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PAGE TWENTY-TWO
James W. Morgan is Author of
"Police" Article in Magazine
Atty. James W Morgan of
Covington, a former special
• gent for the FEI in Washing
ton, D. C., Newark, New Jer
•cy and New York City, is the
author of an article in the
July-August issue of POLICE
Magazine, a journal covering
the professional interests of
all law enforcement personnel.
He is now Special Agent for
the National Board of Fire
Underwrit «rs.
The title of the article is “As
The Court Sees It.”
About the author: Mr. Mor
gan is a graduate of Georgia
Military College and Walter F.
George School of Law. Mercer i
University, Macon, Georgia
and received the LL.B, degree
and was admitted to practice
hw in January, 1952. He is a
veteran of World W’ar II with
t e U.S. Navy and later com
n "ioned Second Lieutenant,
US. Army Reserve, and grad
mted as Distinguished Military
Student. He served as Special
Arent for the FBI in Washing
ton. D.C., Newark, New Jersey
and New York City from 1952-
1958. Mr. Morgan joined the
»taff of Special Investigators,
Arson Department, The Na
tional Board of Fire Under
u iters. New York City, in i
December, 1958. He is assign
ed to the home territory of
North and Middle Georgia re
presenting the National
Board. He has been a
speaker on programs of the
Annual Arson Seminar, Geor
gia Tech and also the Arson
Detection and Investigative
Seminar in Orlando, Florida.
The use of photography in
criminal investigation dates
back to 1854 in Switzerland and
by 1860, important crime scenes
had been photographed. Paris,
France was the first city in the
world to establish a photogra
phic studio for the police.
During the past two decades
strides have been made in the
arts and sciences where today
photographs are used daily in
courts as a means of presenting
to the jury factual evidence
material to the issue involved.
The essential facts of a case
are presented directly to the
jury by the testimony of pho
tographs.
Photographs Impart to the
mind a meaning in the language
of form, shadow and color in
stead of spoken or written
words. The photographs may
be more intelligible and per
suasive than if they spoke in
words. Photographs have be
come so important in the field
of criminal investigations and
the field of evidence that the
subject now merits separate
treatment by legal scholars.
Why do we sometime refer
to the photograph as the silent
witness? Sunlight, electric or
artificial light and chemical
processes unite to make a pho
tograph. It portrays in its own
way the appearance of build
ings, fire scenes and persons.
These things sometimes cannot
be viewed by the court or jury,
therefore the photograph be
comes real or demonstrative
evidence. The photograph pre
sents a true image of things
for inspection by the jury. For
ti s reason, we think of the
pantograph as a witness.
Photographs are used and
p Emitted into evidence in the
i arity of arson investigations
a Illustrative Evidence. That
is to explain the testimony of
a witness. They form a similar
service as maps, diagrams and
sketches. Photographs, when
u<ed to illustrate testimony of;
the human witness, are not in I
themselves direct evidence !
They have no probative value !
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JAMES W. MORGAN
without the testimony of the
witnes. Photographs used as
such and standing alone do not
prove the fact in controversy.
However, photographs some
time take on the double char
acter of illustrative evidence
and that of an independent
witness to portray the facts it
represents. An example could
be the over-all photograph of
! a building showing two sepa
rate unconnected points of
burning. Sometimes the pho
tographs. when authenticated
and adopted may acquire a
link in the story being told and
as such have an independent
probative value. They could be
direct evidence in this case. If
shown to be competent and if
their story is material, they
tell the story themselves as a
silent witness. Photographs ad
mitted into evidence for this
purpose trace back to the prin
ciple of allowing a view of the
scene by the jury.
The photograph, in a sense,
acts as a substitute for tne
view of places or objects which
the court and jury, in many
cases, are allowed to have.
Many times this view could
not be had conveniently. If so,
the human testimony or de
scription, or the photographic
description, would not be ne
cessary if the court could see
i the objects, their location, and
their position as originally
found.
Today our complicated court
systems have created such a
lapse of time from the date of
the offense until the trial that
personal view by the jury has
become less practicable. Some
times, there can be no view as
the subject matter is no longer
in existence or because of a
great inconvenience to the
court. In this event, it is ne
cessary to substitute photo
graphs.
Generally speaking, the fol
lowing rules of evidence must
be kept in mind when taking
photographs:
(1) Photographs are admis
sible as evidence in criminal
cases upon the same principles
and rules governing their ad
mission in civil cases.
(2) Like diagrams, maps,
plans and similar items, photo
graphs are admissible as evi
dence to picture a place, per
son, situation or thing, for the
purpose of explaining and ap
plying the evidence and assist
ing the court and jury in un
derstanding the case. (Smith
v. State of Georgia, 202 Ga.
851; Fulton v. Choutean Coun
ty Farmers Co., 98 Mont. 48, 37
Pac. 2d 1025 and cited cases.)
