622.2Hair Analysis

Suggested Questions for Hair Analysis Witness: 

1.  Please state your name. 

2.  How are you employed? 

3.  How long have you been employed there? 

4.  What kind of work do you do? 

5.  Explain what a forensic hair examiner does? 

6.  What is your general educational and work background? 

7.  What specialized training have you had in hair examinations? 

8.  How many unknown hair samples have you examined and compared for identification with known hair samples of suspects? 

9.  [Check with expert before trial.] Have you ever testified in court before as an expert hair examiner? 

10.  How many times? 

Tender the witness to the court as an expert in hair examination and identification. 

11.  What characteristics do you look for when examining hairs? 

12.  What conclusions can be drawn from studying these characteristics? 

13.  What do you mean by “could have originated from?"

14.  I show you what has been marked as State’s Exhibit number __ [hair sample taken from the defendant] and ask if you can identify it? 

15.  Please tell the court what it is. 

16.  When and from whom did you receive it? 

17.  I now show you what has been marked as State’s Exhibit number __ [e.g., hair found at crime scene] and ask if you can identify it? 

18.  Please tell the court what it is. 

19.  When and from whom did you receive it? 

20.  Are these items of evidence now in the same condition as when you received them? 

21.  Did you examine and compare the defendant’s hair sample with the hair found at the crime scene? 

22.  Please describe your examination and comparison of these items of evidence. 

23.  As a result of your examination and comparison of State’s Exhibit numbers __ and __, do you have an opinion about whether or not the defendant’s hair sample is microscopically consistent with the hair found at the crime scene? 

24.  What is your opinion? 

25.  What is meant by the statement that hairs are microscopically consistent? 

Talk to the witness beforehand and determine what (if anything) he or she will be able to say regarding the statistical probability of the hairs being microscopically consistent. 

26.  What did you do with this evidence after you examined it? 

Offer exhibits into evidence.