ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 8

Recapturing a Five-Month-Old Bite Mark by Means of Reflective Ultraviolet Photography
Sobel, MN
Chief Forensic Odontologist, Allegheny County Coroner's Office, PA

David, TJ
Consultant in Forensic Odontology, Georgia Bureau of Investigation—Division of Forensic Sciences, GA

(Received 23 September 1993; accepted 15 April 1994)

Abstract

After a brutal rape, which the victim survived, a bite mark was photographed and other evidence was collected. It was not until several months later when the bite mark became a critical piece of evidence, that the problem with its collection became apparent to the prosecutor. The photograph of the bite mark taken by law-enforcement officials at the time of the crime did not include a reference scale. Therefore the bite mark was of little evidentiary value. The authors subsequently examined the victim (five months later) and “recaptured” the bite mark pattern with a proper reference scale by means of reflective ultraviolet photography.

Keywords:
odontology, bite mark, reflective ultraviolet photography, ultraviolet light, reference scale, evidentiary purposes

Paper ID: JFS13744J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS13744J
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