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Month: July 2017

Practical Pathology of Gunshot Wounds

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Context . —Gunshot wounds are the most common cause of homicidal death in the United States. Analysis and interpretation of fatal gunshot wounds is an important and common practice among forensic pathologists. Additionally, for pathology residents, it is an integral aspect of their training during their rotations at medical examiner or coroner offices.

Objective.

—The correct interpretation of gunshot wounds by forensic pathologists not only provides valuable information that can assist law enforcement in their investigation but also is essential for the final determination of manner of death. Discussion of the practical, basic, and essential skills required to interpret gunshot wounds include distinguishing a classic entrance wound from an exit wound; recognizing atypical entrance and exit wounds;utilizing the features of soot and stippling patterns to differentiate among contact, close, and distant range gunshot wounds; understanding of the trauma produced by gunshot wounds; and understanding the importance of recovering and documenting...

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Postmortem Changes and Time of Death

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Quotations
"The time of death is sometimes extremely important. It is a question almost invariably asked by police officers, sometimes with a touching faith in the accuracy of the estimate. Determining the time of death is extremely difficult, and accuracy is impossible". (Ref. 8 at p. 115.) "No problem in forensic medicine has been investigated as thoroughly as that of determining the time of death on the basis of post mortem findings. Apart from its obvious legal importance, its solution has been so elusive as to provide a constant intellectual challenge to workers in many sciences. In spite of the great effort and ingenuity expended, the results have been meagre". (Ref. 15 at p. 33.) "Repeated experience teaches the investigator to be wary of relying on any single observation for estimating the time of death (or "duration of the post mortem interval"), and he wisely avoids making dogmatic statements based on an isolated observation". (Ref. 12 at p. 151.)

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Postmortem Burns-An Artefact Due toTransportation

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Abstract
An artefact is any change caused or feature introduced in a body after death (accidentally or physiologically unrelated finding to the natural state of the body) that is likely to lead to misinterpretation of medico legally significant ante mortem findings. Artefacts due to burns are usually attributed to prolonged exposure of flame (in cases of death due to burns), Or else due to attempts made to burn a body after homicide with the object of concealing the crime. Post mortem artefact due to burns in the present case, its implication and proposed mechanism are discussed in detail due to rarity of its kind

Introduction
An artefact is any change caused or feature introduced in a body after death (accidentally or physiologically unrelated finding to the natural state of the body) that is likely to lead to misinterpretation of medico legally significant ante mortem findings . Determination of the cause of death following autopsy is an interpretative and intelligent procedure, and depends upon sound

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Medical Waste Manual

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2.2 Storage Methods
The wastes generated on campus are to be placed immediately in a biohazard bag or a sharps container. At the end of each day, the biohazard bags are to be sealed by the appropriate staff or faculty member. These bags are to be moved to and placed in a secondary container located in the medical waste storage shed (see Section 2.3 for storage times). Sharps containers remain in the labs until they are full and they are then sealed and placed in a biohazard bag.
2.3 Storage Times and Temperatures
Biohazardous waste shall not be contained or stored above 0 degrees Centigrade (32 degrees Fahrenheit) for more than seven (7) days without the written approval of the enforcement agency. A person may store biohazardous waste at or below 0 degrees Centigrade for not more than 90 days before treatment with the written approval of the enforcement agency. If the facility is unable to control the odor from its stored waste and the...

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Bureau of Justice Statistics Medical Examiners and Coroners’ Offices, 2004

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About 2,000 medical examiners and coroners' (ME/C) offices provided death investigation services across the United States in 2004. These offices were responsible for the medicolegal investigation of death. They may conduct death scene investigations, perform autopsies, and determine the cause and manner of death when a person has died as a result of violence, under suspicious circumstances, without a physician in attendance, or for other reasons. As of 2004, 16 States had a centralized statewide medical examiner system (see map). Fourteen States had a county coroner system, 7 had a county medical examiner system, and 13 had a mixed county medical examiner and coroner system. Eight States with decentralized death investigation systems also had a State medical examiner office performing medicolegal duties (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Montana, North Dakota, and Tennessee). The District of Columbia reported a city medical examiner office, which functioned similar to a statewide system. ME/C offices employed an estimated 7,320 FTE employees. Estimated annual budgets for these...

