Library
Menu
THE ROLE OF CLOTHING IN CRIMINAL IDENTIFICATION : UNRAVELLING THE THREADS OF EVIDENCE
By: Nidhi Dutia
ABSTRACT
Clothing plays a pivotal role in societal identification and has significant implications in forensic science for criminal identification. Mark Twain’s quote, “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society,” underscores the societal judgments based on clothing. Historically and in contemporary times, clothing reflects social status, values, and identity. This paper explores how the forensic sciences branch of the criminal justice system acknowledges the significance of clothes in identifying offenders. Clothes worn by criminals or victims during a crime serve as crucial evidence when examined forensically. This evidence can help ascertain details such as the manner of death, location of the crime scene, time of occurrence, and type and gravity of the offence. The types of evidence found on clothing are broadly classified as physical, biological, and chemical. The application of Locard’s Exchange Principle, which states that “every contact leaves a trace,” is essential in forensic evidence gathering. A case study on the Weimar children murders illustrates the practical implications of clothing in criminal investigations, highlighting the importance of correctly identifying and examining clothing fibres.
This article concludes by emphasising the importance of proper handling, examination, and preservation of clothing evidence to prevent judicial errors and ensure justice. The role of clothing in criminal identification, alongside other forensic methods such as DNA profiling and fingerprint analysis, underscores its substantive role in the forensic examination process.
Keywords: clothing, criminal identification, forensic science, physical evidence, biological evidence, chemical evidence, Locard’s Exchange Principle, Weimar children murders, forensic examination, judicial errors.
The words of Mark Twain, “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society”, explains the importance of clothing in an individual’s life. It highlights that in a society, a man is judged by the kind of clothes he wears. It is significant to note that it is the discrepancies in clothing which helps us to distinguish a public servant or army official from a commoner. Uniforms assigned to a group of men exhibits the membership or belonging to a particular group, e.g. students of a school, members of a cricket team, battalion of soldiers etc.
Clothing is and always will be a reflection of one’s society, values, beliefs, social status, economic background, signal of our identity. In Historical times, only the members of prosperous families had the access to fine fabrics, sophisticated designs and latest fashion trends. There have been no noteworthy modifications in this perspective. Even today, dressing serves as a mode of self- identification.
Basically, Fashion revolves around a human desire for happiness; it invites us to cross a fantasy bridge to a place where one can become likeable, if not attractive. Thus, clothing is a performance art that pertains to artistic communication.
In the light of the above discussion, it is imperative to contest that even the forensic sciences branch of the Criminal Justice system acknowledges the significance of clothes in criminal identification of the offenders. Clothes worn by the criminal or the victim while the criminal act is being done serves as crucial evidence when put for forensic examination. In addition to establishing the identity of individuals, they also provides, for the hoard of evidences interlaced within the fabric, help in reconstructing events associated with the crime.[1] It can help to ascertain details following an event of crime such as manner of death, location of crime scene, time of occurrence of crime, type and gravity of the offence committed etc. Out of different methods of criminal identification, establishing the identity by clothes is covered under Visual Identification.
The term ‘evidence’ is derived from the Latin word ‘evident’ or ‘evidere’, which means “to show clearly, to discover clearly, to ascertain, to prove”..[2]
Evidence, in law, any of the material items or assertions of fact that may be submitted to a competent tribunal as a means of ascertaining the truth of any alleged matter of fact under investigation before it. [3]
Based on nature, the different types of evidence found on clothes can be broadly classified as physical, biological and chemical evidence. In common parlance, physical evidence in forensics refers to any tangible materials which are actually collected from crime scenes and helps in identification of the perpetrator. It is usually considered more reliable than witness testimonies as conclusions can be deduced easily and is less susceptible to errors.
III. LOCARD’S EXCHANGE PRINCIPLE
The Locard’s Exchange principle[4] says that “every contact leaves a trace.” In other words, the perpetrator of a crime brings something into the crime scene and leaves with something from it, and that can be used as forensic evidence.
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE ON CLOTHING
The fibres from the clothing of perpetrators may be discovered at the crime scene or examined from the bodies or garments of the victims, providing crucial evidence for criminal identification. Likewise, the presence of soil with specific textures or other debris on the clothing of either the perpetrator or victim can be analysed to determine the geographical location of the offence. Additionally, clothing worn during the commission of a crime may bear marks or impressions from the tools or equipment used, which can range from sharp to blunt objects depending on the severity of the injuries sustained by the victim. Examination of gunshot residues on the clothing of shooters can indicate proximity to the weapon, while analysing the alterations occurring prior to the commission of the crime also serves as physical evidence.
Clothing can serve as a carrier of biological evidence, including chemical materials found during criminal investigations. Such materials may include blood, as well as other body fluids such as semen and saliva. Bloodstains found or transferred during violent physical assaults or intimate acts between the victim and perpetrator can aid in matching the DNA profile of the suspect. Identification of individuals or the presence of specific blood patterns can help explain the circumstances of the criminal act.
In cases involving sexual offenses such as assault or rape, traces of semen may be present. Semen from the perpetrator can be identified from internal organs, particularly in females, or from the clothing of the victim. Proper examination facilitates the identification of the perpetrator, even in the absence of a medical examination of the complainant.
In the famous Weimar children murders case[5], it was found necessary to find out what clothes the suspects were wearing at the supposed time of crime, so the first evidence found were fibres on the clothes. The regional court found that there was a fatal misjudgment in examination of fibres of deceased children’s parents.
The criminal identification can also be done by inspecting the type of clothes worn by the criminal at the time he committed that crime. These clothes can be matched with video clips or other visual evidence depending on the case at hand. Similarly, witness testimonies are also used for such identification. However, it is always advised that each piece of such clothing must be handled and examined carefully to avoid loss of evidence. After examination, each piece must be placed in separate bags to avoid cross-contamination. When any such clothing is collected, it must be correctly identified, packaged, preserved and secured. It is so because clothes serve as a significant piece of evidence and if there is any error in examination, it can lead to judicial errors and miscarriage of justice. Thus, in addition to DNA profiling, fingerprint analysis, clothing too plays a substantive role in the examination process. In similar manner, careful handling of this evidence right from the time it comes in contact with the investigating officer till it reaches the Forensic science laboratory for further scrutiny is of paramount importance.
REFERENCES
