History of Firearm and Toolmark Identification Hamby, James E. “Module 02: History.” Firearm Examiner Training, National Forensic Science Technology Center, projects.nfstc.org/firearms/module02/fir

History of Firearm and Toolmark Identification Hamby, James E. “Module 02: History.” Firearm Examiner Training, National Forensic Science Technology Center, projects.nfstc.org/firearms/module02/fir_m02.htm.

1800s

1835: Earliest case to be solved from the comparison of a bullet with the manufacturer's mold

1852: Case involving the comparison of the mark a bullet makes when it passes through a shirt

1857: A book is published that details what injuries from bullets look like

1863: General Stonewall Jackson found to have been shot by Confederate soldiers based upon the bullet found in the wound

1864: Union General John Sedgewick was found to have been killed by a Confederate sniper based on the bullet wound

1876: Expert testimony on firearms allowed in court

1896: "test firing" allowed as evidence in court

1900-1907

1908-1915

1921-1924

1917-1920

1902: case in which expert testimony was allowed about rifling

1903: tests conducted to compare shots fired into a sheep skull at various distances to that of a homicide victim, with the findings used in court

1900: article published about land and groove markings and gunpowder residue

1907: the first time cartridge cases were examined in hopes of linking them to specific firearms

1912: bullets are paired with firearms based on photographs of lands and grooves

1915: an innocent man pardoned and released from prison based on firearms examination

1908: testimony allowed in court on distance based on gunpowder residue

1916: Charles E. Waite begins to amass data on various firearms

1917: Dr. Sydney Smith begins collecting data from crime scenes involving firearms for use in future cases

1920: two men convicted of murder and sentenced to death based on testimony of the prosecution's expert witnesses- firearm examiners

1923: Frye v United States

1922: a man is convicted of murder based largely on firearms identification evidence, which was upheld by a state supreme court for the first time

1921: expert testimony allowed in a case that had to do with a flawed breechlock

1923: four cases are furthered by firearms evidence- an increasing number

1924: Dr. Sydney investigated the death of important Egyptian officials and provided evidence that convicted eight people of their involvement in the crime

1925-1929

1929: suspicion that some police officers were involved in the Valentine's Day Massacre were disproved using firearm evidence

1927: comparison microscope and helixometer used in a case to match a bullet to the suspect's firearm

1926: Captain Edward C Crossman becomes regional representative of western US for Bureau of Forensic Ballistics

1925: Bureau of Forensic Ballistics established

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1930-1939

1934: The Identification of Firearms and Forensic Ballistics published in England

1935: two more important texts about firearms evidence published

1932: Federal Bureau of Investigation established- directed by J Edgar Hoover

1938: The Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory is bought by Chicago

1930: Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory established privately- Calvin Goddard the director

1940-1950

1940-1947: many crime laboratories established in the US

1948: year of the first American Medicolegal Congress meeting

1949: Colonel Calvin H Goddard placed in charge of US Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory in Tokyo, Japan

1950: American Academy of Forensic Science established

1955-1958

1958: John E Davis introduces his new instrument, the striagraph

1957: Firearms Identification Investigation and Evidence is revised and republished

1955: Calvin Goddard speaks at an American Academy of Forensic Science meeting and passes away two days later

1961-1963

1963: President JFK assassinated by Harvey Lee Oswald- firearms identification important to determining Oswald as the perpetrator

1963: Major General Julian S Hatcher dies

1962: Dr. J H Matthews publishes Firearms Identification

1961: doubt about a 1927 case led to a reinvestigation of firearms evidence, only to confirm the original conclusion

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1968-1969

1968: Senator Robert Kennedy shot and killed and firearms investigation conducted

1969: Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners established

1968: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shot and killed, but firearms evidence inconclusive

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1970-1978

1970: first AFTE seminar

1973: volume 3 of Firearms Identification is published (after death of original author)

1975: a panel is formed to reexamine the evidence surrounding Senator Robert Kennedy's death, but the original conclusion was held

1975: FBI begins to offer a training course for firearm examiners

1977: FBI puts together General Rifling Characteristics file for comparison with future cases

1977: Evidence from JFK and MLK assassinations is reexamined without any new findings

1978: more technology becoming available to forensic labs around the country for little to no cost

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1980-1989

1982: AFTE Training Committee releases training manual for firearms examiners

1989: FBI creates DRUGFIRE

1980: AFTE Glossary published

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1991-1994

1991: The Bulletproof computer system is released by Forensic Technology, Inc.

1993: Daubert ruling

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1995-1999

1995: Brasscatcher computer system developed by FTI and merged with Bulletproof system to make IBIS

1997: National Integrated Ballistic Information Network program is established

1998: Scientific Working Group for Firearms and Toolmarks established

1999: ATF and FBI merge DRUGFIRE and IBIS into one system (called IBIS) and form the ATF National Firearm Examiner Academy

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2003-Present

2004: United States v Foster court allows ballistics testimony because it meets the Daubert standard

2005: IBIS-TRAX 3D bullet imaging system developed

2003: court in United States v O'Driscoll case rules that testimony involving ballistics is relevant in court

2006: State v Johnson- testimony of firearms examiner is upheld

2007: United States v Edgar Diaz court ruled that all firearms identification methods are reliable but cannot be determined with absolute certainty