Perry Mason - The Case of the Deadly Toy - Smith & Wesson 22

[Bekeart]

Perry Mason - The Case of the Deadly Toy

As usual there is a murder.
The murder weapon is identified as a Smith & Wesson 22.

Lt. Tragg scratched his identifying mark on the butt of the murder weapon,

In real life would the weapon be defaced or just have the serial number recorded?

Bekeart


Found teh following comment online:

Lt. Tragg uses a pocket knife to scratch his identifying mark on the butt of the murder weapon, a Smith and Wesson revolver. This would obliterate the serial number, which on Smith and Wesson revolvers is stamped on the butt, and real police officers always place their identifying mark on the trigger guard or sideplate.

 

[jimmyj]

In my career marking ID on evidence was the indiviual officer's responsibility. Some used a steel pin, knife blade, etc. I did not, but used the make, model and serial number. I have seen beautiful weapons blotched by uncaring officers. When I became a supervisor I stopped the scratching of ID on weapons.

 

[Old_Cop]

Scratching your initials was a common police practice back in the day. I doubt that it would obscure the serial number. With a serial number though, why do it.

 

[30-30remchester]

The Colt 38 that Jack Ruby used on Oswald was horrible disfigured by the police by stamping evidence numbers in the side plate IIRC.

 

[old bear]

Many Many years ago, I used the firearms serial number instead of marking up a weapon. Never had a Judge or jury question my decision.

 

[Rudi]

Lt. Tragg frequently says "it has my mark on it".

 

[desi2358]

It seems to have been a fairly common practice years ago for officers to put marks on any kind of evidence including guns. I have seen articles on particular guns where a combination of added marks and a known history of ownership allowed a researcher to trace a gun to a certain historical event. One I remember was the subject of a Gun Digest article about the gun used to shoot the mayor of New York in the early 1900's and how that event was used as part of the effort to enact the Sullivan Law restricting gun ownership in NY state. I would have to dig through the books but IIRC the gun ended up in the possession of the prosecutor and could be traced through the initials of the officers who marked it and the registration records for the prosecutor and his family.

I have also handled stolen and recovered guns that had been marked up by the agency that seized them as well as some that were sold through police auctions. Years ago some agencies would sell off guns that weren't held as evidence and could not be linked to a previous owner. A friend who was an FFL used to attend some of these auctions back in the 70's and early 80's and there was an amazing assortment from high end stuff to low end clunkers and broken guns that were sold off. Scratched in marks were pretty common then.

I suspect the use of officer marks went out of favor as courts became more concerned about positively identifying seized items and the use of the national data base for stolen guns. If you identify the manufacturer, model & serial number you have a pretty solid ID.

 

[swsig]

I watched that episode. It was one of the weirdest Perry Masons ever:

1. The jealous ex-boyfriend (bad guy) of the eventual defendant helps a goon slug the the current boyfriend in the jaw with brass knuckles in the middle of a crowded upscale San Francisco restaurant. Apparently this form of felonious assault is legal there, because no one called the police, and no criminal or civil charges were brought against the perps.

2. When the bad guy is eventually killed, initial suspicion is directed at the bad guy's somewhat dimwitted five year old son, whose babysitter gave him the S&W .22, and allowed him to sleep with it under his pillow.

3. When the child's grandfather (the bad guy's father) thinks his grandson might be the murderer, he sends the kid off to Mexico with a new babysitter. The kid's mother, divorced from the bad guy, is not informed, nor does she show particular interest in her son. Apparently a complete stranger could take a small kid to Mexico in those days. The kid was too dumb to notice any of this.

4. Eventually Perry solves the case, of course, but along the way, he and Della borrow a baby and play husband and wife in order to find out where the kid is.