Corpse question

Honestly, I've never seen them bag the hands in paper. That's in my 13 years as a prosecutor. Of course, all my experience is in Texas and it may be done differently elsewhere.

I think, though I'm no expert, that an ME only bags of the hands of victims of a suspected homicide. In that case, either plastic or paper would probably do because the covering is removed almost immediately after the corpse arrives at the ME's office. I doubt if paper would do for very long as it is organic and responds to the same elements that would decay a body. At least, that makes sense to me. Non-organic material, like plastic would probably hold up better over time, failing to degrade and then offer its own contamination.

The main problem with plastic vs paper is that when something damp is put it a plasic bag and placed for months in an evidence locker, it will mildew and degrade, whereas paper breathes. Not a problem with a body going to be autopsied.

Plastic bags are used on hands and the ME gets the body within 2 hours of bagging so there's no problem with moisture collecting. The hands/nails are swabbed/tested for gunshot residue, and or the nails are scraped for cells/fibers etc from the perpetrator, original body dump site, etc.

rugcat said:

The main problem with plastic vs paper is that when something damp is put it a plasic bag and placed for months in an evidence locker, it will mildew and degrade, whereas paper breathes. Not a problem with a body going to be autopsied.

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Yes, the evidence placed in a locker is almost always paper. The only time I've seen plastic is when the evidence is biohazard and then it is stored someplace other than the PD (ie. ME's Office).