Forensic Science - Chapter 4:)
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What is the critical phase of a death investigation?
A preliminary reconstruction of events before death, with all scene details recorded.
What blood evidence must be documented?
Blood spatter and blood flow patterns.
What impression evidence must be documented?
Tire marks and shoe prints.
What trace evidence must be processed and collected?
Fingerprints.
What discarded evidence must be collected?
Items dropped or cast off by the perpetrator.
What ballistic evidence must be collected?
Weapons, fired bullets, and casings.
What must always be done from altering the scene?
Photographs must be taken.
What is an autopsy?
Examination of a body after death (postmortem exam).
What is the goal of a forensic and medicolegal autopsy?
Determine cause of death and confirm manner of death, often for criminal proceedings.
Who examines the body during the autopsy? What is their purpose?
• Medical examiner or coroner. • Establish cause and manner of death.
What happens to tissues and organs?
Retained from pathological and toxicological examination.
What must examiners and investigators arrange during autopsy?
Secure items from the body for laboratory testing.
What items are collected and sent to the lab?
• Victim’s clothing • Fingernail scrapings • Combings from head and pubic hairs • Buccal swab (DNA) • Vaginal, anal, oral swabs (sex crimes) • Recovered bullets • Hand swabs from shooting victims (gunshot residue) • Swabs from areas touched or with saliva and DNA • Hand stubs and swabs for gunshot residue
What are the first steps of Eternal Examination? What else is done?
• Broad overview of the body’s condition and clothing. • Classify injuries (e.g., stab vs. gunshot wounds).
What incision is made with Internal Examination? What happens during Internal Examination?
• Y-shaped from shoulders to pubic bone. • Organs are removed, weighed, dissected, and sectioned.
During Toxicology, what specimens are taken?
Blood, stomach contents, bile, urine.
What is blood tested for? What complicates blood testing after death?
• Alcohol and drug levels. • Some drugs redistribute and reenter the blood.
What is the primary objective of an autopsy?
Determine the cause of death.
What are Common Causes of Death?
Blunt force injury, sharp force injury, asphyxia, gunshot wounds, substance abuse.
What is a blunt forced injury?
Caused by non-sharp objects (bat, pipe); can cause abrasions or contusions (bruises from ruptured blood vessels).
What is sharp force injury?
Wounds from knives or sharp-edged weapons.
What is asphyxia? What are gunshot wounds?
• Interference with oxygen intake (e.g., carbon monoxide poisoning, hanging). • Injuries from firearm projectiles; distance of fire is key to analysis.
Why is substance abuse significant?
So common that toxicology tests are routinely ordered in almost all autopsies.
What does manner of death describe? What are the 5 manners of death?
• Circumstances that led to death. • Homicide, suicide, accidental, natural, and undetermined.