Calvin Hooker Goddard facts for kids

Calvin Hooker Goddard (born October 30, 1891 – died February 22, 1955) was a very important forensic scientist. He was a pioneer in a field called forensic ballistics. This science helps solve crimes by studying firearms and bullets. Goddard was also an army officer, a professor, and a researcher. He played a key role in solving the famous 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre. He proved that the guns used were not police weapons. This helped investigators realize it was a mob-related crime.

Who Was Calvin Goddard?

Calvin Goddard was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He went to the Boys' Latin School of Maryland. Later, he studied at Johns Hopkins University. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1911. Then, he became a doctor in 1915.

Goddard joined the United States Army and became a Colonel. He taught police science at Northwestern University. He also worked as a military editor for the Encyclopædia Britannica. He edited the first scientific police journal in America. After World War II, Colonel Goddard led the US Army Crime Laboratory in Japan.

Calvin Goddard made forensic firearm identification a serious science. Before him, many people in this field were not truly scientific. His work helped courts accept firearm evidence. His grandson said he might be the only army officer to serve in four different army branches. These were the Ordnance Corps, Military Police Corps, Medical Corps, and as a Military Historian.

He passed away on February 22, 1955.

Understanding Forensic Ballistics

In 1925, Goddard wrote an article called "Forensic Ballistics." In it, he explained how to use a special comparison microscope for gun investigations. He is known for coming up with the term "forensic ballistics." Even though he later felt it wasn't the perfect name, it stuck!

In April 1925, Major Goddard started the Bureau of Forensic Ballistics. It was in New York City. This bureau was the first independent crime lab in the United States. It offered services for identifying firearms across America. Goddard wrote and spoke a lot about forensic ballistics. He became a world-famous expert in this field.

His lab brought together different crime-solving methods. These included ballistics, fingerprinting, blood analysis, and trace evidence. The lab also published a journal. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover encouraged his agents to read it. Hoover even sent people to a meeting Goddard organized about scientific crime detection. Goddard also advised the FBI when they set up their own forensic lab.

The Comparison Microscope

The comparison microscope was a huge step forward in forensic science. Philip O. Gravelle developed it with Goddard's help. This microscope helps identify which gun fired a bullet or cartridge case.

Here's how it works: When a gun is fired, it leaves unique marks on the bullet and casing. These marks come from the gun's barrel, firing pin, and other parts. The comparison microscope lets experts look at two bullets or casings at the same time. They can compare the tiny marks side-by-side. This helps them see if the marks match, proving they came from the same gun.

Gravelle realized that relying on memory to compare bullets was not accurate enough. So, he invented this microscope. Goddard then made it work for real-world cases. Sir Sydney Smith also saw how important it was. He brought the comparison microscope to Scotland. This helped introduce it to scientists in Europe for solving crimes.

The Sacco and Vanzetti Case

The Sacco and Vanzetti case was a very famous and debated legal case. It involved two Italian-born American men, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. They were accused of robbery and murder in 1920. Their trial caused a lot of public discussion around the world. Many people believed they were treated unfairly.

In 1927, their appeals were running out. The governor decided to postpone their final judgment. He set up a committee to review the case. By this time, firearm examination had become much better. Experts could now trace automatic pistols using marks on the bullet and casing.

Major Calvin Goddard was asked to help the committee in 1927. He used Philip Gravelle's new comparison microscope. He also used a tool called a helixometer. This tool helps inspect gun barrels. Goddard examined Sacco's pistol, the bullet that supposedly killed the victim, and the spent casings found at the crime scene.

He fired test bullets from Sacco's gun. Then, he compared the test casings with those from the crime scene using the microscope. Goddard found that one bullet and one casing from the crime scene matched Sacco's gun. Even the defense experts agreed with his findings. The committee upheld the convictions. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were found guilty. They faced the consequences on August 23, 1927.

Later Reviews of the Case

Years later, in 1941, an anarchist leader named Carlo Tresca said that Sacco was guilty but Vanzetti was innocent. This statement was published in a magazine in 1961. Other people also claimed Tresca told them the same thing. However, some doubted this because of disagreements Tresca had with Sacco and Vanzetti's group.

In October 1961, new ballistics tests were done using Sacco's pistol. The technology was much better by then. The results confirmed that the bullet that killed the victim in 1920 came from Sacco's pistol. More investigations in 1983 also supported Goddard's original findings.

However, some people who believed Sacco and Vanzetti were innocent disagreed with these later tests. They pointed out that the old bullets and guns might have been too rusty to prove anything. They also noted that there was no direct proof Sacco had fired the gun.

In 1987, a former newspaper editor named Charlie Whipple shared a story. He said a police sergeant told him that police had "switched the murder weapon" in the case. The sergeant claimed they did it because they suspected the other side of switching weapons. However, this story was never proven. Police records showed the sergeant was not a ballistics expert at the time of the trial.

Some also claimed Sacco's pistol was handled by police many times. They said it was taken apart several times. However, the match to Sacco's gun was based on the pistol itself, the bullet, and the spent casings. To tamper with the evidence, someone would have had to switch all these items.

A puzzle for some was that witnesses said the gunman fired four or five bullets. But only one fatal bullet was linked to Sacco's gun. In 1985, historians William Kaiser and David Young suggested in their book that a bullet might have been swapped.

|