A Dying Declaration Can Bring Life To Fiction

Dying Declaration

The language of cops and crime scene investigators is certainly something that can be incorporated into works of fiction for an added layer of realism. Of course, the writer’s work shouldn’t read like a law enforcement dictionary, but the use of proper terminology, when appropriate, is definitely a nice touch to any crime novel.

Here are a few terms you may find useful to your works-in-progress.

ABFO scales (often referred to as “scales”) – “L” shaped plastic pieces used in crime scene photography. The scales are often marked in millimeters for size comparison(s). Circles, black, white, and gray bars on the scales are there to provide exposure determination, and to assist in distortion compensation. AFBO = American Board of Forensic Odontology.

Image – Sirchie Fingerprint Laboratories

ALS (Alternate Light Source) – lighting equipment used to enhance/visualize potential evidence.

Image – Sirchie Fingerprint Laboratories

Case File – A collection of documents pertaining to a specific investigation. The case file specific to a particular homicide investigation is often called the “murder book.”

Case Identifiers – The specific numbers or alphabetic characters assigned to a specific case for the purpose of identification. For example – Case #ABC-123 or #987ZYX

Chase – The empty space inside a wall, floor, or ceiling that’s used for plumbing, electrical, and/or HVAC ductwork. A chase is a common hiding spot for illegal contraband and/or evidence (murder weapons, narcotics, stolen items, etc.).

Chain of Custody – the legal process of documenting the chronological history of pieces of evidence. The documentation includes the signature/initials of each person who at some time or another had possession of a particular piece of evidence. The dates and times of possession are also recorded.

Pre-printed chain of custody label – Sirchie Fingerprint Laboratories

It is not unheard of for each person in “the chain” to be summoned to court to testify that they indeed had possession of a particular piece of evidence at the time documented. And, they’re often asked to explain their purpose of having and handling the evidence.

For example, a laboratory scientist may be in the chain of custody for a suspected marijuana case. Her purpose of possessing the item on, for example, January 12, 2013 was to conduct scientific testing to determine the identity of a green, leafy, plantlike material found inside a wall chase in the bedroom of a suspected drug dealer.

Dying Declaration – Statement about a crime made by a person who is about to die. (“The woman who shot me was…Ima…Ima Gunner.”)

Electrostatic Dust Lifter – A device that electrically charges a piece of plastic film that’s placed over a print made in dust (a shoe or palm print, for example), which in turn causes the dust to adhere to the film. The result is a perfectly captured print that’s ready for photographing.

Author Donna Andrews moves in for a closeup shot of an electrostatic dust lifter at the 2012 Writers’ Police Academy – Sirchie Trainer Robert Skiff

Latent Print – A print that’s not readily visible to the human eye.

Outsole – The portion of shoes or other footwear that contacts the ground.

Projectile Trajectory Analysis – the process used to determine the path traveled by a high-speed object (bullets, arrows, etc.).

Trace Evidence – Small bits of evidence, such as fibers, hairs, glass fragments, gunshot residue, etc.

Gunpowder particle test kit – Sirchie Fingerprint Laboratories

Evidence vacuum for the collection of small/trace evidence – Sirchie Fingerprint Laboratories

 

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Author Melanie Atkins during the Evidence Collection Course at the Sirchie compound near Raleigh, N.C. (Melanie is the “good cop” half of the Castle reviews on this blog) – Patti Phillips photo

By the way, Sirchie Fingerprint Laboratories is a longtime sponsor and supporter of the Writers’ Police Academy. They’ve been there for us, and you, since day one.

Sirchie experts also provided photos and information for my book on police procedure. The company is extremely supportive of writers.

Of course, I was quite familiar with Sirchie long before I began writing. As a police investigator, I used their products for many, many years. They are second to none.

 

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You’ve Got The Cutest Little Baby Face…And A Box Of Swamp Root

Cutest little baby face

 

I often find myself daydreaming about life in the good old days, back when people really had it made. When there was no stress or worry. Why, even writers had it made back then, with all that modern equipment at their disposal—things like fancy typewriters and kerosene lamps.

Yes, those were the days when foreign lands came to you, instead of you having to bother with pesky airplanes and the groping hands of TSA workers.

Speaking of travel, a Saturday trip to town was always a special day. The ladies occasionally took time to be measured for a new pair of shoes, while the men might be inclined to purchase a new collar, or cuffs, for the shirts they often wore for several days between washings.

Feeling a little sickly? No problem. While in town, you could pick up something for your health woes. Like a box of Swamp Root, or Chill Tonic. Swamp Root worked especially well to combat ailing kidneys, livers, and bladders.

However, if your problems were more of the “fanged” type, there was the handy-dandy Vampire Killing Kit.

