FORENSIC BALLISTIC

FOR6
History of Forensic Ballistics
Module 1 Lecture
 FORENSIC

Derived from the Latin word "forum"

meaning a "public place" were people
gathered for public disputation or
public discussion, Is dealing with the
application of scientific knowledge to
legal problems.
 BALLISTICS
Origin of the word Ballistics

• The word Ballistics was derived from the two Greek words Ballo or Ballein which literally
means "to throw". And from the Roman war machine. Ballista a gigantic catapult that
was used to hurl missiles or large object at a distance like stones, dead animals or even
dead person.

• Ballistics is a science that deals with the study of motion of projectiles and
conditions affecting the motion. It is also the science of mechanics that deals with
the launching, flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets,
gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating
projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.
• Motion - refers to the mobility or movement of the projectile
from the time it leaves the empty shell; it leaves the gun
muzzle and until it reaches its target or fall in the ground.
• Projectile - Is any object projected into space (empty or
not) by the exertion of a force. Although any object in
motion through space is a projectile, the term most
commonly refers to a ranged weapon. Mathematical
equations of motion are used to analyze projectile
trajectory. Examples of projectiles include balls, arrows,
bullets, artillery shells, rockets, etc.
Forensic Ballistics - this refers to the investigation and identification of firearms by means of
ammunitions fired from the submitted suspected firearms. It is also a scientific study of
firearm identification with the use of laboratory examination.
• Gives emphasis on the study of ammunitions, projectiles, gunpowder, primer and
explosives, including the use of the bullet comparison microscope.
• It also deals with the principles in the microscopic and macroscopic examination of
firearm evidence and the preparation of reports for legal proceedings in the solution of
cases involving firearms.
• The earliest known ballistic projectiles were stones, spears, and the throwing stick. The
oldest evidence of stone-tipped projectiles, which may or may not have been propelled by
a bow.
• The oldest evidence of the use of bows to shoot arrows dates to about 10,000 years ago.

• The first devices identified as guns appeared in China around 1000 AD, and by the 12th
century the technology was spreading through the rest of Asia, and into Europe by the 13th
century. After millennia of empirical development.
• The discipline of ballistics was initially studied and developed by Italian
mathematician Niccolò Tartaglia in 1531 and went on to be put on a solid
scientific and mathematical basis.

Nicolo, known as Tartaglia (Italian): Was an Italian mathematician, engineer

(designing fortifications),
a surveyor (of topography), seeking the best means of
defense or offense) and a bookkeeper from the then
Republic of Venice.
He published many books, including the first Italian translations
of Archimedes and Euclid, and an acclaimed compilation of Mathematics.
Tartaglia was the first to apply mathematics to the investigation of the paths of
cannonballs, known as ballistics, in his Nova Scientia (A New Science, 1537);
his work was later partially validated and partially superseded by Galileo's
studies on falling bodies.
 Equations for a falling body
A set of equations describing the ttrajectories of objects
subject to a constant gravitational force under
normal Earth-bound conditions. Assuming constant
acceleration g due to Earth’s gravity,
Newton's law of universal gravitation simplifies to F = mg,
where F is the force exerted on a mass m by the Earth’s
gravitational field of strength g. Assuming constant g is
reasonable for objects falling to Earth over the relatively
short vertical distances of our everyday experience, but is
not valid for greater distances involved in calculating more
distant effects, such as spacecraft trajectories.
 One of the last of the Bow Street Runners,
Henry Goddard (1800-83), is recognized as one of
the first individuals to recognize the potential of
firearms evidence as an aid in identifying the
criminals involved

In 1835 Goddard successfully identified a murderer by using a

bullet recovered from the body of the victim at autopsy. In those days
bullets were produced by melting lead and pouring it into two-piece
molds. Most individuals used their own lead and bullet molds to produce
bullets for their guns.
 The first case of forensic firearm examination to be
documented was in 1835. That was when Henry Goddard applied
ballistic fingerprinting to link a bullet recovered from the victim to
the actual culprit.