(3) Photographs must be au
thenticated by showing they
represent the thing in question
i and are a true and fair repre
sentation of it. (Johnson v.
I State of Ga , 158 Ga. 192, 123
S.E. 120 (1924); Atlantic Coast
Line R. Co. v. Mish (1930), 128
Fla. 1246, 128 So. 839.)
(4) In authentication of the
photographs, the testimony of
the photographer is not re
quired. (Hill v. State, 201 Ga.
300 (6), 39 S.E. 2d 675 (1946.)
It is sufficient in regard to au
thentication if the witness
knows the scene or thing re
presented and can testify it is
a fair and truthful representa
tion of it. (9 A.L.R. 2d 899, 912;
Hill v. State, 201 Ga. 300 (6),
39 S.E. 2d 675 (1946); Sanders
v. State (1941), 66 Ga. App.
123, 17 S.E. 2d 251.) The testi
mony that this photograph is a :
correct representation is not
objectionable as a statement of
(Evans v. State (1944), 70 Ga.
App. 500, 28 S.E. 2d 671). The
witness needs only to say the
photograph is a correct repre
sentation of the scene or thing
and it is not necessary for him to
have seen the photographer
take the picture (9 A.L.R*. 2nd,
899, 913; Hebbe v. Maple
Creek (1904), 121 Wis. 688, 99
N.W. 442). However it is de
sirable that the photographer
who took the picture be called
to verify the photograph. .
(Thompson v. DeLong (1920),
267 Pa. 212, 110 A. 251, 9
A.L.R. 1326.) Verification is
ordinarily made by the person
who took the picture offered in
evidence. (People v. Doggett
(1948), 83 Ca. App. 2d, 405, ,
188 P. 2d 792.) It has been (
held that a professional pho- (
tographer is at least “prima ।
facie evidence” that the pho- (
tographs were properly taken. ,
His affirmation that they re- ,
present what he observed could
be implied from his very oath.
(State v. Mammion (1927), 82
N.H. 518, 136 A. 358.) (
(5) A substantial change in
the condition of things shown ,
in a photograph between the
time relating to the question .
or thing involved and the time ■
the photograph was taken may
render the photographs inad
missible. Slight changes will (
not render them inadmissible. (
(20 Am. Jur. 611-614, Evidence,
Sec. 731-734.) However, these ,
changes of conditions must be ।
fully explained (Georgia Pow- ।
er Company v. Gillespie
(1934), 48 Ga. App. 688, 173 .
S.E. 755; State v. Strong
(1912), 83 N.J.L. 177, 83 A. j
506).
(6) Photographs, having once: 1
been e.tab'ished as competent
or a true representation, must
then be material to the issue or
ihave a logical connection with
the event. (Palmer v. Edgerly,
87 N.H. 391, 181 A. 125, 181
A. 419.)
(7) Motion pictures are gen
erally admitted into evidence
under the same rules as still
pictures. They are a series of
single photographs. However,
they are subject to careful
scrutiny. (Geiman v. Market
St. Ry. Co., 21 Cal. App. 2d.,
311.) In the case of “People v.
Dabb(l94B), 32 Cal. 2d 491, 197
P. 2d 1” where a sound motion ;
picture was admitted into evi
dence showing the reenactment
of a crime by the defendants
with the assistance of a police
officer, the court ruled as fol
lows:
Protection against falsifica
tion or misrepresentation lies
in the requirement of prelimi
nary proof that the picture is (
an accurate reproduction of the
scene or event which it depicts
and in the opportunity for cross
examination of the witness ,
making such proof. In the ।
present case before introducing ।
the film in evidence, several ;
persons testified to the cir
cumstances surrounding the
filming, including the method
of determining where the cam
era should be set up and op
erated. There was testimony
that the film to be shown to ;
the jury was the identical one
which had been exposed while ,
the crimes were being reenact
ed, and that it accurately por- ।
trayed what took place at the ।
time.” i
(8) Pictures taken in natural
color acquire from that pro
cess no new characteristics ;
which affect their admissi
bility. I am referring to color
photographs made through ।
modern scientific processes to
reproduce color and not those
colored by hand. Color photo- ।
graphs speak more truly as
they give evidence in more de- ।
tail as to color and form.
The widespread use of color ;
photography is relatively re- <
cent and very few cases have :
been located through legal re
search dealing with the color
ed photograph as such. This
is because the courts have
treated colored photographs as
ordinary photographs in black
and white from the standpoint
of admissibility. It has been
said "When relevant and when
properly verified, it would i
seem that there should be no;
question as to their admissibil- |
ity, for by showing the actuali
color of a subject they are even
more a faithful type of repro
duction than black and white
ten has evidential value” (Scott,
I Photographic Evidence, p. 515,;
| Sec. 627). ।
TH! COVINGTON NEWS
This is very true in fire in
vestigations as color can show
shades of burning and patterns
of burning. Colored sides have
been used in connection with
medical testimony showing a
fatal wound (State v. Long
(1952), 195 O.R. 81, 244 P. 2d
1033).