The Putnam Dye Company guaranteed their products to never fail, and that their products were easier to use than the products of their competitors.

Do you have trouble deciding which coffee to buy? You know, since today’s grocery stores often have one entire aisle devoted to dozens of brands and flavor assortments. Well, “back in the day,” coffee worries weren’t an issue. The choices were Blue Plate Coffee, or…well, Blue Plate Coffee. Sometimes stores managed to carry one or two other brands, but that was about it.

Who knew turtles grew from beans?

Freshly butchered meat was always a treat, even if there were no refrigerators to help discourage bacteria growth and insect invasions.

How about a Sunday afternoon leisurely bike ride through the park?

Saturday clothes washing was easy if you owned an Easy brand electric washing machine.

Central heat meant placing the wood or coal stove in the center of the house, or store.

Freshly baked bread could be purchased directly from a horse-drawn carriage. Or, you could simply ask the telephone operator to connect you with #64, and a loaf of your favorite bread would be waiting for you at the bakery.

You certainly wouldn’t want to forget to grab some hog supplement or meat meal while shopping for fresh produce.

You know, visiting the good old days of times gone by aroused my curiosity, so I asked Sherman and Peabody if they could use the Wayback Machine to send me back to an earlier time in my life.

They agreed, and here’s where I landed—with two strange women who were far too deep into my personal space.

I’m already anxious to return to 2013.

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Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen

Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

 

You gave your all to protect and serve us, and for that we are eternally grateful.

Officer Rod Bradway, 41

Indianapolis Indiana Metropolitan Police Department

September 20, 2013 – Officer Rod Bradway was shot and killed while responding to a domestic dispute at an apartment complex. When he arrived at the address he heard cries for help coming from inside, so he entered and immediately came under fire. Officer Bradway managed to return fire and it was this final act that saved the life of the victim of the domestic violence.

Officer Bradway is survived by his wife and two children.

Deputy Sheriff Daniel Rivera, 32

Broward County Florida Sheriff’s Office

September 21, 2013 – Deputy Daniel Rivera succumbed to injuries received ten days earlier in a single-vehicle auto crash. He is survived by his parents and siblings.

Officer Jon Coutchie, 42

Laguna Beach California Police Department

September 21, 2013 – Officer Jon Coutchie was killed in a motorcycle crash while searching for a speeding vehicle that had fled from other officers.

 

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Lynn Chandler-Willis: Go Ahead – Ask Them A Question

Lynn Chandler-Willis

This was my second year attending the Writers’ Police Academy. Last year, I was in such awe of simply being there I failed to notice one important thing. The instructors, and even the guest speakers, are very…approachable.

They really don’t mind answering really weird questions. The amazing thing about that is most of the instructors aren’t writers—yet—they get it. They get the stuck plots, or the plot twists, or the need for a perfect poison. Probably the only place where you can ask the best way to kill someone and not be looked at strangely. Or arrested.

The Writers’ Police Academy is not a writer’s conference in the grand scheme of things. Yes, there are a lot of writers who attend. Yes, the keynote speaker is usually a NY Times best selling mystery author (this year Lisa Gardner, last year Lee Child) and yes there are books for sale and authors ready and willing to sign. But you won’t find workshops geared toward the craft of writing, other than getting it right from a law enforcement point of view. There are no workshops or panel discussions on pace, or dialogue, or outlining. But there are workshops on blood spatter and collecting evidence.

Lee Child in the driving simulator

Lisa Gardner in the unmarked police car prior to her ride with a covert task force

And those workshop instructors are as approachable as any you’ll find anywhere. The Writers’ Police Academy recruits the leaders in their fields. The top guns. Professor David Pauly, M.F.S., holds a Master of Forensic Science degree from George Washington University. He’s currently the Director of Applied Forensic Science at Methodist University, Fayetteville, NC.

Dave Pauly

Dr. Katherine Ramsland teaches Forensic Psychology and Criminal Justice at DeSales University. She’s a renowned speaker on serial killers and psychopaths and has appeared on 20/20, Larry King Live, and numerous cable programs.

Dr. Katherine Ramsland

Dr. Denene Lofland holds a Ph.D in Pathology and is known for her expertise in DNA, bioterrorism, and new drug discovery.

Dr. Denene Lofland

Robert Skiff is a crime scene evidence collection expert and the Training Manager at Sirchie Fingerprint Laboratories.

Robert Skiff

These men and women can’t help you with your synopsis or tell you whether your dialogue works, but they are more than willing to hold a dialogue with you to help you work through that tricky plot point. They’re approachable. They freely give their email addresses. They’re a mystery writer’s dream come true.

