Forensic Serology: Blood Spatter 

Angle of Impact – The angle at which a blood drop strikes a surface.

 

Area of Convergence – The area containing the intersections generated by lines drawn through the long axes of individual stains that indicates in two dimensions of location of the blood source.

 

Area of Origin – The three-dimensional location from which blood spatter originated.

 

Backspatter Pattern – A bloodstain pattern resulting from blood drops that traveled in the opposite direction of the external force applied; associated with an entrance wound created by a projectile.

 

Bloodstain – A deposit of blood on a surface.

 

Bloodstain Pattern – A grouping or distribution of bloodstains that indicates through regular or repetitive form, order, or arrangement the manner in which the pattern was deposited.

 

Cast-off Pattern – A bloodstain pattern resulting from blood drops released from an object due to its motion

 

Drip Stain – A bloodstain resulting from a falling drop that formed due to gravity

 

Flow Pattern – A bloodstain pattern resulting from the movement of a volume of blood on a surface due to gravity or movement of the target.

 

Forward Spatter Pattern – A bloodstain pattern resulting from the blood drops that traveled in the same direction as the impact force.

 

Impact Pattern – A bloodstain pattern resulting from an object striking liquid blood.

 

Luminol (C8H7N3O2) – A versatile chemical that exhibits chemiluminescence with a striking blue glow, when mixed with an appropriate oxidizing agent. Luminol is used by forensic investigators to detect trace amounts of blood left at crime scenes as it reacts with iron found in hemoglobin.

 

Mist Pattern – A bloodstain pattern resulting from blood reduced to a spray of micro-drops as a result of the force applied.

 

Splash Pattern – A bloodstain pattern resulting from a volume of liquid blood that falls or spills onto a surface.

 

Swipe Pattern – A bloodstain pattern resulting from the transfer of blood from a blood-bearding surface onto another surface with characteristics that indicate relative motion between the two surfaces.

 

Transfer Stain – A bloodstain resulting from contact between a blood-bearing surfaces and another surface.

 

Void – An absence of blood in an otherwise continuous bloodstain or bloodstain pattern.

 

Wipe Pattern – An altered bloodstain pattern resulting from an object moving through a preexisting wet bloodstain.