MTA Investigation Techniques 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An officer finds a discarded gun near a shooting scene. What is the correct first step in handling this evidence?
- Pick it up bare-handed to examine the serial number
- Leave it untouched and notify the evidence technician (Correct answer)
- Unload it and place it in a paper bag
- Wipe it clean and bring it to the precinct
Correct answer: Leave it untouched and notify the evidence technician
Physical evidence should not be touched or moved until a trained evidence technician documents and properly collects it.
Question 2: During a homicide investigation, which document is used to track the possession and movement of physical evidence?
- Incident report
- Chain of custody log (Correct answer)
- Arrest report
- DD-5 supplementary report
Correct answer: Chain of custody log
The chain of custody log records every person who handles evidence, ensuring its integrity for court proceedings.
Question 3: An investigator discovers that a key witness has a prior felony conviction. How should this affect the investigation?
- The witness should be automatically disqualified
- The witness's testimony should be disregarded entirely
- The conviction should be noted, as it may affect credibility but does not disqualify testimony (Correct answer)
- The officer should arrest the witness
Correct answer: The conviction should be noted, as it may affect credibility but does not disqualify testimony
A prior felony conviction affects a witness's credibility, which is evaluated by the jury, but does not automatically disqualify them from testifying.
Question 4: What is the primary purpose of crime scene sketching?
- To replace crime scene photographs
- To provide an accurate, scaled record of the scene's layout and evidence locations (Correct answer)
- To show where officers were standing
- To satisfy administrative requirements only
Correct answer: To provide an accurate, scaled record of the scene's layout and evidence locations
Crime scene sketches provide a precise, scaled diagram that captures spatial relationships between evidence and landmarks.
Question 5: During a robbery investigation, you learn a pawn shop employee recognized the stolen property. This is an example of which investigative lead?
- Informant tip
- Record check lead
- Community canvass lead (Correct answer)
- Documentary evidence lead
Correct answer: Community canvass lead
Identifying stolen property through community members such as pawn shop employees is a result of a community canvass effort.
Question 6: Which of the following BEST describes a 'dying declaration'?
- A statement made by a witness before testifying in court
- A statement made by a victim who believes death is imminent, about the cause of their death (Correct answer)
- Any statement made in a hospital
- A statement made by a terminally ill suspect
Correct answer: A statement made by a victim who believes death is imminent, about the cause of their death
A dying declaration is an exception to the hearsay rule and applies to statements made by a victim who believes they are about to die regarding the circumstances of their death.
Question 7: A police officer obtains a confession after refusing to allow a suspect food and water for 12 hours. This confession is likely to be:
- Admissible because it was voluntary
- Inadmissible because it was coerced (Correct answer)
- Admissible if witnessed by two officers
- Inadmissible only if the suspect requests a lawyer
Correct answer: Inadmissible because it was coerced
Confessions obtained through physical deprivation are considered coerced and involuntary, making them inadmissible.
MTA Investigation Techniques 3
An officer finds a discarded gun near a shooting scene.
What is the correct first step in handling this evidence?