Why do they do it? They enjoy it. And believe it or not, they learn some things, too. Robert Skiff of Sirchie says some of the questions we writers ask helps to keep him on his toes. Writers tend to ask creative questions so it allows the instructors to play the “what if” game, too, to come up with creative answers.

I sat in one of Dave Pauly’s classes with NY Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner. She asked questions, and Dave answered. And it was a really cool moment. I, little ol’ author, was in the same room with this award winning author with 16 million copies of her books in print—and I had the same access to the answers. Last year, I joked with Marcia Clark. Yes — that Marcia Clark. And she’s really, really funny.

Marcia Clark at the session on shallow grave investigations

No matter what you write, you probably have a stack of go-to reference books you frequently use. The instructors and speakers at the Writer’s Police Academy are those books. They’re walking, breathing books of knowledge more than willing to share.

Will I go back to the Writer’s Police Academy? Yes. Why? Because hopefully as my writing career continues to grow, new questions will arise. I’ll move on to the next work in progress which will bring new obstacles, new discoveries, and new ways to kill people. On paper, of course.

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Lynn Chandler-Willis has worked in the corporate world (hated it!), the television news business (fun job) and the newspaper industry (not a fan of the word “apparently” and phrase “according to”). She keeps coming back to fiction because she likes making stuff up and you just can’t do that in the newspaper or television news business.

She was born, raised, and continues to live in the heart of North Carolina within walking distance to her kids and their spouses and her nine grandchildren. She shares her home, and heart, with Sam the cocker spaniel.

She is the author of the best-selling true crime book, Unholy Covenant. Her debut novel, The Rising (Pelican Book Group) was released in July 2013. Chandler-Willis is the 2013 winner of the Minotaur Books/Private Eye Novel Writers of America Best First Private Eye Novel competition for her novel, Wink of an Eye.

You can visit Lynn at LynnChandlerWillis.com

 

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Castle: Valkyrie – A Good Cop/Bad Cop Review

Castle: Valkyrie

 

Well, they’re back, and they’re engaged. Yes, the game is over. The mind-numbing “I love you, do you love me” plot line has ended. Finally.

Beckett accepted Castle’s proposal and then she was off to a new job in the nation’s capital, where she’d step into the role of secret agent. Now, however, while Beckett’s doing her thing in the world of spies, espionage, and treason, Castle’s forced back into the solitary role of mystery writer. And it’s not working for him. Let’s face it, what’s more exciting, chasing bad guys and solving murders, or sitting in an office, alone, banging out plots that you once participated in as part of your daily routine? The mere thought of giving up the action-filled and adrenaline-inducing job is just, well… Hey, wait a minute. That’s what I did. I made the switch from carrying a gun and wearing a badge to sitting in my office, alone, writing about my former career.

Hmm. Now that I think about it, I haven’t been shot at, cut, stabbed, punched, or spit on since I started writing. No wrestling with drunks or getting hit with sticks and stones. No one has urinated in the back seat of my car since I left the business. Or on me, for that matter. No dead bodies in the street. No one has come running toward me with a knife firmly embedded in their neck. And not once, not once, mind you, have I had to kick in someone’s front door to search for an armed-to-the-teeth slime ball who just butchered his wife of 16 years.

But, you know what, I really miss it. So, here, Melanie. Take over while I reminisce for a minute or two.

Melanie Atkins

 Finally, after a long summer of waiting, it’s Castle night! I almost keeled over from suspense before the hiatus ended. What about you? I must have watched the end of last season’s finale at least a thousand times, at regular speed and in slow motion, as I attempted to find anything to give me a clue as to how Kate might respond to Rick’s proposal. My question was the same as tonight’s Twitter hashtag for Castle that trended worldwide: #willshesayyes.

Now, of course, we know she did. And yes, I’m thrilled. Beyond thrilled. Ecstatic. I loved the episode, even though the federal agent-toxic nerve agent thing at the end seemed a bit far-fetched. Who knows if it really is, however, with all the crazy stuff going on in the world today? This is Castle, for crying out loud. I’m willing to suspend my disbelief enough to buy any plot as long as Kate and Rick are together.

Of course, after not seeing each other for six weeks after Kate takes the new job in DC and starts training, they are both climbing the walls until Rick surprises her with a spontaneous visit. Their reunion made me squee, but the scene wasn’t long enough. I wanted more!

Kate is buried in an important classified case, and she can’t tell Rick about it — only, this is Castle, so what’s he going to do? Stick his nose into it anyway, with the help of Ryan and Esposito via phone, and get both himself and Kate into big trouble. He’s such a lovable doofus.

He promises to stay out of the case after Kate reads him the riot act, and all is well until he is abducted at gunpoint by a guy who dies behind the wheel of a car — and they crash. Yikes!

