailant
4. Position and movements of victim and assailant during
and after the attack
5. Which wounds were infected first
6. Type of injuries
7. How long ago the crime was committed
8. Whether the death was immediate or delayed
BLOOD DROP
Parent drop: the droplet from which
a satellite spatter originates
Satellite spatters: small drops of
blood that break from the parent
spatter when the blood droplet hits a
surface
spines: The pointed edges of a stain
that radiate out from the spatter; can
help determine the direction from
which the blood traveled.
CATEGORIES OF BLOODSTAINS
CATEGORIES OF BLOODSTAINS
PASSIVE
Drops created or formed by the force of gravity
acting alone
The size, shape, and number of resulting stains will
depend, primarily, on the amount of force utilized to
strike the blood source.
CATEGORIES OF BLOODSTAINS
PASSIVE PATTERNS
Drop Drip
CATEGORIES OF BLOODSTAINS
PASSIVE PATTERNS
Pools Clot
CATEGORIES OF BLOODSTAINS
TRANSFER
It is created when a wet, bloody surface comes in
contact with a secondary surface.
CATEGORIES OF BLOODSTAINS
TYPES OF TRANSFER
Contact Bleeding Swipe/Smear
CATEGORIES OF BLOODSTAINS
TYPES OF TRANSFER
Wipe/Smudge Pool
CATEGORIES OF BLOODSTAINS
TYPES OF TRANSFER
Back Spatter Pool
CATEGORIES OF BLOODSTAINS
Projected
They are created when an exposed blood source is
subjected to a action or force, greater than the force
of gravity.
The size, shape, and number of resulting stains will
depend, primarily, on the amount of focus utilized to
strike the blood source.
LARGE VOLUMES OF BLOOD
Patterns created by same volume of blood from the same source to target
distance.
Dripped Blood Spilled Blood
TARGET SURFACE TEXTURE
Bloodstains can occur on a variety of surfaces, such as
carpet, wood, tile, wallpaper, clothing, etc.
The type of surface the blood strikes affects the amount
of resulting spatter including the size and appearance of
the blood drops.
TARGET SURFACE TEXTURE
Blood droplets that strike a hard smooth surface, like a
piece of glass, will have little or distortion around the
edge.
TARGET SURFACE TEXTURE
Blood droplets that strike linoleum flooring take on a
slightly different appearance. Notice the distortion
(scalloping) around the edge of the blood droplets.
TARGET SURFACE TEXTURE
Surfaces such as wood or concrete are distorted to a
larger extent.
ARTERIAL SPURT/GUSH
It result from blood exiting the body under pressure
from a breached artery.
CAST-OFF STAINS
Blood released or thrown from a blood-bearing object in
motion.
IMPACT SCATTER
It is created when a blood source receives a blow or
force resulting in random dispersion or smaller drops.
STAGES OF DROP IMPACT
Contact and Collapse Displacement
STAGES OF DROP IMPACT
Dispersion Retraction
LOW VELOCITY IMPACT SPATTER
It is about 5 ft/s and usually 3 mm or greater under
the diameter and indicates blood is dripping.
MEDIUM VELOCITY IMPACT SPATTER
Its spatter is 5-25 ft/s with a < 3 mm diameter and
usually indicates blunt trauma or sharp trauma or it
could be cast-off.
HIGH VELOCITY IMPACT SPATTER
A force of 100 ft/s and greater. Preponderant stain
size 1 mm in size as smaller. Mist like appearance.