1. SCENT EVIDENCE
IT IS THERE
&
IT IS ADMISSIBLE
&
YOU ARE PROBABLY NOT EVEN AWARE OF IT!

2. HUMAN SCENT IS UNIQUE!
Studies by the FBI and
Florida International
University (among others)
has shown that, “human
scent is as unique as
fingerprints, and that well
trained dogs can
differentiate one person’s
scent from all others, and
can follow that scent and
match that scent to a
person or item.”

3.  SCENT EVIDENCE is present at virtually all crime
scenes, and yet is utilized in less than 1% of all
criminal investigations.
 It is the unseen evidence you are probably
unaware of.
 SCENT EVIDENCE can lead you to suspects,
evidence, and help assure your conviction.

4. SCENT IS EVIDENCE!
 DEFINITION OF SCENT EVIDENCE
 Scent Evidence is the collection and/or preservation
of human scent used by a trained canine and handler,
to trail to an individual or location, or to determine if
there is a scent match to an individual subject, object,
or location.
 Humans can’t see, touch, or smell it.
 It is the “unused” evidence.

5. Scent can be obtained from virtually anything
the suspect had contact with, as well as any
and every bodily fluid, bodily secretion and
bodily excretion.
A quick, but by no means complete list of sources of scent that I have
SUCCESSFULLY used…
Dead bodies…example, neck of a strangulation victim
Blood, vomit, urine, feces, semen
Expended bullet casings, bullet projectiles (ones that missed, ones that went
through and through, and one removed from a body during autopsy.
Bomb fragments, incendiary device fragments
Drug paraphernalia, weapons of all sorts, ligatures, vehicles,. . .
The list goes on and on…bottom line…
If it had ANY contact with a
person…it has their scent!

6. Admissibility & Case Law
 Admissible in 45 states + federal courts
 States that admit scent evidence typically
require:
1. Handler trained & qualified
2. Dog trained & qualified
3. Dog proven reliable
4. Trail within dog’s ability
5. Dog placed on trail where suspect believed to
have been
6. Trail not “stale”

7. What does admissible mean?
Generally evidence is admissible if it has been used before and upheld by the
Appeals Court system.
It does NOT mean evidence cannot be admitted if it has not been upheld by the
Appeals Courts, but rather the court will usually require an admissibility hearing
prior to the evidence being heard by the jury, and the Judge will then make a
determination as to whether it can be presented. These admissibility hearings can
become mini-trials of their own, sometimes lasting many days, with scientists and
other experts called by both sides.
Known by various names in various courts, they are called Daubert Hearings or
Kelly/Frye Hearings (and other names). Bloodhound work, the Scent Transfer
Unit, and the uniqueness of human scent has been
upheld by both.

8. If the suspect touched it, it has their
scent…period!
The above bullet fragment weighed approximately 15 grains, or 1/30 of an
ounce. It is part of a .22 bullet. The HUMAN Scent from this fragment
led us to a suspect and eventual conviction. As they say, “The rest of the
story” next page.

9. A Sheriff Department’s Sergeant's wife was driving home one
night, and about 3 blocks from their house something crashed
through the windshield of the car she was driving, missing her by
inches. It took a lot of searching the interior to even find this
fragment. The victim never saw anyone do the shooting, and no
witnesses were located. I used a machine called a “SCENT TRANSFER
UNIT” to collect the human scent from this onto a sterile gauze pad.
Using this pad with my bloodhound, we identified a trail that led us to
a nearby apartment building, and eventually to the area of two doors
that were side by side. The dog was not able to narrow this down to a
single door, so both apartments were contacted. No one was home at
the first, a teenage boy answered the second. He looked very
distressed that we were there. Permission was granted by the boy’s
mother to search his room, where detectives found a .22 rifle, one box
of .22 ammunition with one round missing. He boy admitted to the
shooting, though he insisted he didn’t know who was in the car. He
took a plea deal, and will be release from jail when he turns 25.

10. TED HAMM
 Civilian contractor with the Los Angeles
County Sheriff’s Dept. 1996 to present.
 Trained and worked with TRAILING
“Bloodhounds” for 24 years.
 Involved in over 3000 criminal
investigations and over 500 missing/lost
person investigations.
 Testified on over 100 cases, convictions
include death penalty cases.
 EMAIL CONTACT:
TedHammK9s@gmail.com