Final answer:
Mishandling a crime scene can include evidence contamination, losing evidence, and failure to secure the scene. The O.J. Simpson case is a notorious example where crime scene mishandling affected the trial outcome. Witness testimonies can also lead to inaccuracies due to memory fragility and suggestibility.
Step-by-step explanation:
Examples of mishandling a crime scene can include contamination of evidence, losing items crucial to the investigation, failure to properly secure the crime scene, and poor documentation of the scene and evidence collected. In the high-profile case of O.J. Simpson, issues with how the crime scene was managed and errors in the procedure by the investigation team were significant factors during the trial.
Moreover, due to suggestibility and the fragile nature of memory, witness testimony, such as in the case of the DC sniper attacks, can unintentionally contribute to a distorted reconstruction of events at a crime scene. Lastly, an example of the complexities in investigations involves the case where police held suspects without conclusive evidence of armed robbery, demonstrating the challenges in aligning suspicions with substantiated facts.