Forensic Pathology and Sexual Offence Investigation MOD002926 1207555 Essay “Discuss the methods (in details) that may be used for the estimation of time since death. Critically comment on the merits and demerits of these methods” Introduction "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".[1] Bernard Knight (1987) Death is the shutting down of cellular metabolic activity that sustains the human organism (Zimmerman, 2010) with decomposition begins almost immediately after. Biochemically identifiable changes happen, …show more content…
Once the body has been dead for over 72 hours there is less medical information available with which to correlate post mortem interval. Forensic Entomology clearly explains how such pieces of evidence contribute to the TSD and post-mortem changes. Forensic Entomology is the study of insect and other arthropod biology to criminal matters. In laymen’s terms, it is the study of insects and other affiliated organisms that help determine the time since death, based on insect activity. Larvae are prime examples of the most common insects around dead tissue. By corresponding said stages, a time can be given as to how long a deceased victim has died for. As a result of the larval stages, the pupa then turns into a blowfly. A blowfly (order dipteral) is the most common insect that appears on dead flesh; the bluebottle (calliphora) is the most frequent invader of dead flesh. Its maturation time is between 14-25 days when temperatures reach around 22 …show more content…
Knight, B (1987). Legal Aspects of Medical Practice. 4th ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. p115. 2. P, Vanezis. (2001). Interpreting bruises at necropsy. Journal of Clinical Pathology. 54 (5), p348. 3. P, Vanezis. (2001). Interpreting bruises at necropsy. Journal of Clinical Pathology. 54 (5), p349-350. 4. Website: http://www.scribd.com/doc/4448747/Perl Formula for Perls' Prussian blue stain. Last accessed May 5th 2014. 5. Jocelyn, H, Gregorios, B M.D. (1974). Histopathologic Techniques, JMC Press Inc., Quezon City, Philippines,. ISBN 971-11-0853-4,BAN CROFT,Mahendra Jain A.C.P.M Dental College India. 6. Polson, Gee and Knight, The Essentials of Forensic Medicine, 4th edition, (1985), Pergamon Press, Oxford. 7. Carson, Henry J.. (2010). Patterns of Ecchymoses Caused by Manner of Death and Collateral Injuries Sustained in Bruising Incidents: Decedent Injuries, Profiles, Comparisons, and Clinicopathologic Significance. Journal of Forensic Sciences. 55 (6),
Forensic Science Introduction: Someone in a restaurant has suddenly fallen ill and a mystery powder has been discovered with the victim. As the chief investigator, your duty is to identify the mystery substance through a lab. In this lab, it will consist of five known compounds and one unknown compound. Your job is to distinguish which one out of the five substances is the mystery powder. To figure out the mystery matter you will have to compare their physical and chemical properties and match them with the appropriate compound.
Mortality, the subject of death, has been a curious topic to scholars, writers, and the common man. Each with their own opinion and beliefs. My personal belief is that one should accept mortality for what it is and not go against it.
2. Kirsch, Laura. “Diagnosis: DEATH.” Forensic Examiner 15.2 (2006): 52-54. Criminal Justice Periodicals. ProQuest. USF Mears Library, Sioux Falls, SD. 24 Apr. 2008 http://www.proquest.com/
Forensic pathologists are the people who determine the cause and time of death if the deceased person died under suspicious circumstances, whether they be violent or not. They determine if the death was accidental, a homicide, natural, a suicide, or even if the cause of death was unknown. They do this by studying said victim’s medical history, evaluating the crime scene for evidence, studying the body for any clues, and performing an autopsy. After determining the cause, time, and the manner in which the victim died, forensic pathologists make a written report on the victim and sometimes testify in court to report their findings.
The medico-legal autopsy report should be as detailed as possible so as not to miss even the slightest of findings, which may later play a big role in determining the case, hence standardized autopsy procedures as well as autopsy protocols have been devised.
Lyman, D. Michael; Criminal Investigation, The Art and Science; 3rd edition, 2002 Prentice Hall. Pgs. 188-200.
As stated earlier, forensic toxicology is the examination of toxic substances in human tissues, organs, and body fluids that may have contributed or caused death to an individual (Tilstone, Savage, Clark, 2006). When referring to toxicology, the important terms to focus on are “poisons” and “poisoning”. Poison can be defined as a substance which, when introduced into or applied to the body, is capable of injuring health or destroying life (Robertson, 1929). A simpler definition of poison would be that it is the malicious intent on giving a drug or substance to an individual.
Life and death represent a dyad; their definitions inherently depend on one another. Simply defined, death is the cessation of life. Similarly, life can be defined as not death; however, not everything not alive is dead. Boniolo and Di Fiore explain this dyadic relationship well, and other authors have cited this interdependency to better define life and death.1-6 The academic literature contains multiple definitions for both terms depending on which discipline or interest group attempts the definition. Nair-Collins provides a thorough discourse on this diversity in terms of death, differentiating between “biological death, death of the person, death of the moral agent, death of the moral patient, legal death, and the commonsense notion of death.”2(p.667,668,675) Through the dyadic relationship, similar groupings could be arrived at for defining life. Whether or not one accepts Nair-Collins’ categories, at least some differentiation of this type is necessary given the complexity of these concepts. I propose a simplified categorization of the definitions of life and death: (1)scientific/biological, (2)medic...
vital functions: the end of life. When people are faced with the reality of their ultimate demise, they
Forensics Anthropology is the study that goes beyond the human skeleton. A forensics anthropologist can find out. How a person lived, the food that person ate, and the overall make-up of a human. The use of forensics has grown in recent years, it is used to solve crimes and locate missing persons. Snow, (1982) Forensics anthropology is not a new science. The first case forensics anthropology was used on was the Jezebel case, dating back to the nineteenth century. This case involved a person, who was thrown from a window. Snow, (1982) The remains found in this case were the skull, feet, and the palm of the victim’s hands.
Forensic entomology is the study of insects and arthropods and their relation to a criminal investigation. Forensic entomology can determine the postmortem interval (PMI) or how long since the descendants’ death, whether the body has been moved since expiring, and what injuries may have been sustained (Ryan, 2011). When decomposition begins, insects establish a colony to lay eggs on the remains; these eggs will hatch into larvae that will eat the human organs and tissues. Forensic entomologists can determine the specific insects present in the body and estimate how long a body has been left exposed by examining the stage of development of the fly larvae; however, these findings are not always plausible. The fly larvae look and act different at each stage of development. The time required for stage development is not only affected by environmental influences such as geographical location, climate, and weather conditions, but also by type of insect. The forensic entomologist must consider these conditions when estimating the postmortem interval. Knowledge of insects, their life cycles, and their habits make entomological evidence a priceless tool for an investigation. Forensic entomology has proved its significance in a number of cases; though circumstances such as weather, temperature, and time of year clearly affect the development of insect infestation, and the expert must keep these in the forefront of his/her mind (Innes, 2000).
I would have to ask myself how the man died and where? The manner and location of death can influence the rate of decomposition, which determines the condition of the body. The position and environment of death could also determine the status of the body, warm locations can decay the body at a much faster rate than cold locations.
President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research. Defining Death: A Report on the Medical, Legal and Ethical Issues in the Determination of Death. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1981.
It has been found that the decomposition process is best divided into five stages: fresh stage, bloated stage, decay stage, post-decay stage, and remains. The fresh stage starts the moment the individual died and lasts until bloating can be observed. The bloated stage is usually within two to seven days after death. Putrefaction begins at this stage and the gases produced from bacteria cause...
Gaensslen, R. E., Harris, H A., & Lee, H. (2008). Introduction to Forensic Science and Criminalistics. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. .