Federal agents arrest Rick, but soon learn he was indeed abducted and had nothing to do with the guy or the case. He heard the man refer to “Valkyrie”, however, and that might possibly pertain to the case. Even so, Kate is afraid she might lose her job if Rick stays in town and keeps popping up, so he volunteers to head home. He doesn’t want to get her into trouble.

Turns out he has his own trouble brewing at home, anyway, in the form of Pi, the new boyfriend Alexis brought home from Costa Rica. Pi is a fruitarian from Amsterdam who rubs Rick the wrong way, and I love it. He’s cute, too. I can’t wait for Kate to meet him.

Linda Edelstein plays Rachel McCord, Kate’s new partner on the federal task force, and she seems a bit put off by Rick. I don’t believe she likes Kate having a fiancé who distracts her from her duties. She certainly doesn’t like Rick sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong. I have a feeling her attitude is going to come back to bite Kate at some point.

Rick keeps investigating once he gets home, of course, even though he promised Kate he wouldn’t — heck, I don’t think he could stop if he tried. He’s too curious. When federal agents turn up at the loft and take him into custody, Rick at first believes they’ve been tracking his Google searches. Or maybe that’s just my wild imagination.

Turns out the real reason they’re bringing him in is much more serious: The man who abducted Rick and forced him into the car in DC, then crashed, died from an aerated toxin filtered through the vehicle’s air vents. So Rick was exposed to the same toxin. He has one day left to live.

Ack! What a cliffhanger! And in the first episode of the season, right after Kate accepts his proposal. Well, so much for relaxing now that the season has begun. I’ll be a nervous wreck until next week. Rick will survive, of course, since he’s the title character, but not without a lot more angst, frustration, and gnashing of teeth.

What did you think of this week’s episode? I loved it. Can’t wait for more engaged Castle!

Lee Lofland

My role in these reviews is to pick apart the police procedure and forensics and then report the good and the bad. Well, there was very little of either in this episode, which made my job easy. Therefore, I was able to enjoy watching and listening to Castle’s one-liners. Of course, Fillion delivered the quick funnies flawlessly, as usual.

After watching Beckett make her transition from street cop to Special Agent Secret Squirrel in what appears to be mere weeks, I’m really hoping that writers out there don’t misunderstand and start penning federal law enforcement training as something that only lasts for a few days, because it’s far more detailed and intense. For example, newly hired Border Patrol agents must attend an 89-day basic training course that includes 105 hours of practical exercise training. The practicals are extremely realistic role-playing exercises where agents are exposed to at least 200 scenarios. Remember the building searches at the Writers’ Police Academy? Well, amplify that intensity by 100 and then do it in a couple hundred different situations, with real people as the bad guys. It is intense.

Anyway, I mentioned the training period because the show seemed to have Beckett in training, yet she was called away to work an extremely high-profile case (sort of like Clarice in the Silence of the Lambs). For starters, there are no lateral transfers from local homicide detective to superstar secret agent. It’s a different business, and everyone, even Beckett, must complete the required training course(s).

And that brings me to Beckett giving up her gun and sliding it to the man who was holding a woman hostage at gunpoint. So, they’ve started the season with Beckett already surrendering her weapon to a bad guy. Sure, the distraction device went “poof” and she was able to get her gun back, but she was lucky. Well, that and the writers made it work out for her. In real life, though, cops never give up their weapons. Suppose the distraction device malfunctioned? There’d she’d be, as she often is, without a gun while the thug then has two.

It would be nice for law enforcement if they had cameras on every single corner in our cities so they could have 24/7 video access to every move a crook makes, but they don’t. There are already more cameras out there than I feel comfortable with, but most of those are owned by private businesses or individuals. The cops do not have immediate access to them, especially in the sense that they can track someone block after block after block as they walk the streets. But, on this show, Secret Squirrel and her new partner have the entire city and everything about it at the touch of an interactive computer screen.

Secret Squirrel Becket and her new partner searching for clues

Beckett, the newest member of the secret agent squad, leads the team on a raid, where she kicks in the door, which, by the way, broke pieces of the door, the door jamb, and the surrounding door casing. First of all, most of the dangerous federal “raids” are conducted by specially-trained teams. Certainly, the newest member of the Secret Squirrel Squad, who is still in training, would not be the lead person through the door. Oh, and the part about the door crashing in with bits of woods flying everywhere. Nah. I’ve seen big, burly 225lb kickboxing cops who kicked and kicked and kicked and the doors never budged an inch. Besides, kicking in doors is pretty much a thing of the past, unless there’s no time to gather the troops and the officers need to gain immediate entry. Nowadays most officers use breaching tools or rams.

Sometimes, though, it pays to check the doorknob. You’d be surprised how many are actually unlocked, and it’s pretty doggone embarrassing to learn this after totally destroying a front door and it’s lock.

