ABSTRACT
Glass occurs with moderate frequency as physical evidence. The ubiquity of glass in our everyday environment – in architectural situations, in automobile windows, in beverage bottles and other liquid containers, and in incandescent light bulbs – results in many situations in which evidence and exemplar samples of glass are subjected to forensic examination. From a forensic standpoint, the presiding property of glass is its susceptibility to breakage. The glass may be broken purposefully, as in the case of a forcible entry into a building, or it may be broken inadvertently incidental to a violent struggle. In either event, glass found with a suspect may assist in associating the suspect with a particular scene in which glass was broken. In less common situations, glass at a crime scene may provide other types of information, such as the sequence of gunshots, or whether a petroleum accelerant was used in the commission of arson.
