Presentation based on analysis of paint chips and paint elements.

7. • Place samples into separate appropriately sized
containers (e.g., do not put very small items into very
large envelopes) that help to prevent breakage or loss.
• Plastic should not be used for the packaging of
small/loose trace evidence due to static electricity.
• Do not pack with cotton or other protective material
directly touching the object.
• All edges/corners of envelopes should be sealed to
prevent sample loss.
• Do not package wet evidence.
• Avoid cross contamination between evidence and
reference samples.

9. PAINT ON CLOTHING:
• All clothing, including shoes should be collected, dried,
and packaged separately.
• Paint evidence on clothing may be present as chips or
smears.
TOOLS:
• Care must be taken to ensure that this type of trace
evidence is not lost.
• Collect specimens of paint, to include all layers present,
near all areas with which the tool may have had contact
at the crime scene.

10. • Keep all samples collected in separate containers.
• If the sample is very small or difficult to remove and the complete exhibit
itself can be submitted to the laboratory, then collect the entire object.
• Avoid collecting samples by scraping.
• Glass vials, and metal or cardboard pillboxes should be used to store
collected paint samples since they can protect paint chips from breakage
and damage.
• Collecting paint chips using tape lifts should be used only as a last resort
because the adhesive from the tape could potentially compromise the
laboratory analysis of the paint evidence. If tape lifts are collected, frosted
scotch tape (such as “Magic Tape”) should be used since it tends to be less
sticky than clear tapes.
• Do not use fingerprint tape when collecting tape lifts, or any other tape that
has a very sticky adhesive.
• Markings placed on labels, envelopes or other containers should include the
collector’s name, date and time of collection, as well as the specific source
of the sample and location from which the sample was collected
• The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) should also be included as this can
be used to verify the make, model, year and color of the vehicle

11. • If a paint flake is found on the clothing of the victim of a
hit and run accident, then the perpetrator's car should
show a chip whose edge exactly matches that of the
flake. The investigator uses a light microscope, a
stereomicroscope, and perhaps even a scanning electron
microscope to look for a jigsaw-like fit of the edge of the
chip and the flake. Analysis of a paint can narrow down a
sample to this kind to the make, model, and maybe even
the year of a car, making it easier to catch the driver.

13. • Paint analysis was used to help convict British serial rapist
Malcolm Fairley, also known as "The Fox," in 1985. After one
attack, investigators found minute specks of yellow paint on a
tree branch around 45 inches (114.3 cm) from the ground. The
paint was analyzed and identified as a type of car paint used
on a single model, the Austin Allegro, between 1973 and 1975.
Other evidence accumulated and the police went to an
address in North London to interview a suspect. A young man
was cleaning a yellow Austin Allegro outside. Examination
revealed scratches on the paintwork about 45 inches from the
ground that matched the paint flakes found at the scene of the
crime. On this, and other evidence, Fairley was convicted on
several accounts of indecent assault, rape, and burglary and
given six life sentences.

15. • Paint chips and paint residue is one of the most common
types of trace evidence which can be found at a crime scene.
The most common use of paint transfer is in the case of an
automobile accident.
• Paint smears from wet paint are another source of evidence.
Smears from wet paint may transfer onto anything that
touches it. Wet paint which has been disturbed is a good
source of hair and fiber evidence. Wet paint may also have
finger or palm prints impressed into it.
• Paint can also indicate individual characteristics. This is only
truly possible when there is an exact match of the edges of
two paint chips. However, when the physical properties such
as the color and number of layers and the chemical and
biological profiles show multiple points of similarity with
reference sample the probability of a common source
increases.
• Every company uses a specific composition of paint. It can be
used as source from which company the paint is made or sold.