ASTM E860
Definition
Standard Practice for Examining and Preparing Items That Are or May Become Involved in Criminal or Civil Litigation. Specifies documentation requirements and procedures for handling physical evidence to preserve its integrity for legal proceedings.
- Full title
- Examining and preparing items for criminal or civil litigation
- Covers
- Documentation requirements, evidence-handling procedures
- Purpose
- Preserve evidentiary integrity for legal proceedings
- Field
- Failure investigation / forensic engineering
Common questions
How does E860 differ from evidence-handling standards specific to a discipline like fire debris?+
E860 is a general practice for any item that may become litigation evidence, covering documentation and handling principles applicable across disciplines, whereas standards like E1188 add discipline-specific procedures, such as fire debris packaging, on top of that general foundation.
Why does a failure investigation need litigation-specific handling procedures at all?+
A failed component, such as a fractured part or collapsed structure, is often destructively tested to determine the cause, so E860's procedures exist to document its condition and preserve its evidentiary value before that testing alters or consumes it.
Related terms
- Destructive Examination
- Testing that consumes or modifies the evidence: sectioning for metallurgical mounts, chemical digestion for composition analysis, mechanical testing to failure. Requires notice...
- Evidence Preservation
- The discipline of maintaining physical evidence in its post-incident condition until all parties have had the opportunity to examine it. Includes both...
- Hypothesis Generation and Testing
- The step in failure analysis where possible causes are listed systematically, then each is tested against the physical evidence and engineering calculations....
- Non-Destructive Examination (NDE)
- Inspection methods that do not alter or consume the evidence: visual inspection, photography, dimensional measurement, dye-penetrant testing, ultrasonic testing, and radiography. NDE...
- Root Cause
- The fundamental, underlying deficiency from which the failure originated. Distinguished from immediate cause (the final physical event) and contributing factors. Root-cause analysis...