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Langers Lines

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Incisions made in the direction of Langer’s lines are less likely to gape. This is because they run parallel to the predominant direction of collagen bundles in the dermis - Langer developed his lines by stabbing cadavers with a conical punch. The resulting defects were often oval, rather than circular, because of the direction of the underlying collagen bundles. Langer joined the long axis of these ovals to establish his lines. The direction of Langer’s line on the torso can be established by placing the patient in the foetal position. Then outline the perimeter of a 20 cent piece over the area of interest. When the patient stand upright the outline of the coin will be oval with the long axis indicating Langer’s line. It is useful to know the surface marking of the entrance of the superior vena cava into the right atrium when positioning a central venous catheter. It is...

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Intelligent Face Recognition Techniques: A Comparative Study

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About 2,000 medical examiners and coroners' (ME/C) offices provided death investigation services across the United States in 2004. These offices were responsible for the medicolegal investigation of death. They may conduct death scene investigations, perform autopsies, and determine the cause and manner of death when a person has died as a result of violence, under suspicious circumstances, without a physician in attendance, or for other reasons. As of 2004, 16 States had a centralized statewide medical examiner system (see map). Fourteen States had a county coroner system, 7 had a county medical examiner system, and 13 had a mixed county medical examiner and coroner system. Eight States with decentralized death investigation systems also had a State medical examiner office performing medicolegal duties (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Montana, North Dakota, and Tennessee). The District of Columbia reported a city medical examiner office, which functioned similar to a statewide system. ME/C offices employed an estimated 7,320 FTE employees. Estimated annual budgets for these...

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Homicidal Penetrating Incised Wounds of the Thorax

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Abstract

During March-June and August-September 1981, 245 medicolegal autopsies were conducted by the author at the Johannesburg and Diepkloof government mortuaries. In 52 cases (21.2%) penetrating incised wounds of the thorax were found to be the cause of death. These involved diverse and often multiple thoracic structures - ventricles, atria, interventricular septum, lungs, and, in particular, blood vessels. In most of these cases death was ascribed to either exsanguination and the attendant hypovolaemic shock or, in those wounds involving the pericardium and myocardium, cardiac tamponade. Several findings emerged from this study: (i) an abysmally low number of the victims (5.8%) reached a medical facility alive; (ii) no females were seen, and the 21-30 year age group predominated (46.2%); (iii) 80.8% had arrived at the casualty department

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Death Investigation.| A Guide For The Scene Investigator

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Introduction

The first thing one must realize is that the word “system” is a misnomer, when used in the context of death investigation in the United States. There is no “system” of death investigation that covers the more than 3,000 jurisdictions in this country. No nationally accepted guidelines or standards of practice exist for individuals responsible for performing death-scene investigations. No professional degree, license, certification, or minimum educational requirements exist, nor is there a commonly accepted training curriculum. Not even a common job title exists for the thousands of people who routinely perform death investigations in this country.

This report describes a study that focused on the establishment of guidelines for conducting death investigations Purpose and Scope of the Study

The principal purpose of the study, initiated in June 1996, was to identify, delineate, and assemble a set of investigative tasks that should and could be performed at every death scene....

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Forensic Toxicology

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Forensic Toxicology

Forensic toxicology is the analysis of biological samples for the presence of toxins, including drugs. The toxicology report can provide key information as to the type of substances present in an individual and if the amount of those substances is consistent with a therapeutic dosage or is above a harmful level. These results can be used to make inferences when determining a substance's potential effect on an individual's death, illness, or mental or physical impairment. For example, the results of a blood analysis from a driver involved in a car accident can be used to determine if the individual was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Forensic toxicology is a continually advancing discipline. New drugs are always being developed, which creates a constant need to design novel approaches for their detection. To rise to this challenge, new instrumentation is being used and new detection methods are constantly in development.

NIJ seeks to fund research to:

  • Improve tools and technologies to better identify, collect, preserve and analyze biological samples to show the presence of drugs and other substances in a person.

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Forensic Human Hair Examination Guidelines

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1. Introduction

Hair examinations and comparisons, as generally conducted by forensic scientists, often provide important investigative and associative information. Human and animal hairs have been used in forensic investigations for over a century. Reports abound in the literature concerning the use of human and animal hairs encountered in forensic casework. These guidelines represent a recommended procedure for the forensic examination, identification, and comparison of human hair. Hairs are readily available for transfer, easily transferred, and resilient. Hair examination may be used for associative and investigative purposes and to provide information for crime scene reconstruction. The ability to perform a forensic microscopical hair comparison is dependent on a number of factors.