Colored sliaes snowing a
murder victim fully clothed
and lying on a blood stained
floor have been admitted in
evidence (State v. McMullan
(1953), 223 La. 629, 66 So. 2d
574). Enlargements of color
slides by projecting them on
a screen by means of a projec
tor to a size of 4 feet square
have been admitted. (State v.
Sheppard (1955), 100 Ohio
App. 345. 60 Ohio Ops. 298,
128 N.E. 2d 471.)
(9) The question of the ad
missibility in evidence of aerial
photographs has arisen in only
a few cases as their use is rela
tively rare. There seems to be
no distinction between aerial
and other type of photographs
providing they are relevant
and are verified as correct re
presentations. (57 A.L.R. 2d
1351; Wise v. Abilene (194),
Tax Civ. App., 141 S.W. 2d
400.)
Just as a witness may give
false testimony, a photograph
may also falsify. Photographs
may not accurately represent
the facts as they appeared,
they can be distorted. A smart
defense counsel may be able to
discredit the photographs in
the eyes of the jury by thor
oughly cross - examining the
witness. He could do so by
showing the following:
1. Failure to print the entire
negative.
2. Use of light to produce
emphasis or contrasts.
3. Failure to print to color
scale.
4. Exaggerating or eliminat
ing objects or color by use of
filters.
5. Retouching the negatives.
6. Failure to take into ac
count alterations in physical
conditions.
7. Use of lense which produce
unrealistic distance perspec
tive.
8. Reversing the negative.
Accordingly, when taking
photographs, the investigator
should make notes of the fol
lowing:
1. Witnesses present when
the photograph was taken.
2. Make and type of camera
used.
3. F Stop or Diaphragm open
ing. (F 22, F 16, etc.)
4. Type of lens.
5. Speed of shutter on each
shot. (1/100, 1/50)
6. Name and type of film
used. Speed of the film.
7. Any filters used.
8. Type of light such as sun
light, cloud, flash bulb, etc.
9. Number each shot taken as
No. 1,2, 3, etc.
10. Indicate descriptive data
in a notebook for each shot
giving location, distance from
subject, etc.
11. Data as to developing
process or the name of the per
son who developed the film.
12. Disposition of the nega
tives and in whose custody
they have remained.
So often the question “What
type of camera should be used
in arson investigation,” is ask
ed. The equipment should be
as adequate as the allowance
permits. Some larger depart
ments have excellent photo
graphic equipment including
dark room facilities for their
own processing of films. The
Speed Graphic with 4 x 5 at
tachments seems to be the most
popular camera with various
law enforcement and fire in
vestigative agencies. The thing
to consider in the selection of
a camera is the amount of
space available while traveling
and the method of travel. I use
a Graphic 35 mm which has a
lens speed of F-35 to F-22, and
can be focused through the use
of a rangefinder window. The
shutter speed can be adjusted
up to 1/300 of a second and
there is a synchronized flash
attachment. An exposure meter
is also necessary. Other minia
ture cameras such as the Argus
C-3, or C-4, Kodac Tourist and
Kodac 120 are suitable for pho
tographs. It is best to have a
camera with an eye-level view
finder as some reflex type cam
era could prove to be very dif
ficult to use. Especially should
you have to take a picture eith
er directly above or below a
fire scene.
All arson investigators should
have a working knowledge of
photography. Although in some
instances he might employ the
services of a commercial pho
tographer. he is in a better po
sition to direct the work of the
commercial photographer if the
investigator has some knowl
edge of how to take and iden
tify photographs.
The Purpose of this article
is not to teach how to take
pictures. In the first place I
need to learn a lot about tak
ing pictures myself and the
time allotted would only con
fuse the subject. Photography
।is not expensive considering
the importance of photograph
ing fire scenes and evidence
before it is removed or lost.
All arson investigators should
have some knowledge of pho
tography as the services of
persons who do have such a
knowledge are not always
available. If it is not possible
for you to attend a school of
photography or obtain training
from an experienced photogra
pher, then some reading and
practice with a few rolls of
film could give you a working
knowledge. Any picture taken
is better than no picture at all.
I have been asKed to touch
upon the subject of how to
photograph a fire scene. Pos
sibly eny article you read
would give you different ideas
on this subject and more than
likely each situation would be
approached in a different man
ner. So many times when we
investigate a fire, we have no
idea of what we might find at
the scene. The naked eye can
miss a lot whereas the camera
lens can pick up most of the
details.