Finally, some of you may be wondering about the chemical weapon used to kill the guy in car with Castle. Sure, it’s possible for chemicals to be aerosolized (Syria). Remember, though, that the aerosol cannot be transmitted from one person to another, like a virus. Each person must inhale the aerosol to be affected.

So you tell me. Was the show believable? Or, were the law enforcement aspects just pure silliness. Remember, fiction is just that, something that’s made up to entertain. But believable make-believe is the secret to good fiction. It doesn’t have to be real, just make us believe that it is.

Jack Reacher is the perfect example of believable make-believe, and he’s so good at being a believable character that a few years ago I arrested him (played by Lee Child) for murder. He even confessed to the crime on the witness stand before a judge and jury. I had his signed statement and I had solid physical evidence that he’d committed the crime, including DNA.

Subsequent to Reacher’s public confession, the prosecutor asked the defendant why he killed the man, and Reacher’s reply was short and simple. “Because he needed killing.”

Lee Child as Jack Reacher, “Because he needed killing.”

And, even while knowing that Jack Reacher openly confessed to murdering a man, the jury found him not guilty. The jury foreman was asked why they let Reacher off the hook for murder, and without hesitation she replied, “Because he’s hot!”

The trial was all in fun, but it was a great learning tool, because Lee Child’s believable make-believe works really well, and so should yours.

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Baltimore Bouchercon: Has It Really Been Five Years?

Bouchercon

 

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Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen

Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

 

You gave your all to protect and serve us, and for that we are eternally grateful.

Officer Jamie Buenting, 37

Rockwell City Iowa Police Department

September 13, 2013 – Officer Jamie Buenting was shot and killed during a standoff with a man who had barricaded himself inside his home. The shooter was wanted for felony domestic assault.

Officer Buenting is survived by his wife and two children.

Officer Rodney Wayne Jones, 49

Detroit Michigan Police Department

September 14, 2013 – Officer Rodney Jones was killed in a motorcycle crash during a training and skills event. He is survived by his wife and son.

Sergeant Leonard Robert Luna, Jr., 42

Hawthorne California Police Department

July 8, 2013 – Sergeant Leonard Luna, Jr. was killed when a vehicle struck his motorcycle. He is survived by his parents and brother.

Investigator Michael Dale Stockwell, 45

Orange Beach Alabama Police Department

September 13, 2013 – Investigator Michael Stockwell was killed when a car collided with his unmarked police car at an intersection.

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Judge Bill Hopkins: Why I Did Not Like The Writers’ Police Academy

Judge Bill Hopkins...

Why I did NOT like Writers’ Police Academy

You heard me right. The reason I did NOT like WPA 2013 is that I couldn’t go to every class! It needs to be weeklong and everyone who attends should get paid vacation from his or her employer. Plus gas money and a food allowance.

Other than that, the session was excellent. I went with my wife and mystery writer Sharon Woods Hopkins (www.sharonwoodshopkins.com — buy her books). Together, she and I (www.judgebillhopkins — buy my books) call ourselves The Deadly Duo.

Writing for the both of us, I’ll concentrate on a few of the many things that were outstanding: Kathy Reichs and Lisa Gardner were two of many authors who spoke there. Kathy’s presentation and Lisa’s inspirational talk were worth the price of admission (which is reasonable to start with). It’s always good for novice writers to hear from people who’ve struggled with the same things that they are struggling with.

Let me throw in here that one of the best groups a writer can join is Sisters In Crime. That organization subsidized a lot of the WPA and I thank them for it! Join today  by visiting: http://www.sistersincrime.org/.

EMS and the crime scene scenario gave a realistic version of what a mass casualty crime could look like, including (in our session at least) a real newspaper reporter who was chastised by one of the participants for getting too close to the “action.” The young people (students and first responders) literally gave of their own time so that we writers could learn how things work in the real world.

One of the other favorites we had was the little robot who carried a bomb away from the scene to a safe area where it was exploded. This, as they say, was better than television. Along with the demonstration of the robot, we got information on the physics of an explosion. For example, it’s the concussion from the blast that will kill you, not being thrown through the air (although that certainly won’t do you any good).

But the best part of all was the firearms training simulator. There we were armed with computer guided pistols and were shown video scenarios. If we shot the bad guy or bad girl before they got us, we got points. If we killed an innocent person, we lost points. If we got “killed” we lost. Period.

Now, out of five scenarios, I got the kill shot five times! And Sharon backed me up five times!

The moral here is: Do not mess with the Deadly Duo!

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After two decades on the bench, Bill Hopkins captures readers with his Judge Rosswell Carew murder mysteries. How does a judge manage to wrangle his way into investigating so many crimes? And can he do it without crossing into the dark side himself? Find out by reading the first book in the series, Courting Murder.

