Jack Talks Ballistics and Crime Scenes on WCCO in Wake of St. Paul Shooting that Kills 1, Injures 14.
It was a really tough weekend in St. Paul. A gun battle erupted inside of the Truck Park Bar on 7th just down the street from Excel Energy Center. As a result, a 27 year old woman is dead and 14 people were shot and taken to the hospital. Three of those in hospital are possible suspects. The St. Paul Police Department moved in quickly but what exactly do they do after the fact?
As an experienced criminal defense attorney with expertise in criminal forensics, Jack knows how it can impact a criminal case.
According to reports, there were victims in the street, on the sidewalk and inside the bar. A police spokesman mentioned that there was only “evidence inside the bar of the shootings.” When this was reported, I immediately thought about a couple of conclusions including that this wasn’t a drive-by but then I started thinking about crime scene control, getting videotapes including possible phones, interviews and on and on.. As a former prosecutor and former federal agent as well as criminal defense attorney, I frequently have to assess police conduct and policies in the context of defending those charged with crimes.
As I think about a crime scene involving guns, one simple example is how to deal with shell casings and specifically what the police would do. It is not just about cleaning them up. They are counting the number of shots, determining the kinds of rounds that many have been fired, digging them out of walls and cars, the types of weapons used, the number of weapons used and may, although hard to do, grab partial prints on those shell casings. This is just one of multiple steps that the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the police themselves would be involved in doing at this early stage.
As an experienced criminal defense attorney with expertise in criminal forensics, Jack knows how it can impact a criminal case. Jack Rice has handled countless murder cases, criminal vehicular homicide cases, rape and other criminal sexual assault cases, DWIs, and more. Jack appears on WCCO Radio with Jearlyn Steele on October 10th in the Twin Cities to talk about locking down a crime scene, ballistics, interrogations and collecting evidence.
Hope you can listen.