  • These factors include the following:
  • Whether an appropriate known hair sample is representative.
  • The range of features exhibited by the known hairs.
  • The condition of the questioned hair.
  • The training and experience of the hair examiner.
  • The usage of the appropriate equipment and methodology.
  • DNA analysis can be performed on hair but should be performed only after an initial microscopical assessment. A full and detailed microscopical comparison with possible known sources of

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Case Report On The Identification Of A Murder Victim By Forensic Dental Techniques

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Introduction

Case Report

One of the common methods of identifying unknown dead persons is by confrontation identification. This method is used by the police on the basis of a presumed identity of the body, which a relative or someone else subsequently visually confirms when confronted with the face or the general appearance of the dead person's body and clothes. The facial features can also be compared with a past photograph or other identity cards. However, if the body is damaged in some manner, be it by fire or simple putrefaction, the facial features may be missing and then other features or characteristics have to be used. One such feature is the anatomy of the frontal sinus according to a posterior-anterior radiograph. But a dental identification is usually easier to perform, since radiographs are only infrequently unavailable, because most people are likely to have visited their dentists at least once and had radiographs taken of the teeth. Moreover, teeth are the hardest tissue of the body and can resist...

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Forensic Determination Of Age At Time Of Death From The Analysis Of Bones

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Forensic determination of ‘age at time of death’ from the analysis of bones Dr Peter Zioupos at Cranfield University has developed an improved method for determining a person’s age at the time of death, from small samples of bone and with a level of accuracy previously not obtainable. The technique is particularly effective beyond the age of skeletal maturity (30-35 years), an area that is very often problematic with existing techniques. The university is seeking collaborative development and licensing relationships with commercial/research partners. This invention from Cranfield University consists of a technique for the prediction of ‘age at death’ using laboratory based analytical techniques. Age is one of the four important attributes that a forensic anthropologist may be called on to determine in the case of a body or body parts of unknown origin, together with sex, stature and ethnic background. Current methods of age determination are largely qualitative and are only able to categorise individuals within broad age bands. The accuracy of current age determination methods...

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The Effects Of Temperature On The Decomposition Rate Of Human Remains

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Forensic anthropologists are frequently called upon to assist in the recovery and analysis of recently-deceased individuals. Estimating postmortem interval, or PMI, is an important part of a forensic anthropologist's job. The PMI serves two functions. First, estimating PMI can narrow down the potential pool of missing persons and ultimately help to identify the remains. Second, in homicide cases, law enforcement personnel use the PMI to exclude possible assailants. Forensic scientists use many methods to estimate the PMI, but anthropologists tend to emphasize the decay and decomposition of soft tissues. Qualitative "stages" of decomposition that broadly correspond to the PMI have served as rough guides for most estimates made by anthropologists. However, nearly all previous studies have considered decomposition as a thing to be described, not as a process to be scored and used statistically to estimate the PMI. Forensic anthropology might benefit from applying quantitative methods to the study of decomposition. Fly larvae (maggots) associated with decomposing remains grow and develop at a rate...

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The Effect of Various Coverings on the Rate of Human Decompositioin

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Abstract

A multitude of factors can affect the decomposition process, increasing or decreasing its rate. Some of the most frequently observed variables are temperature, moisture, insect activity, and sun or shade exposure. Coverings can impact the decomposition process, and are found frequently in forensic cases. In a survey of New Mexico cases, Komar (2003) reported that sixteen individuals were found wrapped in plastic, and twenty were noted as wrapped in a cloth or blanket. In a survey conducted of eighty-seven cases, fifty-four of the bodies were wrapped in some type of covering. Plastic was most common, but a variety was noted, including rugs, sleeping bags, and blankets, (Manhein, 1997). In order to document how coverings affect early decomposition an experiment was designed to mimic a forensic setting. Three human cadavers were used in each of two repetitions of this experiment. Two of the cadavers were covered, one in plastic tarp, the other in a cotton blanket, while the third was left uncovered as a control...

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Forensic Entomology Decay

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Forensic entomology is the study of insects for medico-legal purposes. There are many ways insects can be used to help solve a crime, but the primary purpose of forensic entomology is estimating time since death.Once a person dies his or her body starts to decompose. The decomposition of a dead body starts with the action of microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria, followed by the action of a series of insects (arthropods). Bodies decompose slowly or fast depending on weather conditions, if they have been buried or are exposed to the elements, if there is presence of insects or if they have a substance in their bodies that prevents their fast decomposition such as body size and weight, clothing,The dead body goes through constant changes allowing investigators to estimate how long that person has been dead. Generally speaking, there are 5 basic stages of decomposition:Fresh, putrefaction, fermentation, dry decay and skeletonization. Every stage attracts different kinds of organisms...

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