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Questioned sample

material collected as or from items of evidence which have a known location but an unknown originating source. (4)

Discussion—Soil evidence of unknown origin, or questioned soil sample, typically consists of: debris adhering to an evidentiary object or exhibit (3) (for example, tire, wheel well, garment, shoe, digging tool); foreign soil left at a crime scene (for example, transferred from a shoe/tire, or adhering to a re-buried body/object); or debris recovered from on or within a body (for example, nasal, stomach, or lung contents).

Committee
Trace Materials
Date Added to Lexicon
Standard Source (Designation Number Title of Standard. Publisher, Place, Year.)
ANSI/ASTM E3272-23 Standard Guide for Collection of Soils and Other Geological Evidence for Criminal Forensic Applications. ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428, 2023. Source link(link is external)
Reprinted, with permission, from ASTM, copyright ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428. A copy of the complete standard may be purchased from ASTM International, https://www.astm.org(link is external)