There is a use for nearly any kind of proof in a criminal investigation, and there is a role to be played even by wristbands in forensics. Though the study of forensic medicine is nothing like what is shown in popular television dramas, every scrap of material evidence is something that can point towards a possible suspect. Therefore, even a piece of clothing as small as a wristband can help to prove guilt or innocence.
Locard’s exchange principle states that whenever there is a contact between two objects, something will be left behind. Both surfaces will have some change due to the contact, and will have some evidence left behind because of it. Edmond Locard, for whom the idea is named for, wrote that there were countless types of evidence that could be left behind.
Of course, if an errant wristband is found at the scene of a crime, it might end up speaking volumes about the person who left it. Hair or skin could both be left on one that a victim was wearing, and suggest something about the perpetrator of a crime. However, this isn’t the only way they might be used.
Fibers from a piece of cloth used in a wristband might end up somewhere, and they can be connected with the item they came from. This can mean the difference between two different verdicts. With forensics being such a dynamic field, these seemingly minute articles can become the hinges on which the door of justice swings.
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