PROBLEMS OF SOLVING THE QUESTION AS TO DETERMINATION OF THE HEIGHT OF A PERSON BY SHOE BOTTOM TRACES DETECTED AT THE CRIME SCENE

Abstract

Human footprints and footwear traces were one of the first well-studied forensic objects of examination. This is due to the fact that these traces are most often found at the scene of the incident, as well as by the fact that they contain most valuable and significant information needed for criminal investigation. Forensic examination of footprints and footwear traces of a person are among the most common trace evidence examinations encountered in practice, and defining a human height based on footprints is relevant and important in terms of obtaining primary (up-to-date), and later evidentiary information for a successful investigation and crime detection. The approximate height of a person, as indicated in the current trace evidence literature, can be established by using a certain number of the most common methods, one of which is to establish height by the total length of the trace. However, the existing today methods for calculating human height by foot traces (footprints) have certain disadvantages, which are mentioned in this article.

The article purpose is to analyze current known methods and techniques for determining human height by footwear (feet) traces, conducting practical research on a given topic, indicating objective defects and the presence of a number of errors that are not taken into account while calculations, formulation of a reasonable conclusion based on the analyzed results of an examination.

In the course of the analysis of forensic practice, a number of problematic issues was identified that make it difficult to objectively determine a person’s height by footwear traces, namely: non-conformity between the real value of human height and the height value calculated according to the most common formulas given in the forensic literature; non-compliance with standards by manufacturers while the production of shoes; lack of catalogues on shoe production, information on trace formation and the environment when examining a crime scene. All the above factors have a significant impact on the establishment of real human height by foot traces (footprints), and the absence or variability of at least one of these indicators leads to significant differences in the final values. Our research has shown that each individual foot length corresponds to not one, but several height indicators at once. At the same time the limit intervals of the height range are not the same for all foot lengths (3-20 cm for men and 6-20 cm for women). The above-mentioned discrepancies in the data are unacceptable while criminal investigation for the persons involved in crimes commission.

The methods of establishing a person’s height described in the forensic literature are imperfect and require modification or revision. The conducted analysis indicates the necessity for further research on correlation dependence of the foot length and a person height taking into account all variables of indicators which have been listed above, since the efficiency of the way for establishing a person height by foot and footwear traces will depend on the right adjustment of the given parameter.