A Validation Study for Duct Tape End Matches

Fracture matches are considered to be the strongest association achievable in forensic examinations of glass, metal, wood, plastic, paint, tape, and other trace evidence. Despite being fairly routine examinations, few publications exist to support their admissibility in court. This study was designe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of forensic sciences 2006-05, Vol.51 (3), p.504-508
Main Authors: Bradley, Maureen J., Keagy, Roger L., Lowe, Preston C., Rickenbach, Michael P., Wright, Diana M., LeBeau, Marc A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adhesives
duct tape
end match
error rate
Evidence
forensic science
Forensic sciences
fracture match
Fractures
physical match
trace evidence
validation study
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Summary:Fracture matches are considered to be the strongest association achievable in forensic examinations of glass, metal, wood, plastic, paint, tape, and other trace evidence. Despite being fairly routine examinations, few publications exist to support their admissibility in court. This study was designed, using duct tape as the fractured medium, to determine the validity and error rate associated with conducting end match (fracture match) examinations on this material. Five test designs, which varied either the source roll of tape or manner of separation (torn or cut) from the roll, were administered to four analysts with instructions to examine the assigned test sets for end matches. If an end match was not identified by the initial analyst, the entire test set was independently evaluated by the remaining three analysts. Results indicated that while tape grade did not hinder end match identification, the manner of separation could affect results.
ISSN:0022-1198
1556-4029
DOI:10.1111/j.1556-4029.2006.00106.x