Bill-Hopkins-Courting-Murder

Author’s website:

www.judgebillhopkins.com

Author’s FaceBook page:

https://www.facebook.com/judgehopkins

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Sharon Woods Hopkins writes a mystery series featuring Rhetta McCarter, a mortgage banker who drives a 1979 Camaro named Cami. The first book, KILLERWATT came out in 2011. KILLERFIND came out in 2012 and KILLERTRUST, the third in the series will be out in 2013.

Sharon is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the Southeast Missouri Writers’ Guild, and the Missouri Writers’ Guild. Her short story, DEATH BEE HUMBLE, appeared in the SEMO Writer’s Guild Anthology for 2012, and her newest short story, DEATH TO PONDER will be in a mystery anthology this spring.

Her first Rhetta McCarter book, KILLERWATT was a finalist in the 2012 Indie Excellence Awards. Her second book, KILLERFIND was released in July 2012.

Besides writing, Sharon’s hobbies include painting, fishing, photography, flower gardening, and restoring muscle cars with her son, Jeff.

Sharon also spent 30 years as an Appaloosa Horse Club judge, where she was privileged to judge all over the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe.

Like her protagonist, Sharon is manager of the mortgage division of a bank.

She lives on the family compound near Marble Hill, Missouri with her husband, Bill, next door to her son Jeff and his wife Wendy and her grandson Dylan, plus two dogs, one cat and assorted second generation Camaros in various stages of restoration.

Her books, KILLERWATT and KILLERFIND are for sale on www.amazon.com, or directly from her home page at www.sharonwoodshopkins.com, or from the publisher at www.deadlywritespublishing.com or from any Indie bookstore.

 

Her third book, KILLERTRUST will be available in 2013.

 

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Valerie Brown: A Writers Guide To Controlled Substances

Valerie Brown

 

Controlled substances fall under control of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and the state police. Local police and sheriffs become involved when an incident falls under their jurisdiction – or when they are working with federal or state agencies.

Agencies and Organizations

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) enforces the controlled substances laws of the United States. The DEA investigates and prosecutes drug law violators through 226 domestic offices and through 85 international offices. Employees of the DEA include Diversion investigators, Special Agents, Chemists, and Intelligence Research Specialists.

State police regulate the dispensing, storing, and administering of all controlled substances. For example, a physician, pharmacy or researcher in Texas must obtain a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) number to store and prescribe controlled substances.  The Texas Department of Public Safety maintains drug rules for them to follow. See Texas DPS Rules.

 

Laws and regulations

Drug schedules came from legislation and resulted in five categories. Each category depends on the severity of abuse of the substance and its legitimate use in the medical community. These schedules include I-V. Accordingly, each schedule corresponds to an offense for possession and distribution of the substance. 21 U.S.C. United States Code Sections 801, 801a,, 802, 811, 812, 813, and 814 determine when a drug can be placed under a schedule or removed from it.

The Drug Enforcement Administration – along with the Food and Drug Administration – make decisions about changes of the various schedules and substances that fall under them.

Amendments to the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), 21 U.S.C. Food and Drugs include, among others, The Domestic Chemical Diversion and Control Act of 1993 and The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008.

Schedule I substances have a high potential for abuse. Drugs in this schedule include herion (diacetylmorphine), LSD (lysergic acid diethlylamide), marijuana, ecstacy (MDMA), mescaline and peyote, among other highly addictive and controlled substances.

Schedule II substances also have a high potential for abuse. Substances in this category include cocaine, Ritalin ®, opium, methadone, oxycodone, morphine, Adderall, codeine, hydrocodone, PCPC (Phencyclidine and pentobartital.

Schedule III substances lead to a lower potential for abuse than Schedule I and Schedule II substances. These substances include Katramine (a PCP replacement), Vicodin/Tylenol 3, Marinol (used during chemotherapy), anabolic steroids, and testosterone.

Schedule IV has a lower potential for abuse – in relation to drugs in Schedule III. Drugs under Schedule IV include Valium (diazepram), Klonopin (clonazepam), Xanax, Lunesta, Ambien, Phenobarbital, Tramadol, and Soma.

Schedule V substances have a low potential for abuse. They still, however, have to be dispensed for a medical purpose. These substances include Lyrica, cough medicine containing codeine, and Lomotil.

Pharmaceutical companies

Known now as “Big Pharma”, pharmaceutical companies patent drug names that may eventually become generic (as was the case with heroin). Any of these drugs developed for legitimate purposes can be abused or sold on the street level.

United States

Eli Lilly

Drug patents: Zyprexa (patent expired 2011), Prozac (fluoxetine) patent expired 2001

Merck & Co.

