Abstract

Bloodstain pattern analysis (BPA) can be used in criminal investigations to determine the events associated with depositions of blood. Like all forensic science disciplines, it has the potential to be vulnerable to contextual bias. Unlike many other forensic disciplines, however, much of the context encountered in BPA is unavoidable. Therefore, when considering how to address the issue of contextual bias in BPA, the focus needs to be on context management rather than context elimination. Potential sources of bias, and ways to manage these, are discussed.

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