Creative Graphics

Detective in Forensic Services uses
CorelDRAW® 12 to present the evidence“As far as I’m concerned, CorelDRAW is
the best thing since sliced bread.”
Detective John Brunetti
West Haven Police Department
West Haven, Connecticut

Detective John Brunetti
works in the Forensic
Services Division at West
Haven Police Department
in Connecticut. Much likethe fictional heroes in the
popular TV series CSI, he
investigates crime scenes
and presents the evidence
to State’s Attorney Mary
Galvin, and otherprosecutors in her office.
“I use CorelDRAW
Graphics Suite 12 every
day in my work,” says
Detective Brunetti. “WhenI’m testifying in court, I
have to explain theevidence to the jury in aclear and professional

Detective John Brunetti is an experienced
police officer with over 23 years of service.
Seventeen of those years he has spent on
fingerprint analysis and other crime scene
investigation techniques. He also teaches aPalm Print Comparison course at theUniversity of New Haven.

When Detective Brunetti designs his crime
scene maps, he uses the Object Manager inCorelDRAW to add each component category
on a separate layer. This allows him to create
several map versions by keeping or removing
cars, street names, numbers on houses, etc. It
only takes a click to toggle layer visibility.

“As far as I’m concerned, CorelDRAW is thebest thing since sliced bread,” says Detective
Brunetti. “Some police departments rely on
programs specifically marketed to law
enforcement but they lack the versatility ofCorelDRAW. We do use a 3D CAD programoccasionally, but all our 2D imagery is done inCorelDRAW. It’s much more powerful,
intuitive and easier to use than otherprograms out there."“I often use the layer technique in preparation
for courtroom exhibits. Some aerial
photographs can be confusing to look at,”explains Detective Brunetti. “In thosesituations, where we feel the jury may notclearly understand what we are trying toconvey, I simply turn off the image part ofthe map and leave only the basic vector
shapes of the buildings. The final product isthen enlarged and mounted on 24” x 36”
foamcore. The result is a simple andprofessional looking diagram with nounnecessary distractions.”

CorelDRAW and Corel Photo-Paint are true
workhorses in the West Haven PoliceDepartment. Almost everything the Forensic
Services Division does involves one or both ofthe applications. John Brunetti describes atypical day:manner. It’s essential thatthe maps and diagrams I
create in my job are
accurate and easy tounderstand. That’s why I
rely on CorelDRAW
Graphics Suite 12.”®

“We often get requests for large crime scene
maps, stretching over several city blocks with amultitude of buildings, intersections and otherlandmarks. You can, of course, spend a whole
day carefully measuring every building andstreet before you start creating your map, butI just ask the city engineers for an aerial
photograph of the particular section of thecity we’re interested in and import that image
into CorelDRAW. I then use the Bezier or
Polyline tool to trace the buildings, streets orother features we need to illustrate. I have alibrary of clipart images and symbols, soadding cars, traffic signs, or other items is justa matter of click-and-drag with the mouse. It
couldn’t be more simple.”

Fingerprints or palm prints from crime scenesare often partial prints, some with such a small
area of detail that it’s impossible to tell
immediately what’s up or down, if it’s a left or
right hand print, etc. John Brunetti relies onCorel Photo-Paint to analyze the prints foundon the scene, compared to prints taken from asuspect.
“I keep both the known print and theunknown print up on my screen and look forsimilarities. The first thing I do is to try to line
them up the same way. If I find a particularcharacteristic at say the ‘2 o’clock’ position on
one print, I use Corel PHOTO-PAINT toreposition the other to see if there’s a match. I
really prefer Corel PHOTO-PAINT to Adobe
Photoshop, because it feels much moreintuitive.”

“In a recent homicidecase, I created a large
diagram in CorelDRAW
that was presented tothe jury. The State’sAttorney’s office has
said more than once
that they’re incrediblyimpressed with thehigh quality of ourcourtroom exhibits.”

When a fingerprint chart is needed for court,
Detective Brunetti imports the images intoCorelDRAW where he is able to position bothprints in the same fashion by using guidelines,object anchors, and object rotation handles.
Similar points of unique characteristics in bothprints are illustrated on a separate layer using
the Polyline tool to trace the paths between
the points. The lines are set to a desired
thickness and using, the transparency tool, theunderlying prints are made visible through thelines so that the complete pattern can still beseen.
In a recent case involving fingerprints on afire extinguisher, investigators used Corel
PHOTO-PAINT to help present the evidence
more clearly. The crime scene technicians had
dusted the red fire extinguisher with a black
powder to reveal the fingerprints, but red
lettering on a white background interferedwith the print. By turning off the Green andBlue channels in the RGB image, investigators
were able to use the remaining Red channel,
essentially leaving a grayscale version of theimage, which left a clear fingerprint minus thered lettering.
Some witnesses are asked to look at an arrayof photos to possibly identify a suspect. CorelPHOTO-PAINT is also used in the West Haven
Police Department to ensure that the process
isn’t unfairly biased. Detective Brunetti
explains:“A photo lineup must be done with images ofsimilar quality to be accepted by the courts.
Mug-shots are generally taken with goodlighting and a neutral background, and theimage is printed on good quality photo paper.
But sometimes there are no mug-shots on fileand we have to use other sources, such as aphotograph taken for a driver’s license. These
photographs are usually printed on an inkjet
printer using regular paper, and thebackgrounds are different from standard mug
shot photographs. These images are
sometimes grainy and the quality isn’t veryhigh. We use Corel PHOTO-PAINT to add asimilar background to the suspect’s
photograph and reduce the quality of theother images so they all look as if they weretaken under similar circumstances. If a witness
points out the suspect, it’s not because theimage looked different, and that’s what’simportant.”
John Brunetti also uses layered Corel
PHOTO-PAINT images to create images ofbullet trajectories. Crime scene investigators®

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www.corel.com or call 1-800-772-6735.

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use laser beams at the scene to establish
trajectories. In order to see the beams clearly,
they turn off the lights in the room and spraya fine powder in the air. By putting a digital
camera on a tripod, Detective Brunetti cantake one image of the scene with the lights
on, and one identical frame with the lights off
at a much slower shutter speed. The firstimage contains the well-lit room, the other iscompletely dark except for the laser beams.
“It’s easy to combine the two images inCorel PHOTO-PAINT and change the opacityof the darker image to bring into view theimage with the lights on but still retaining thelaser beam of the previous photograph. This
creates a composite image that really tells thestory to the jury,” says Detective Brunetti.
The investigators at the Forensic Services
Division at West Haven Police Department
collaborate regularly with the State’sAttorney’s office and John Brunetti often
presents mockups of the evidence to MaryGalvin.
“In a recent homicide case I created a large
diagram in CorelDRAW that was presented tothe jury. It included a few photos andillustrations of the murder weapon, a golfclub, as well as callouts and arrows, withclose-ups of blood stains and other important
evidence. The State’s Attorney’s office has said
more than once that they’re incredibly
impressed with the high quality of ourcourtroom exhibits.”