1、Designation: E 2123 09Standard 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 () 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 contr
3、ol 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 describe
4、s 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 Secti
5、on 2.2. Referenced Documents2.1 ASTM Standards:2E 1459 Guide for Physical Evidence Labeling and RelatedDocumentationE 1492 Practice for Receiving, Documenting, Storing, andRetrieving Evidence in a Forensic Science LaboratoryE 1732 Terminology Relating to Forensic ScienceE 1843 Guide for Sexual Assau
6、lt Investigation, Examina-tion, and Evidence CollectionE 2057 Specifications for Preparation of Laboratory Analy-sis Requests in Sexual Assault Investigations33. Terminology3.1 DefinitionsFor definitions of terms used in thesespecifications see Terminology E 1732 and the Compilation ofASTM Standard
7、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 theirsuitable preservatio
8、n for presentation in legal proceedings.4.2 All individuals associated with the investigation shouldbe prepared to protect the evidence chain of custody andpreserve what are often trace amounts of perishable biologicalmaterials, and other trace evidence such as hairs, fibers, andparticulate evidence
9、 that may not be visible to the unaided eye.4.3 These standard specifications are to be used in conjunc-tion with Guide E 1843 and Specification E 2057.4.3.1 Additional information can be found in PracticeE 1492.5. Significance and Use5.1 The procedures put forth in this standard are designed topres
10、erve sexual assault evidence items during collection, stor-age, and transmittal for analysis at an appropriate laboratory.6. Procedure6.1 Evidence Chain of 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 adm
11、inistering to the needs of an often mobile andtraumatized individual.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 t
12、o ensure that the chain of custody is continued by thesubsequent investigator, evidence transporter, or evidence stor-age person.1This practice is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee E30 on ForensicSciences and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee E30.01 on Criminalistics.Current editio
13、n approved Aug. 15, 2009. Published September 2009. Originallyapproved in 2001. Last previous edition approved in 2001 as E212301.2For referenced ASTM standards, visit the ASTM website, www.astm.org, orcontact ASTM Customer Service at serviceastm.org. For Annual Book of ASTMStandards volume informat
14、ion, refer to the standards Document Summary page onthe ASTM website.3Withdrawn. The last approved version of this historical standard is referencedon www.astm.org.1Copyright ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, United States.6.1.4 The basic requi
15、rements for the labeling and initiatinga chain of custody of evidence items are described in GuideE 1459.6.2 Preservation of Evidence6.2.1 All items of physical evidence collected in the inves-tigation should be treated as though they are, or may contain,perishable biological materials until they ca
16、n 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.6.2.2.1 In some cases, more than one blood sample may berequired from an individual
17、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 befollowed.6.2.3 Blood and urine obtained for toxicological examina-tion, and other it
18、ems which must remain in liquid form shouldbe sealed in appropriate containers. If frozen, they shouldremain in a frozen condition during all transportation andstorage. Other items of biological evidence should be air driedat room temperature, packaged and sealed in paper envelopes,paper bags, or pa
19、per board containers, or containers that allowevaporation. An outer, sealed plastic bag may be used, ifrequired, for air dried evidence and contained liquid specimensonly. Sealed plastic bags should never be used for moist ordamp evidence.6.2.4 Containers holding biological samples and stains,includ
20、ing items that are suspected of supporting biologicalsamples and stains, should be labeled with a biohazard label ornotation.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 po
21、ssible, unless trace evi-dence associated with the items could be lost in the process ofseparation.6.3.2 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 re
22、quested for evaluation of theevidence.6.3.3 Bedding should be marked to indicate the uppersurface, covered 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
23、 items, associated with a singleindividual or one limited location such as a bed, may be boxedtogether 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 separat
24、e seats in asingle automobile are examples of separate locations.6.3.6 When possible, evidence sampling 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 i
25、n transportshould be sampled in the field after scaled photography and/ordiagramming of the items in 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 temp
26、era-ture.6.3.8 All items to be analyzed should be transported to theexamining laboratory as soon as possible 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 stor
27、age; evidence transmit-tal; preservation of evidence; sexual assaultASTM International takes no position respecting the validity of any patent rights asserted in connection with any item mentionedin this standard. Users of this standard are expressly advised that determination of the validity of any
28、 such patent rights, and the riskof infringement of such rights, are entirely their own responsibility.This standard is subject to revision at any time by the responsible technical committee and must be reviewed every five years andif not revised, either reapproved or withdrawn. Your comments are in
29、vited either for revision of this standard or for additional standardsand should be addressed to ASTM International Headquarters. Your comments will receive careful consideration at a meeting of theresponsible technical committee, which you may attend. If you feel that your comments have not receive
30、d a fair hearing you shouldmake your views known to the ASTM Committee on Standards, at the address shown below.This standard is copyrighted by ASTM International, 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 aboveaddress or at 610-832-9585 (phone), 610-832-9555 (fax), or serviceastm.org (e-mail); or through the ASTM website(www.astm.org).E2123092
