BARE BONES CONSULTING, LLC
Committed to Scientific Truth
"Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as a silent witness against him. Not only his fingerprints or his footprints, but his hair, the fibers from his clothes, the glass he breaks, the tool mark he leaves, the paint he scratches, the blood or semen he deposits or collects. All of these and more, bear mute witness against him. This is evidence that does not forget. It is not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It is factual evidence. Physical evidence cannot be wrong, it cannot perjure itself, it cannot be wholly absent. Only human failure to find it, study and understand it, can diminish its value."
~Dr. Paul Kirk on Locard's Exchange Principle
A student learns about area of convergence.
Committed to scientific truth
Forensic science deals with facts. Objects do not have an agenda. Items do not have the ability to lie. Through objective scientific analysis and a combination of inductive and deductive reasoning, these pieces of evidence can reveal parts of the case puzzle and provide new, important information to investigators. Bare Bones Consulting, LLC is dedicated solely to the discovery of the truth in forensic investigations.
A published study on the use of Blue StarTM on cleaned wood flooring coated with lacquer and shellac showed that bloodstains are still visible after two coats were applied. The study can be read in full here: The Efficacy of Blue Star Forensic.
Karen currently serves on the American Academy of Forensic Science Consensus Body for Bloodstain Pattern Analysis and we are working toward resolutions targeting bias, training and education, and vernacular for dissemination to all law enforcement and laboratory agencies. An article detailing the issue of bias was published by the National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the Law at Stetson University and can be read in full here: Bias in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis.
Case Analysis
In situ investigations, case files, cold cases.
Bare Bones Consulting, LLC offers case review, scene reconstruction, bloodstain pattern analysis and crime scene analysis. Past case analysis has revealed head hairs missed by the laboratory, resulting in inculpatory evidence against the defendant in a vehicular homicide case and blood pattern evidence on a defendant's clothing that placed her at the crime scene at the time of the bloodshed event. Owner and principal Karen L. Smith has performed numerous case reconstructions and analysis for various agencies.
Karen's work resulted in the reopening of a cold case from 1963. Details may be found here: Francis "Frankie" Bullock.