ABSTRACT
An odontoglyphic or a bitemark is produced by the voluntary action of teeth being forced into a softer object. Bitemarks can be left by humans, animal, insects or sea life.
State v. Doyle (Texas, 1954)
A piece of cheese left at the scene of a burglary was observed to have teeth marks. The bite out of the cheese found at the crime scene was compared to a bite out of a similar piece of cheese made by a suspect, Doyle. This 1954 Texas case, State v. Doyle, was the first “reported” bitemark case in the United States, where a bitemark was used to link a suspect to the crime. Dr. William Kemp, a Texas dentist testified that the bites in the two pieces of cheese were made by the same set of teeth (Figure 13.1). There were several significant points to this 1954 case. First, the police obtained the bitemark evidence from the suspect without a court order or search warrant. Secondly, a firearms expert and a dentist made a comparison of bitemarks in cheese without models from the defendant, Doyle. Third, on appeal the
defense argued that the “voluntary bite” in effect was a violation of his Fifth Amendment right for protection against self-incrimination. The court rejected this argument. It is interesting to note that a similar argument was made in State v. DuBoise-Florida Sup Ct 1988. In this case, the suspect, DuBoise, was asked to bite into beeswax (Figure 13.2). This gave an impression of his teeth, later used to compare to a bitemark on a homicide victim.