On careful inspection, he found that the bullet had a defect on

its surface which did not seem to be from the barrel or the result of
an impact. It seemed more like a defect acquired during its
manufacturing. Anticipating that the shooter would have made the
bullet himself, he realized that recovering the bullet mold would
easily help him confirm the shooter. He was thus able to exactly
zero in on the shooter when the mold found at the suspect’s home
matched the marks on the bullet. This proved as a crucial evidence
in convicting the shooter though he did also confess to the crime
eventually.
 Back in 1860, the case of Regina v Richardson
showcases another example of the early application of
firearm identification. The major evidence, in this case,
was a newspaper wadding. Back in the era before
cartridges came into existence, such wadding was used to
create a seal between the bullet and the gunpowder. The
wadding that was found in the two-barreled muzzle-loading
pistol recovered from the murder site matched the wadding
found in the victim’s wound. Additionally, a wadding that
was discovered at the suspect’s home was found to be
made up of the same material (London Time’s newspaper)
as the waddings recovered before. This helped to confirm
that he was the shooter and led to his conviction.
 The Birth of Magnification
Over time, as the mass production of guns and
ammunition gained pace, the process of rifling became
standardized. Thus, whereas a forensic examiner could
specifically match the rifling marks on a bullet recovered
from the crime scene to those on the firearm’s barrel, it
became increasingly difficult to match a bullet to a
specific firearm made by a specific manufacturer through
simple observation. And as they say, necessity is the
mother of invention! So eventually, this paved the way for
the magnified observation of bullets.
• In 1902, Oliver Wendell Holmes, who later became the
justice of the US Supreme Court, is said to have used a
magnifying glass to examine a test bullet that he fired
into cotton wool to compare its striations with those
found on the bullet recovered from the victim during an
autopsy.
• Later in Paris (1912), Professor Balthazard took
numerous photographs of the circumferences of the
bullet found at the crime scene. He then enlarged these
photographs to compare the markings with those
obtained on the bullet that he had test-fired from the
suspect’s weapon.
 Paving the way for the Development of
Comparison Microscope
Eventually, magnification became a crucial
part of firearm examinations. However, even
though microscopes did exist back then, it was
quite challenging to compare two bullets
simultaneously. While examining one bullet under
the microscope, forensic examiners had to retain
the mental image of the other bullet meant for
comparison. This posed obvious risks to the
validity and reliability of the investigations.
 In fact, a major flaw involving ballistic fingerprinting
almost led to the conviction of an innocent Charles F.
Stielow in 1915 in the United States.
He was convicted and sentenced to death for
shooting his employer and employer’s housekeeper
using a pistol of 0.22 caliber. However, when
investigator Charles E. Waite reevaluated the evidence
with microscopy expert, Dr. Max Poser, he confirmed
that the bullets recovered from the crime scene couldn’t
have been fired from Stielow’s gun. Stielow was then
acquitted and released.
 The first significant application of this microscope
was in the investigations of the Saint Valentine’s Day
Massacre in 1929. By examining the bullets and
cartridge cases recovered from the site, he was able to
identify the exact weapons used – a 12-gauge shotgun
and two Thompson submachine guns.
Furthermore, he was led to the suspect by matching
the evidence recovered to the gun retrieved from his
home. In 1932, when the FBI laboratory was
established, Calvin Hooker Goddard got to train its first
firearm identification professional.
FATHER OF MODERN FIREARMS
IDENTIFICATION

Dr. Calvin Hooker Goddard

 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
mass murder of a group of unarmed
bootlegging gang members in Chicago on
February 14, 1929. The bloody incident dramatized
the intense rivalry for control of the illegal liquor
traffic during the prohibition era in the United
States. Disguising themselves as policemen,
members of the Al Capone gang entered a garage
at 2122 North Clark Street run by members of the
George (“Bugs”) Moran gang, lined their opponents
up against a wall, and shot them in cold blood.
THE END