Drug patent: Ecstacy (methylenedioxymethamphetamine)

Johnson & Johnson

Drug patent: Concerta (patent expired 2011) – attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Abbott Laboratories

Drug patent: Depakote (valproic acid) anticonvulsant and mood stabilizer for bipolar disorder

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Drug patent: Abilify (anti-depressant and anti-psychotic)

Israel

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Drug patent: Copaxone (to treat multiple sclerosis)

Switzerland

F. Hoffman La Roche Limited

Drug patent: Pegasys (hepatitis C drug) – later the patent was revoked

United Kingdom

GlaxoSmithKline

Drug patent: Paxil (Paroxetine Hydrocloride) – anti-depressant

Germany

Bayer AG

Drug patent: diacetylmorphine – trade named Heroin – for heroisch (German) heroic  (English), was first marketed as a cough suppressant and morphine substitute. Heroin converts to morphine, once metabolized. But because of its high rate of addiction, heroin was eventually no longer used for its original purpose.  It became a Schedule I controlled substance.

However, in Switzerland, clinics dispense free heroin to help users overcome their addition.

Drug paraphernalia

Profits come not only from the illegal sale of controlled substances on the street, but also from the paraphernalia associated with drug manufacturing, sale and use. These are sold mostly in head shops. However, head shop items are not necessary to process, cook, or consume controlled substances. For example, heroin users heat and inhale heroin using aluminum foil. Substances can also be heated using a household items such as a teaspoon or tablespoon.

Growing Threats

Krokodile

Not as common in the United States as in Russia is the flesh eating drug nick-named Krokodile.  Krokodile destroys flesh – leaving bones exposed and even leads to amputation of limbs because of its devastating effects.

http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2078355,00.html

Meth

Methamphetamine can be made from over-the-counter medications. Its use can be devastating – not only in a user’s appearance, but in their internal health. Users commonly end up with sores on their body and face, in addition to “meth mouth” where the teeth become brown and yellow shark teeth – or are eaten away altogether.

Methamphetamine – link before and after shots

Molly

Molly is the drug Ecstacy, now being used with a new name.

Kratom

The Kratom Craze has created another threat to substance abuse.

Conclusion

Writing about controlled substances requires knowing about the Drug Enforcement Agency and the role it plays in enforcement of drug laws. In addition, it helps to become familiar with state police regulation of controlled substances through drug rules. Knowing Schedules I – V and how substances can change from one Schedule to another (over time) is also required.

And despite legitimate patents for controlled substances, there will always be street level drugs that combine controlled substances or at least ones that are used contrary to their original purpose.

Further reading

Rush by Kim Wozencraft

Go Ask Alice, Author Anonymous

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Suzanne

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

*     *     *

Valerie Brown’s interest in law and law enforcement came from her experience with a Law Enforcement Explorers Group, in addition to a trimester law enforcement program. She continued her interest in government and law by graduating from the University of Texas with a B.A. in Government and by completing her M.A. in Legal Studies at Texas State University. She is inspired by her father who was a chief chemist at a major petrochemical company.

*Images – DEA and Wikipedia Commons public domain

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Cookie Monster and the Serial Killer

Cookie monster and serial killer

 

Cookie Monster and the Serial Killer:

A killer’s strange insanity defense involved the beloved puppet

Harrison “Marty” Graham was evicted from his apartment on a sweltering August day in 1987, due to obnoxious odors. Inside, the police found the remains of seven women. Graham, 28, first stated that the bodies had been there when he moved in, but then he confessed to having strangled them all … accidentally.

The first officer to arrive bent down to a keyhole and saw a black woman’s naked legs. He knocked and announced himself. With an investigator from the Medical Examiner’s Office, he forced the door and entered the fetid room.

The nude female, on a mattress, was deceased. She’d been dead for some time. Next to mattress, on a pile of trash, was another female corpse.

A homicide detective joined the search team. Around 3:45 PM, they turned up a third set of remains, wrapped in two sheets and buried under the debris beneath the second body. These were nearly skeletal, but had shreds of clothing. Less than two hours later, the searchers turned up a fourth set of mummified remains inside some sheets.

The fifth body was found around 5:30, pulled out of another area of debris, but the peculiar detail about this one was that he or she (they couldn’t tell) had been sandwiched between two mattresses. The searchers wondered if the evicted tenant had actually slept on the top mattress with the victim underneath, like a dried flower smashed between pages of a book.

It appeared as though the tenant had resided in one room and had kept the adjoining room as his own private mausoleum. Another two hours went by before a sixth body was located crammed inside a tiny six-inch deep closet, sitting up, wrapped in a sheet and tied with white electrical cord. Another decomposed body was found outside the window, on the roof.

