1、Designation: E 2123 01Standard Practice forthe Transmittal of Evidence in Sexual Assault Investigation1This standard is issued under the fixed designation E 2123; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last rev
2、ision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. Asuperscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.INTRODUCTIONThe meaningful analysis of physical evidence recovered in sexual assault investigations requirescareful attention to the cont
3、rol and preservation of easily lost trace evidence and easily damaged ordegraded biological materials. Not all items of evidence can be preserved in the same manner if thebest results are to be achieved during subsequent analysis by the examining forensic laboratory.1. Scope1.1 This practice describ
4、es the basic considerations that willhelp preserve different items or types of sexual assault relatedevidence for subsequent analysis. This practice is designed tobe used in conjunction with other specifications, guides, andpractices associated with sexual assault examinations that arelisted in Sect
5、ion 2.2. Referenced Documents2.1 ASTM Standards:E 1459 Guide for Physical Evidence Labeling and RelatedDocumentation2E 1492 Practice for Receiving, Documenting, Storing, andRetrieving Evidence in a Forensic Science Laboratory2E 1732 Terminology Relating to Forensic Science2E 1843 Guide for Sexual As
6、sault Investigation, Examina-tion, and Evidence Collection2E 2057 Specificationfor Preparation of Laboratory AnalysisRequests in Sexual Assault Investigations23. Terminology3.1 DefinitionsFor definitions of terms used in thesespecifications see Standard Terminology E 1732 and the Com-pilation of AST
7、M Standard Definitions (1990).4. Summary of Practice4.1 Evidence collected from the victim or suspect, otherphysical evidence from the crime scene, and investigative factsand medical conclusions associated with a sexual assaultexamination should be treated in a manner that will ensure theirsuitabili
8、ty preservation for presentation in legal proceedings.4.2 All individuals associated with the investigation shouldbe prepared to protect the chain of evidence custody andpreserve what are often trace amounts of perishable biologicalmaterials, and other trace evidence such as hairs, fibers, andpartic
9、ulate evidence that may not be visible to the unaided eye.4.3 These standard specifications are to be used in conjunc-tion with E 1843 and E 2057.5. Significance and Use5.1 The procedures put forth in this standard are designed topreserve sexual assault evidence items during collection, stor-age, an
10、d transmittal for analysis at an appropriate laboratory.6. Procedure6.1 Chain of Evidence Custody6.1.1 The chain of custody in a sexual assault examinationof a victim is unique in that it may be difficult to control in themidst of administering to the needs of an often mobile andtraumatized individu
11、al.6.1.2 An “investigator” in this usage may be, but is notlimited to, an emergency medical practitioner, social worker,nurse, physician, or law enforcement officer.6.1.3 It is the responsibility of each “investigator” of theassault to ensure that the chain of custody is continued by thesubsequent i
12、nvestigator, evidence transporter, or evidence stor-age person.6.1.4 The basic requirements for the labeling and initiatinga chain of custody of evidence items are described in E 1459.6.2 Preservation of Evidence6.2.1 All items of physical evidence collected in the inves-tigation should be treated a
13、s though they are, or may contain,perishable biological materials until they can be examined byan appropriate forensic laboratory.6.2.2 Liquid blood samples should be collected and trans-ported as required by the examining forensic laboratory. Driedstains may be transported at room temperature.6.2.2
14、.1 In some cases, more than one blood sample may berequired from an individual for a combination of serological(including DNA) and toxicological testing. The preservative oranticoagulant required in each sample may be different and theanalyzing laboratorys requirements for each sample should befollo
15、wed.1This practice is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee E30 on ForensicSciences and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee E30.01 on Criminalistics.Current edition approved Jan. 10, 2001. Published March 2001.2Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 14.02.1Copyright ASTM, 100 Barr Harbor Dri
16、ve, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, United States.6.2.3 Blood and urine obtained for toxicological examina-tion, and other items which must remain in liquid form shouldbe sealed in appropriate containers. If frozen, they shouldremain in a frozen condition during all transportation andstorage. Othe
17、r items of biological evidence, should be air driedat room temperature, packaged and sealed in paper envelopes,bags, or paper board containers. An outer, sealed plastic bagmay be used, if required, for air dried evidence and containedliquid specimens only. Sealed plastic bags should never beused for
18、 moist or damp evidence.6.3 Packaging of Evidence6.3.1 Each item of clothing, bedding, upholstery, weaponry,bindings, or other physical evidence should be packagedseparately whenever practical and possible, unless trace evi-dence associated with the items could be lost in the process ofseparation.6.
19、3.2 Each item of evidence should be photographed in itsoriginal (found) location and condition before collection. Apackage of the resulting photographs can accompany theevidence or be submitted as requested for evaluation of theevidence.6.3.3 Bedding should be marked to indicate the uppersurface, co
20、vered with paper, and that surface should be foldedover on itself to prevent materials from being transferred to theopposite side from which they were originally deposited.6.3.4 Individually packaged items, associated with a singleindividual or one limited location such as a bed, may be boxedtogethe
21、r for transmittal and storage.6.3.5 Items originating from two or more limited locationsshould never be boxed together. Separate beds in a single room,separate rooms in a single residence, or separate seats in asingle automobile are examples of separate locations.6.3.6 When possible, evidence sampli
22、ng should be done inthe appropriate forensic laboratory rather than in the field or atthe scene of an assault. Items too unwieldy to be packaged andstored, or transitory evidence that could be lost in transportshould be sampled in the field after scaled photography and/ordiagramming of the items in
23、their original locations.6.3.7 After sampling, preservation, and analysis of identi-fied stains, items that are found to contain no additionalperishable materials or stains may be stored at room tempera-ture.6.3.8 All items to be analyzed should be transported to theexamining laboratory as soon as p
24、ossible in either the dried,refrigerated or frozen state as described in 6.2. These itemsshould be transmitted with the documentation specified inE 2057.7. Keywords7.1 chain of custody; evidence storage; evidence transmit-tal; preservation of evidence; sexual assaultThe American Society for Testing
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27、 should be addressed to ASTM Headquarters. Your comments will receive careful consideration at a meeting of the responsibletechnical committee, which you may attend. If you feel that your comments have not received a fair hearing you should make yourviews known to the ASTM Committee on Standards, at
28、 the address shown below.This standard is copyrighted by ASTM, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, United States.Individual reprints (single or multiple copies) of this standard may be obtained by contacting ASTM at the above address or at610-832-9585 (phone), 610-832-9555 (fax), or serviceastm.org (e-mail); or through the ASTM website (www.astm.org).E 21232
