Gun Powder Stippling
Definitions
• Stippling is burning of either clothing or skin by the gunpowder which fires out of the gun along with the bullet.
Andrea D. Lyon, Investigating & Trying a Homicide Case, The Champion, Sept.-Oct. 1998, at 14, 68(citing Lester Adelson, The Pathology of Homicide: A Vade Mecum for Pathologist, Prosecutor and Defense Counsel 230 (1974))
• ‘Powder tattooing’ or ‘powder stippling’ is the live tissue reaction caused by the impact of partially burnt or unburnt powder particles upon the skin, causing hemorrhage.
I.C. Stone, Evidence of Firearms Discharge Residues, 33 Baylor L. Rev. 285, 285 n. 1 (1981)
Appearance
• [Stippling] often looks like soot and is caused when the gunshot is either a contact or near bullet wound.
Andrea D. Lyon, Investigating & Trying a Homicide Case, The Champion, Sept.-Oct. 1998, at 14, 68
• Contact wounds occur when the muzzle of the gun actually touches the person when the gun is fired. A contact wound may also show burning of the skin surrounding entrance.
Andrea D. Lyon, Investigating & Trying a Homicide Case, The Champion, Sept.-Oct. 1998, at 14, 68(citing Lester Adelson, The Pathology of Homicide: A Vade Mecum for Pathologist, Prosecutor and Defense Counsel 216 (1974))
• A close wound occurs when the gun is within inches of the person who has been shot, while a near wound is less than 18 inches.
Andrea D. Lyon, Investigating & Trying a Homicide Case, The Champion, Sept.-Oct. 1998, at 14, 68(citing Lester Adelson, The Pathology of Homicide: A Vade Mecum for Pathologist, Prosecutor and Defense Counsel 232-42 (1974))
Examples from case law
• Stippling on [the victim’s] skin indicated that the shot had been fired at close range.
Fayson v. State, 726 N.E.2d 292, 294 (Ind. 2000)
• The two chest wounds exhibited stippling from gunshot residue, which indicated that the firearm's muzzle had been within two feet of [the victim] when the bullets were fired.
Frentz v. State, 875 N.E.2d 453, 458 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007), trans. denied
As an aggravating factor
• With respect to the murder of twenty-three-month-old Jordan Hunt, the trial court found the stippling on his left check to be an aggravating factor because it indicated a “close contact” wound. [The defendant] responds on appeal, noting the lack of a muzzle imprint: “[t]he wound was a close-range wound, not a contact wound.” The trial court's language is imprecise, as the court apparently conflated the two terms, but the most reasonable interpretation of the court's statement is that it found the fact that the child was shot in the face at close range to be an aggravating factor. We find no abuse of discretion in this regard.
Davis v. State, 971 N.E.2d 719, 724 (Ind. Ct. App. 2012), trans. denied(citations omitted)
• For more information about aggravating factors, please review Aggravators.