EXAMPLES

Brian Kennedy has worked on or been consulted in over two hundred scenes involving Bloodstain Pattern Interpretation. He consults for either the defense or the prosecution.

The Chase: A Northern California Sheriff's Patrol Unit had pursued a speeding motorcyclist with a passenger. The motorcyclist lost control of his vehicle and laid the bike down. The passenger was found to be dead at the scene many yards down the road from any of the vehicles involved. The patrol unit had swerved off the road and come to rest against a mail box. Blood stains on the patrol car led personnel at the scene to think the officer had struck the motorcycle passenger, knocking him down the road. The patrol car was collected as evidence by State Agents. An examination, documentation, and analysis of the bloodstain pattern determined the car had not struck the deceased, but had driven through the cloud of blood drops generated by the passenger as he struck the pavement. outcome; Officer exonerated.

Family Dispute Living at home with a husband and wife was the wife's 23 year old son by a previous marriage. One night the son called police to report that his step-father had killed his mother and that he, in self defense, had killed his step-father. Both victims had been bludgeoned to death. Bloodstain pattern analysis demonstrated the husband had been down and incapacitated before the wife was beaten. Furthermore, the reconstruction demonstrated the son had altered the scene in an attempt to validate his story. outcome; The son pled guilty to 1st and 2nd degree murder plus enhancements. This case has been featured on the Discovery Channel's program The New Detectives.

Lover's Spat A known prostitute and a parolee had come to the hospital Emergency Room. The parolee brought the prostitute for treatment of a severely lacerated left arm with arterial damage. The prostitute told the hospital staff, and subsequently the investigating officers, that she had been held against her will. She said that she had attempted to escape through a closed window, lacerating her arm. The officers were told by the prostitute that the parolee had continued to beat her and forced her to commit sex acts with him. The parolee was arrested and was facing his "third strike" (25 years to life). Bloodstain pattern analysis determined the prostitute had grossly exaggerated the facts and was not credible. outcome; The parolee pled to lesser offenses. Both the defense and prosecution were served with bloodstain pattern analysis.