The rule at any fire scene is
to take too many photographs
rather than too few. The safe
procedure is to take photo
graphs of the outside area of
the building showing all sides
of the building, all windows
and doors, any evidence of foot
prints, tire tracks, or tool
marks. If something looks un
usual or out of place, photo
graph it. As the search pro
ceeds, photograph in orderly
sequence the area searched
and when the point of origin
is reached or pinpointed, pho
graph this area from several
different angles. Should there
be two or more points of ori
gin, photograph each and then
make a series of photos of
continuing overlapping sections
of the room. That is if you do
not have a wide angle lens
and cannot get the entire room
into one shot.
It is elementary that any
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evidence such as trailers, in
cendiary devices and flamma
ble liquids which are foreign
to the premises would be pho
tographed as found or uncov
ered. Additional photographs
to identify the outstanding fea
tures of the evidence will be
made as required for full iden
tification.
The purpose of any fire scene
research is to determine the
cause and the person responsi
ble for the fire. Therefore, we
want to photograph all evi
dence which will ail the inves
tigator in court to establish the
corpus delicti and fix the re
sponsibility. Because of the
highly difficult work of the
arson investigator, he should
use every technical assistance
available and throughout the
investigation should make sure
that all photographs will meet
the legal requirements in or
der to have them admitted in
evidence.
Annual Fellowship
Program Held at
Cousins School
The R. L. Cousins School
Adult Class brought to a close
its year’s work with its annual
fellowship program Tuesday
night. July 10, 1962 at 8 P. M.
Dr. C. L. Ellison, Chairman of
the Division of Agriculture at
the Fort Valley State College
was guest speaker. Throughout
his address he stressed the im
portance of Negroes using their
time, money and property wise
ly. His subject was, "Improv
ing the Economic Status of Ne
groes in This Age”.
The purposes of this program
were to: inform the public of
our class efforts, increase our
attendance, improve the rela
tionship of all agencies in the
County and to fellowship in a
family-like manner with class
members, relatives and friends.
y--— ——————
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FREE KOREA—Near almost
any U. S. Air Force or Army
Base in Korea, there is an or
phanage which had its begin
ning in the warmth and under
standing of the American G.I.
Many of these orphaned young
Koreans now hold their heads
high and have hope because
Americans cared enough to help
the many energetic Koreans
■who also cared enough to help
establish and maintain these
orphanages.
Here, at Osan (Air Base)
Boy’s Town this young man is
stepping into the town’s school
—the shoes of his foster broth
ers and sisters are mute evi
dence to the fact that this school
provides the education so neces
sary to any free nation’s sur
vival.
These orphanages throughout
Free Korea are part of the
“Help - Hope - Build” program
of The American Korean Foun
dation of 345 East 46th Street,
New York City, which serves as
the agency for voluntary giving
for Korean needs by the Ameri
can people.
This informative program
was climaxed with a delicious
Bar-B-Que dinner. Plans were
made to accommodate some
200 persons. The affair was
sponsored by the members of
the Farmers Adult Class with
Eddie L. Murphy, Jr. as the ad
viser.
Thursday, July 19, 1968
BOY SCOUT NEWS
TROOP 222
On July 8, Scout Troop 222,
with 16 boys and one leader
started its week at Camp Be.t
Adams. This is the place where
Scouting of all phases is taught
and lived. The campers day
started at 7 a. m. and from this
time until 4:30 each day the
scout was busy with some phase
of scout skills. The troop as a
whole took in nature study,
hiking, canoeing, boating, for
estry, archery and Indian Lore.
The individual scout then had
two periods every day to which
he studied and worked on t h •
badges of his choice.
The evenings were devoted to
games and visiting at the trad
ing post. Each Wednesday night
an Indian Pageant is given bv
the camp staff. The pageant is
most interesting and gives t'e
boys a feeling that they are in
the midst of Indians. Also on
Wednesday evening, the scouts
and their families were t h a
guests of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence
Henderson to a delightful bar
becued chicken supper.
The following awards weie
made: Paul Bunyon Award.
Fred Alexander, John Calla
way, Slade Exley, Leslie Ful
ler, Danny Harwell, David Hen
derson, Joseph Ivey, Jimm v
Johnson, Phil Johnson, Bruco
McCullough, Jack Morgan, Jud
Callaway and Gary Patrick.
Maxie Baughan Physical Fit
ness Award: Danny Harwell,
Jud Callaway and John Calla
way. One Mile Swim: Mike
Pratt, Jimmy Alexander, Jud
Callaway, John Callaway, Dan
ny Harwell, Slade Exley and
Bruce McCullough. Forestry
Merit Badge: Jud Callaway and
Leslie Fuller. Canoeing Merit
Badge: Johnny Johnson, Phil
Johnson and David Henderson.
As the week ended all those
that attended found that they
had grown in Scout Crafts and
Skills and were ready to re
turn home to do a better job
in the community.