Foster+Freeman, Vale Park, Evesham, Worcestershire, WR11 1TD, England.
Department of Chemistry, Loughborough University, Epinal Way, Loughborough, LE11 3TU, England.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jul 21;12(1):12469. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-16740-z.
While traditional techniques have long allowed forensic investigators to positively identify fingermarks on documents of interest, understanding the chronological sequence of events that led to their deposition is still seen as a 'holy grail' for forensic examinations. By way of example, the question of whether a mark is above or below printed text is crucial. The work herein reveals that a novel application of a recently established fingermark development technique readily allows such differentiation. The process in question allies forensic gelatin lifters with RECOVER, a development system that hinges on the polymerisation of disulfur dinitride. While the latter was specifically developed in its current form for the retrieval of prints from metal surfaces exposed to extreme conditions or washing, its ability to target surface effects allows for visualisation of surface interactions on forensic gelatin lifts. Crucially, in doing so the order in which the lifted material was originally deposited is also revealed. This, therefore, permits clear elucidation of the order of deposition of printed text and fingermarks-and does so both rapidly and in a non-invasive way. This long sought-after capability has the potential to revolutionise forensic document examinations.
虽然传统技术长期以来一直允许法庭科学家对感兴趣的文件上的指纹进行积极识别，但了解导致指纹沉积的时间顺序仍然被视为法庭科学检查的“圣杯”。例如，一个关键问题是，印记是在打印文本之上还是之下。本文揭示了一种新的应用，即将最近建立的指纹发展技术应用于容易区分的领域。所涉及的过程将法医明胶提起器与 RECOVER 联合起来，RECOVER 是一种发展系统，其取决于二硫化二氮的聚合。虽然后者是专门为从暴露于极端条件或清洗的金属表面上检索打印件而以当前形式开发的，但它能够针对表面效应，允许在法医明胶提起物上对表面相互作用进行可视化。至关重要的是，这样做还揭示了原始沉积材料的顺序。因此，可以明确阐明打印文本和指纹的沉积顺序——而且可以快速、非侵入性地完成。这种长期以来一直寻求的功能有可能彻底改变法庭文件检查。