The search was on for the evicted tenant. When he left, Graham had taken a water bottle, some items of clothing and his raggedy blue Cookie Monster.

Investigators learned that Graham was known to take long walks and play basketball with local kids. He liked to entertain them with his Cookie Monster. Other neighbors said he was a loner, but when he got drunk he’d act a “little crazy.” He talked to his puppet all the time.

Graham was arrested on the streets. He finally confessed to killing the women found in his apartment, but was hazy on the details. He’d accidentally killed them during sex, he admitted, under the influence of drugs. He was full of remorse.

Eventually, he went to trial. Among the seized evidence was his Cookie Monster puppet, which he asked to have back. “I sleep with that,” he said. But the puppet remained in evidence.

Defense attorney Joel Moldovsky had prepared well for his client: it wasn’t just insanity, he said, these acts had been due to Graham’s multiple personality disorder. Harrison Frank Graham, Jr. was presented as having three distinct personalities. “Frank” was a foul-mouthed drug addict and murderer; “Junior” was an unmanageable two-year-old who adored the Cookie Monster, and “Marty” was the likeable handyman who had complied with the police.

Graham chose to have the judge decide his case. Apparently his attorney and his mother had convinced him that the graphic evidence would strongly offend a jury.

The prosecutor offered some powerful witnesses. Two women said they’d lived with Graham and survived, but just barely. One testified that during sex he would place his hands around her throat and squeeze. Several times she’d thought he was killing her. He’d told her, she said, that he’d killed one of his former girlfriends in anger.

The second witness confirmed that Graham had confessed to this killing. He’d also threatened her with a machete.

Moldovsky asked this witness to pull the crusty Cookie Monster puppet out of a bag of items. She did not want to touch it, but she did admit that he’d chatted with it every day that she’d lived with him

A psychiatrist for the defense said that since Graham had said he could not recall the first five murders, it was not possible to judge his mental state at the time of those crimes. However, during the last two incidents, he’d hallucinated the voices of both God and the devil. Thus, he had been psychotic.

Nevertheless, the judge found Graham guilty on all counts of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse. Graham just blinked and shook his head. Moldovsky later told reporters, “I assume he knows he was found guilty, but I’m not sure.” Graham asked to have his Cookie Monster back.

The sentences were a mix of both life without parole and death. In an unusual move, the judge decided that Graham should not to be executed until after he’d served the life sentence. Moldovsky found this ruling to be “Solomonic” and compassionate. It meant that Graham had received a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

However, his sentence went through a round of unusual challenges until the death sentences were vacated in 2003, due to his low IQ and indicators of early-onset mental illness. He was considered not competent to be executed.

Behind bars, he became an ordained minister.

Dr. Katherine Ramsland is a professor of forensic psychology at DeSales University in Pennsylvania, where she also teaches criminal justice. She holds a master’s in forensic psychology from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a master’s in clinical psychology from Duquesne University, a master’s in criminal justice from DeSales University, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Rutgers. She has been a therapist and a consultant. Dr. Ramsland has published over 1,000 articles and 46 books, including:

Snap! Seizing Your Aha Moments

Paranormal Forensics

The Mind of Murder a Murderer: Privileged Access to the Demons that Drive Extreme Violence

Inside the Minds of Serial Killers

The Forensic Psychology of Criminal Minds

The Forensic Science of CSI

The Criminal Mind: A Writer’s Guide to Forensic Psychology

True Stories of CSI

Beating the Devil’s Game: A History of Forensic Science and Criminal Investigation

Inside the Minds of Healthcare Serial Killers

Inside the Minds of Mass Murderers

The Human Predator: A Historical Chronology of Serial Murder and Forensic Investigation

Psychopath

The Vampire Trap

The Ivy-League Killer

Piercing the Darkness: Undercover with Vampires in America Today

Dr. Ramsland’s background in forensics positioned her to assist former FBI profiler John Douglas on his book, The Cases that Haunt Us, to co-write a book with former FBI profiler, Gregg McCrary, The Unknown Darkness, to collaborate on A Voice for the Dead with attorney James E. Starrs on his exhumation projects, and to co-write a forensic textbook with renowned criminalist Henry C. Lee, The Real World of a Forensic Scientist.

For seven years, she contributed regularly to Court TV’s Crime Library, and now writes a column on investigative forensics for The Forensic Examiner and a column on character psychology for Sisters in Crime; offers trainings for law enforcement and attorneys; and speaks internationally about forensic psychology, forensic science, and serial murder. She has appeared on numerous cable network documentaries, as well as such programs as The Today Show, 20/20, Montel Williams, NPR, Larry King Live and E! True Hollywood. For ID, she spoke as a recurring expert on the series, American Occult and Wicked Attractions.

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