Sequential Reconstruction
Definition
The order of events across time. Example: the struggle preceded the stabbing, which preceded the move from the kitchen to the bedroom.
- Field
- Crime scene reconstruction
- Focus
- Order of events across time
- Input evidence
- Bloodstain pattern, trajectory, and scene analysis
- Output
- Chronological narrative of the incident
- Example
- Struggle, then stabbing, then movement between rooms
Common questions
What kinds of physical evidence typically support a sequential reconstruction?+
Bloodstain pattern analysis, wound characteristics and their bleeding stage, transfer and void patterns, trace evidence distribution, and scene disturbance are combined to establish which events on the scene most plausibly happened before others.
How is sequential reconstruction different from other types of crime scene reconstruction?+
Other reconstruction types address specific questions such as the relative position of participants or the trajectory a projectile followed, while sequential reconstruction specifically orders the events of the incident in time, often drawing on the results of those other analyses as building blocks.
Can a sequential reconstruction be presented in court as a definitive account?+
It is generally presented as the most consistent interpretation of the physical evidence rather than a definitive account, since reconstructions rely on inference from indirect evidence and can be revised if new evidence or an alternative interpretation emerges.
Related terms
- BPA (Blood Pattern Analysis)
- The inference of mechanism and direction from the shape, distribution and density of bloodstains. A high-yield input to reconstruction.
- Event Reconstruction
- What happened at a discrete moment. Example: the shooter stood here, the victim was facing this way.
- Functional Reconstruction
- What an object was used for or how a mechanism operated. Example: how a firearm jam shaped the spent-cartridge distribution.
- Probative Value
- The strength of the evidence's tendency to prove or disprove a fact in issue. High probative value means the evidence substantially changes...