Clothing Examination

Class Code: 
R108
Subject Area: 
R - Biology / DNA Program
Class Location: 
California Criminalistics Institute / Rancho Cordova or Los Angeles
Class Description: 

This 3-day (24-hour) course is designed to provide basic steps in clothing examination in the crime laboratory. The course will cover the following topics: 1) techniques for examining stains and deposits on clothing items, 2) describing and documenting deposits and stains, and 3) collection and preservation of body fluid stains and some trace evidence.

Instructor: 
Donald T. Jones
Teaching Methods: 
Classroom lectures, discussions, demonstrations, and laboratory exercises.
Objectives: 
The student will learn the basic steps in clothing examination and documentation. The student will learn to describe the nature and manner of deposit of body fluids and be able to recognize and describe other commonly encountered materials. The student will learn to provide a good record that is defensible in court. Laboratory practice will include exercises in describing the clothing item, its condition including any apparent damage, the appearance of any biological stains, and the limited use of presumptive chemical testing. In addition, students will be introduced to the recognition, description, and preservation of non-biological evidence.
Prerequisites: 
Experience with documentation of scientific testing. This class is suitable for the new examiner, and for examiners whose experience in clothing examination is limited to sampling of body fluid stains. Preference will be given to applicants with six months of experience in either forensic serology or forensic DNA analysis
Tuition: 
POST-certified; no cost to California public crime laboratory personnel. A $360.00 tuition fee will be required of all other public agency, private sector, or out-of-state applicants.
Course Contact: 
Neda Khoshkebari (916) 464-5599, (916)464-0600

Schedule of Classes:

Location Date(s)
Rancho Cordova February 6-8, 2018
Los Angeles February 27- March 1, 2018