Blood and Semen Stains on Outer Clothing and Shoes not Related to Crime: Report of a Survey Using Presumptive Tests

In many crimes blood and semen stains play an important part in the conclusions that a forensic scientist will present in court as evidence. There is, however, an absence of data relating to the frequency of occurrence of blood and semen stains on clothing unrelated to crime. This was discussed by Tryhorn [1], who said: One need only consider the frequency with which evidence regarding blood and semen stains is produced in court, to realise the need for data relating to the relative frequency of occurrence of such stains on garments in no wise related to crimes; for example, on one hundred garments chosen at random from miscellaneous sources, how many would show blood stains, how many semen stains? Questions such as these must arise in court, and answers based on experimental investigation would prove of considerable value in assessing evidence of this type.