ASTM_E_1020_-_13e1.pdf

Designation:E1020131Standard Practice forReporting Incidents that May Involve Criminal or CivilLitigation1This standard is issued under the fixed designation E1020;the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or,in the case of revision,the year of last revision.A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.Asuperscript epsilon()indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.1NOTEEditorial corrections were made to 5.1.3 in March 2014.1.Scope1.1 This practice covers guidelines for the collection andpreservation of information and physical evidence and thepreparation of a documentation report relative to any inci-dent(s)involving personal injury,property damage,commer-cial loss,or criminal acts which may reasonably be expected tobe the subject of litigation.1.2 The approach outlined is recommended as good profes-sional practice even though the facts and issues of eachsituation require specific consideration,and may involve mat-ters not expressly dealt with herein.Not every portion of thisdocument may be applicable to every incident or investigation.It is up to the individual preparing the report to apply theappropriate recommended procedures in this guide to a par-ticular incident or investigation.In addition,it is recognizedthat time and resource limitations or existing policies may limitthe degree to which the recommendations in this document willbe applied in a given investigation.The responsibility of theindividual preparing the report(or anyone who handles orexamines evidence)for evidence preservation,and the scope ofthat responsibility varies based on such factors as thejurisdiction,the status of the individual as a public official orprivate sector investigator,indications of criminal conduct,andapplicable laws and regulations.1.2.1 This practice does not apply to laboratory analysisreports.1.2.2 If compliance with this standard is claimed,justifica-tions for any deviations from this standard must be docu-mented.2.Referenced Documents2.1 ASTM Standards:2E620 Practice for Reporting Opinions of Scientific or Tech-nical ExpertsE1459 Guide for Physical Evidence Labeling and RelatedDocumentation3.Significance and Use3.1 This practice is intended to provide a complete writtenaccount of the case at hand in such a fashion as to allowanother individual to interpret the particulars of the incident.3.2 This practice is suggested for documenting transitoryconditions and data that may change shortly after an incidentand be lost forever if not properly and promptly documented.3.3 The primary use of this practice is to preserve pertinentinformation for use by technical experts and other technicalpersonnel who may be called upon to reconstruct the eventssurrounding the incident.4.General4.1 The report described in this practice may be prepared byany person(s)in a formal capacity.Persons investigating in aformal capacity include but may not be limited to international,federal,state and local officials,employers,owners,insurancepersonnel,and other technical experts.4.2 The data documented by the report shall be factual andshould not contain opinions,hypotheses,judgments,orconclusions,nor should this report fix blame.For guidance onreporting opinions,refer to Practice E620.5.Content5.1 An incident report should contain the following:1This practice is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee E30 on ForensicSciences and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee E30.11 on Interdisciplin-ary Forensic Science Standards.Current edition approved June 1,2013.Published July 2013.Originally approvedin 1984.Last previous edition approved in 2006 as E1020 96(2006).DOI:10.1520/E1020-13E01.2For referenced ASTM standards,visit the ASTM website,www.astm.org,orcontact ASTM Customer Service at serviceastm.org.For Annual Book of ASTMStandards volume information,refer to the standards Document Summary page onthe ASTM website.Copyright ASTM International,100 Barr Harbor Drive,PO Box C700,West Conshohocken,PA 19428-2959.United States1 5.1.1 Detailed chronological narrative of what occurredbefore,during,and immediately after the incident;includingany associated personal injury,property damage,commercialloss,or suspected criminal activity.The sources of informationshall be identified.5.1.2 Photographs which accurately and fairly identify anddepict the scene,the items,or systems involved in the incident,and the post-incident conditions.Photographs should be takenfrom many directions and should include overall site views,overall item and system views,intermediate views,andclose-up views.5.1.2.1 Appropriate dimensional reference scales should beused for close-up views.5.1.3 Identification of items or systems involved in theincident.This may include manufacturer,model number,serialnumber,and date of manufacture.5.1.4 Identification of the persons involved in,and allknown witnesses to,the incident.If possible,witness state-ments should be obtained.Identification should