Welcome to "CSI Herkimer"

Photo by Joseph J. Mezzanini / UDN

In the early 1900s Edmond Locard formulated the basic principles of forensic science into one paragraph:

"Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as a silent witness against him. Not only his fingerprints or his footprints, but his hair, the fibers from his clothes, the glass he breaks, the tool mark he leaves, the paint he scratches, the blood or semen he deposits or collects. All of these and more, bear mute witness against him. This is evidence that does not forget. It is not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It is factual evidence. Physical evidence cannot be wrong, it cannot perjure itself, it cannot be wholly absent. Only human failure to find it, study and understand it, can diminish its value."

As a crime scene investigator for the Oneida County Sheriff's Department in the late 1900s, Sgt. Lynton Clark lived it. Today, as an instructor for Herkimer County Community College, he teaches that exact concept.

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Welcome to what some students of the Criminal Investigations and Forensic Photography classes at HCCC call “CSI Herkimer” -- named after “CSI Miami,” a popular prime-time TV show.

They are often the students' two favorite classes because of Clark's ability to weave in his actual real-world experiences, his PowerPoint presentations and the high level of hands-on lab assignments each student must complete.

Clark, who retired from the OCSD after 28 years of service, worked on some of Oneida County's biggest cases, including the “Tri-Willow” case which gained national attention after four people were killed execution style in 1979 in the town of Lee. Clark also was one of the original members of the Utica Arson Strike Force, which boasted a 100 percent conviction rate in its first five years.

Teaching after retirement was a no-brainer for Clark, who is always willing to share a story and tell a tale of “Once Upon a Time” during the birth of forensic sciences. His teaching style commands respect and has inspired many students.

Criminal Justice major Timothy Kiefer, of Camden, who has an interest in photography, took Clark’s Forensic Photography Class and found inspiration.

“I really want to make a career of forensic photography,” he said. “Ever since Mr. Clark’s class this semester, I have realized how much I really love photography, and to apply that love to a career in which I can help people and bring some justice to the world…that would be absolutely awesome.”

The Criminal Investigations class (which is actually a crime scene investigation class), always starts with Locard's principle and ends with an investigation of a mock crime scene held outdoors on the HCCC campus. Theories and techniques learned in the classroom are put into actual hands-on experience. Up to five crime scenes are re-created and an actual crime scene search is conducted by teams of three to five students.

As part of their lesson, students must search in a systematic pattern, every inch of several hundred square feet of an area, cordoned off by real crime scene tape.

A visitor passing through campus might, at first glance, think trouble has hit the Herkimer campus.

Realistic bloodied mannequins playing the part of victims are laid out along the lawn or sidewalk. Plastic knifes and guns, left behind as "evidence" are a little harder to find in the grass. Bullet casings, trace evidence, blood droplets, hair, jewelry and smaller objects, which are only visible to a keen eye, are all planted by a technician for the students to hunt down.

Finding these potential clues are very important, Clark tells his students, because a tiny piece of gum or other treasure can be a gold mine to a DNA specialist.

"In some cases, one piece of evidence may tip the scales of justice to convict the guilty or even acquit the innocent," he reminds them.

The students learn that finding evidence is just a tiny part of their task. What follows is a meticulous series of tasks as they learn to properly document evidence. They must measure every single item, and plot its exact coordinates with a level of detail previously unimagined by these future crime scene investigators. They learn to follow proper procedure to chart and document all the evidence for courtroom presentations.

All the meticulous, time-consuming work must be done with great care so the evidence will stand up to questioning in court.

As Clark discusses the simulated homicide scene to the students, he reminds them that "real victims can't speak -- the evidence has to speak for them.”

After each team locates and measures the evidence, it has to be collected. Students learn that each type of evidence has its own type of container it must be stored in. The “evidence” is then documented, labeled and sent off to the “crime lab.”

Luisa Camara, who is a lawyer in Bolivia, became passionate about criminal justice law. Looking for a way to improve her English, she took a year off to come to the United States to study Criminal Justice at HCCC. 

“When I saw the HCCC Criminal Justice Program, especially forensic investigation, I knew this college was for me," she said.

Camara said she appreciates Clark's method of teaching. "He teaches us something very important -- the ethic and respect in the work.”

Many of the students appreciate and respect Clark’s first-hand experience. He shows the students real crime scene photographs and tells the amazing, interesting and gory details of cases he had worked on, and tells them how the cases were solved.

“He really has the experience of what he teaches,” Camara said.

Camara plans on returning to Bolivia and hopes to work with USAID, a U.S. agency that was formed to help communities overseas make a better life, recover from disaster or work to improve the criminal justice system, which is their goal in Bolivia.

"I would like to use everything that I'm learning here, not only in my work as a lawyer, but also to give others the knowledge," she said.

Clark recently was able to experience participating in an unfamilar area of the criminal justice system when he found himself being called to serve as a juror in the trial of Louis Leddick Jr., who was tried and convicted in Oneida County Court in January of kidnapping and raping a 7-year-old girl.

"I initially thought the defense would exclude me, but, to my surprise, both the defense and prosecution kept me on the jury,” Clark said. “I was asked if I can be a fair and impartial 'trier' of the facts, and I said yes."
 
Law enforcement officers, active and retired, seldom serve as jurors, so Clark’s colleagues also were surprised.

"When you think about it, it makes sense -- my whole career was based upon letting evidence lead me in the finding of guilt or innocence of a suspect -- and being a juror was just that," he said. "I was able to take back to my students a new perspective that I could never really relate to and that was the jury experience."

Tim Kiefer is one of many students who have grasp the teaching of Lynton Clark and the spirit of forensics.

“Mr. Clark just has a natural ability to teach,” he said. “He commands a great deal of respect without saying a word. It's his ability to get his point across combined with the various uses of technology in his lectures that provide the most amazing learning experience I've ever had."

"Criminal investigations is where it's at," he added.

Locard would be proud of the work and skills that these students have learned and of Clark’s method of teaching and carrying on his words to future generations.

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Write to Joseph Mezzanini at JMezzanini@UticaDailyNews.com