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Schedule

Morning Moderator: Ann Davis
Afternoon Moderator:  Ray Cooper

General Session:  Salons D, E, F

8:00 AM		Forensic Anthropology
		Professor Mark Skinner, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University Dr. Skinner will review British Columbian cases in which toolmarks were imparted to victim's bones and how this evidence was variably handled by the expert witnesses in court. He will also review domestic and international cases in which postmortem treatment of remains by perpetrators or taphonomic influences destroyed or altered evidence of firearms damage to bodies.
8:45 AM		Reference Ballistic Imaging Database Performance
		Frederic A. Tulleners, Director, Forensic Science Graduate Program, Davis, CA Ballistic imaging databases allow law enforcement to link recovered cartridge cases to other crime scenes and to firearms.  The success of these databases has led many to propose that all firearms in circulation be entered into a reference ballistic image database (RBID).  To assess the performance of an RBID, we fired 4200 cartridge cases from six hundred 9mm Para Sig Sauer model P226 series pistols.  Each pistol fired two Remington cartridges, one of which was imaged in the RBID, and five additional cartridges, consisting of Federal, Speer, Winchester, Wolf, and CCI brands. Randomly selected samples from the second series of Remington cartridge cases and from the five additional brands were then correlated against the RBID.  Of the 32 cartridges of the same make correlated against the RBID, 72% ranked in the top 10 positions.  Likewise, of the 160 cartridges of the five different brands correlated against the database, 21% ranked in the top 10 positions. Generally, the ranking position increased as the size of the RBID increased. We obtained similar results when we expanded the RBID to include firearms with the same class characteristics for breech face marks, firing pin impressions, and extractor marks.  The results of our six queries against the RBID indicate that a reference ballistics image database of new guns is currently fraught with too many difficulties to be an effective and efficient law enforcement tool.
9:05 AM		Converted Handguns From England
		Dr. Andrew Skae, Forensic Science Service, Manchester, United Kingdom A wide variety of handguns converted from airguns and blank cartridge firing handguns are currently seen in criminal use in England.  This presentation will outline some examples and discuss issues which arise for the firearms examiner. The most common varieties of converted weapons seen at the Lab are: Converted blank-firing derringers, SLPs and revolvers Converted air-cartridge SLPs and revolvers, known as "Brococks" Methods of conversion will be outlined, which include removal of blockages, rebarrelling, drilling out of constricted chambers and use of chamber adaptors for ammunition.  Difficulties arise for the firearms examiner in the variety of modified ammunition used in these weapons, the use of overbored barrels and the methods of manufacture of the original guns.
9:30 AM		Break held in Exhibitor’s Area – Salons A, B
		Sponsored by Forensic Technology, Inc.
10:00 AM		Specific European Guns: Consequence of a Restrictive Regulation?
		Gerard Adam, Laboratoire De Police Scientifique, Toulouse, France The regulations in Europe dealing with firearms become more restrictive from year to year. Some manufacturers have modified their production to adapt it to the new regulations. The shot revolvers and pistols are born. This presentation will show you some guns, and explain the reasons of this new production and consequences of the new regulations.
10:20 AM		Cartridges for Specific European Guns
		Gerard Adam, Laboratoire De Police Scientifique, Toulouse, France The guns described in my first presentation are firing some specific cartridges. The history and evolution of the production of these cartridges is explained and described.
10:45 AM		How to Become a Firearms/Toolmarks Examiner in Thirty Minutes
		Carlo Rosati, FBI Laboratory How to become a firearm/toolmarks examiner in thirty minutes will discuss all the relevant areas in the discipline.  This powerpoint presentation will include firearms, toolmarks, gunshot residue, serial number restoration and bullet trajectory reconstruction.  It is the intent of the author to provide information which will stimulate an exchange of information.
11:15 AM		Variations in Firing Marks on Cartridge Cases as a Result of Flow-Back
		Beta Tam, Los Angeles Police Department Objectives: To provide an overview on some of the possible variations in breech face marks and firing pin marks produced by the same firearm as a result of flow-back so that the audience could have a better understanding of the cause of these variations. Methodology: The author has collected digital images of fired cartridges for about five years.  Analysis of those images revealed that some of these variations can be used to explain the flow-back phenomena.  The author has selected a number of images to show the sequence of the flow-back.  After establishing this sequence, the author will use different images from the same firearm to show the effect of the flow-back sequences. Results: The analysis achieved the following: (1) shows how the surface of the primer responds after the striking of the firing pin, (2) explains the variations in the firing pin impression and breech face marking, (3) explains how some of these variations are the result of the mechanism of the firing pistol. Conclusions: Better understanding of the flow-back sequence will help us to understand the variation in breech face marks and firing pin marks produced by the same firearm and therefore avoid premature elimination.
