Download Current Events #1

Amanda Miller
September 16, 2012
CRM-3997
Current Events #1
Manuel Alberto Santiago-Muniz was arrested in May for attempted murder. He allegedly
stabbed another man in the arm and stomach while in an altercation last November. He has been
locked up since his arrest. In addition to that charge, he is now being charged with battery on a
police officer. On Saturday morning, Deputy Julian Hodge entered Manuel’s cell after he noticed
that the inmate had covered some sort of a light inside of his cell. Upon entering and trying to
remove the cover from the light, Manuel attacked Deputy Hodge by punching him in the face
(Pera, 2012). Deputy Hodge tried to ward off the attack by spraying some kind of chemical
agent, but it only served to further agitate Manuel. Eventually, Deputy Hodge was able to get
things under control until someone could arrive to help him out. Manuel was moved to a
maximum security cell after the altercation.
If I was the officer that arrived upon this scene, I would proceed by following the same
procedure that we have previously discussed, in class, using over all, mid-range, and close-up
photographs. Once all my photographs had been taken, I would sketch the scene as it appeared
when I first arrived at the scene. I would be sure to mark where every item was located upon my
arrival. Next, I would collect and bag any evidence. Finally, I would take pictures of both the
inmate and the officer to document any injuries that were sustained during the fight.
In this particular case, I would take photographs of the cell where the altercation took
place. I would sketch where all of the items were located; whatever was allegedly covering the
light, the chemical residue that was used, and any signs that a fight took place in that space. The
method of sketching I would use for this scene would be the triangulation method using two of
the cell’s walls. They are permanent structures that form right angles. I would proceed by
measuring the length and width of the entire space and creating triangles from the walls to the
center of any evidence (Young, 2011). I would swab some of the chemical residue with a q-tip,
put it back in its packaging, and then seal it with evidence tape. Then, I would collect whatever
had been used to cover the light and bag that as well. Finally, as I have said previously, I would
photograph any injuries that were sustained during the altercation.
Sources:
Pera, Eric (2012). Inmate faces charges after guard’s nose broken. The Lakeland Ledger.
Retrieved from
http://www.theledger.com/article/20120915/NEWS/120919449/1134?Title=Inmate
Charges-After-Guard-s-Nose-Broken-&tc=ar
Young, T. & Ortmeier, P.J. (2011). Crime Scene Investigation: The Forensic
Technician’s Field Manual. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education,
Inc.
Faces-