12:00 PM		Lunch – Salons B, C
1:15 PM		Two Dimensional Versus Three Dimensional
		Evan Thompson, Washington State Patrol Crime Lab In light of the AFTE Glossary’s Theory of Identification, this presentation will discuss how the examination of actual case work and examples of what firearm/toolmark examiners deal with in day-to-day bench work relate to explaining to a jury how an identification was arrived at, especially in non-striated toolmarks.
1:30 PM		Exclusions:  Where Do We Draw The Line?
		Evan Thompson, Washington State Patrol Crime Lab Examination of some of the current criteria used by firearm/toolmark examiners from around the United States for excluding a bullet(s) as being fired from a particular firearm and how these criteria compare to the current AFTE Glossary definition of Range of Conclusions. These criteria will be shown along with photographic documentation of where along that line examiners should reasonably expect to exclude a bullet or tool.
1:45 PM		Modifications and Conversions of Movie Guns
		Tom Felcan, Vancouver, B.C. This presentation will cover the mechanics of conversions of various types of guns and the types of blanks that are required to make them function.  Safety aspects of movie guns will also be discussed.  Samples of test materials such as drywall and plywood that have been shot at various distances with the converted guns will be displayed, showing the possible damage that can occur.
2:45 PM		Break held in Exhibitor’s Area – Salons A, B
		Sponsored by Forensic Technology, Inc.
3:15 PM		Quantitative/Statistical Approach to Bullet-to-Firearm Identification with Consecutively Manufactured Barrels
		Pete Striupaitis, Illinois State Police Crime Laboratory Objectives: The author is involved with an NIJ grant/research project that was procured through the MFRC (Midwest Forensic Resource Center).  The project will validate the theory that consecutively rifled barrels (from two different methods of manufacture) are unique.  The author will provide an overview of the project, its approach and will solicit firearm examiners to microscopically review the fired specimens in this validation project. Methodology: Traditional firearm methodology, coupled with video imagery database entries and data from those entries will villify/validate the major premise of the firearm identification discipline.  Data imported from the databases will be used to quantify the results and provide statistics.  The aforementioned data along and with the fired specimen, review survey should provide interesting results.  Results: To provide information to the forensic firearm examiner community, to describe a validation study that is currently under way and to solicit and compile a list of candidates that will participate in this study (as a component of this research project). Conclusions: Same as above + the compilation of a list of candidates willing to participate in this validation study.
3:30 PM		SS109 Bullet - A Non-penetrating Shot to the Head?
		Ruprecht Nennstiel, Bundeskriminalamt, Wiesbaden, Germany Objectives: In a forensic investigation into the deaths of 4 cadets of the English army, a number of close range shots to the head had to be judged. In all cases the same gun model (Enfield SA80) and the same bullet type (SS109, 5.56x45) was used. As could be expected, in some cases penetrating bullets including massive emptying of the brain were observed, whereas in one case and a reference case no exit wound was found by the medical examiner. A number of wound-ballistic experiments  including shots into a skull simulant were carried out to limit the conditions under which non-penetrating shots could occur. The skull simulant was found to give realistic results only under limited conditions. The position of the wound tract inside the skull appears to be of major importance. Methodology:   wound-ballistic experiments using simulants High-speed photography Results: A plausible explanation of the great variations in the wound-ballistic behaviour of SS109 bullets when fired into a human skull could be given. Conclusions: There seems to be a huge variety of bullet behaviour when fired into the skull. the position and orientation of the wound track appears to have major influence.
3:50 PM		The Erfurt School Massacre
		Ruprecht Nennstiel, Bundeskriminalamt, Wiesbaden, Germany On April 26th 2002, Robert Steinhäuser, a 19 year-old pupil killed 12 teachers, 2 pupils, one secretary and a policeman with his GLOCK 17 pistol, 9 mm Luger in the "Gutenberg-Gymnasium" Erfurt / Germany before he committed suicide. To date, this case has caused tremendous public interest and has been the subject of innumerable publications. All in all, 71 shots were fired by the offender out of 4 magazines and a single shot from a policeman's pistol. It turned out that the assignment of the casings to the used magazines were of special importance for the ballistic reconstruction. The presentation further demonstrates that considering all the available forensic information allowed a detailed reconstruction of a complex sequence of events Methodology: Crime scene work Laboratory work Evaluation of other sources (e.g. autopsy results) Reconstruction Conclusions: In considering all available sources of information, a detailed reconstruction of the events could be given.

		Evening Schedule	Location
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM		Pre-banquet Reception	Stanley Park Foyer
7:00 PM - 11:00 PM		Banquet Dinner	Stanley Park Ballroom

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Copyright © 2001 Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE).
All rights reserved.  Revised: May 27, 2004.