SPECIALIZED CRIME
INVESTIGATION
WITH LEGAL MEDICINE
LESSON FOUR: FORENSIC SCIENCE: AN INTRODUCTION
FORENSIC SCIENCE deals with the application of scientific facts to legal problems and the judicial
process.
The word “FORENSIC”
Means the analysis of information suitable for use in a court of law.
It comes from the Latin word “FORENSIS” which means forum
Special areas of forensic sciences ca be applied to the documentation of evidence and to the solution
of various criminal and civil problems, thereby providing enormous value to law enforcement and justice.
Every aspect of forensic science involves:
1. The careful and proper collection, documentation and evaluation of evidence
2. The chain of custody or the written documentation of all the stages of transfer of evidence
from the crime scene to the laboratory and the court
3. The admissibility of test, evidence and testimony, based on legal standards
4. The opinion of an expert witness regarding issues that relate to specific forensic fields such as
FORENSIC BALLISTICS,
QUESTIONED DOCUMENTS EXAMINATION
FINGERPRINT EXAMINATION (DACTYLOSCOPY)
POLYGRAPHY
LEGAL MEDICINE
THE FIELD OF FORENSIC MEDICINE
Legal Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence are terms used interchangeably to refer to branches of
medicine that apply the principles and knowledge of the medical sciences in the field of law.
The field of Legal Medicine is typically associated with death and autopsies, but it also applies in other
legal processes, such as determining whether a violent crimes is a homicide, suicide or accident or whether
they constitute negligence, sexual assaults, physical abuse or domestic violence. Practitioners are sometimes
referred to as FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST or FORENSIC PHYSICIANS.
Forensic Medicine (Legal Medicine) is a branch of medicine that covers both the fields of
FORENSIC PATHLOGY
o Involves the investigation of unnatural, unexpected, or violent death.
o Changes in the body brought about by death
o Deals with the deceased
CLINICAL FORENSIC MEDICINE
o Involves the interaction between the living person, medicine and legal process.
o Changes in the body due to injuries and diseases
o Deals with living individual
However, the clinical and pathological aspects of forensic medicine tend to overlap, and different
countries have medical doctors who are involved in both the clinical and the pathological aspects of legal
medicine. Each practitioner should be aware of their respective responsibilities, not only to their patient or
the deceased, but to the society as a whole. They should also be able to utilize their medical expertise in the
pursuit of fairness and justice within the framework of legal requirements and ethical values.
FORENSIC PATHOLOGY
The word “PATHOLOGY” literally means “the study of disease”. A PATHOLIGIST is a physician who
determines a patient’s diagnosis from an examination of a tissue sample or cells under microscope.
FORENSIC PATHOLOGY is subspecialty that deals with the investigation of sudden, unexpected, and/or
violent deaths. The main role of most FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST is to undertake forensic death investigation
and perform medico-legal autopsies.
ROLES OF FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST:
1. Executing accurate and complete documentation of finding of autopsies.
2. Undertakes death certification or the completion of an official death certificate which includes
some personal information of the deceased, as well as the cause of death (the disease or injury
that was responsible for the death) and the manner of death (the means of circumstances by
which the cause of death occurred)
3. They are also required to require to provide official testimony in court regarding the deaths they
have investigated.
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Forensic Pathologist are concerned with the reason behind the occurrence of death; thus, they must
investigate the context of surrounding events before and after the death of the deceased, especially in
homicidal, accidental and suicidal cases. Needless to say, forensic pathologist are more alert to unnatural
deaths. Their investigation can begin with the determination of the following:
1. Who is the victim? (Identification based on SEX, RACE, AGE and distinguishing
characteristics)
2. When did the death and related injuries occur?
3. Where did the death and related injuries occur?
4. What injuries are present? (Identification based on type, distribution, pattern, path, and
direction)
Pathologist deals with death and tragedy every day; they can serve important functions by helping to
convict the guilty or exonerate the innocent, by helping families deal with the death of a loved one (once they
know the exact cause and manner of death), by preventing future deaths and injuries from dangers that have
proven to be deadly, and also by alerting and educating the public and the government in an effort to prevent
these hazards from being repeated.
CLINICAL FORENSIC MEDICINE
Over years, practitioners of clinical forensic medicine have been called police surgeons, forensic
medical officers or forensic medical examiners. Nowadays, they are more widely known as forensic physicians.
The Forensic Physician is tasked to undertake a variety of functions:
a. TYPICAL ROLES OF A FORENISC PHYSICIAN
1. Determination of fitness to be detained in custody
2. Determination of fitness to be released
3. Determination of fitness to be charged: competent enough to understand the charge/s
4. Determination of fitness to transfer from one jail facility to another or to the court where the alleged
case is heard and tried
5. Determination of fitness to be interviewed by the police or another detaining body
6. Advise that an independent person is required to ensure rights for the vulnerable or mentally
disordered
7. Assessment of alcohol and drug intoxication and withdrawal
8. Comprehensive examination to assess a person's ability to drive a motor vehicle, in general medical
terms and related to alcohol and drug misuse
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9. Undertake intimate body searches for drugs
10. Documentation and interpretation of injuries
11. Take forensic samples
12. Assess and treat personnel who are injured while on duty (e.g., police personnel), including needle-
stick injuries
13. Pronounce life as extinct at a scene of death and undertake preliminary advisory role
14. Undertake mental state examinations
15. Examine adult complainants of serious sexual assault and the alleged perpetrators
16. Examine alleged child victims of neglect or physical or sexual abuse
17. Examine victims and assailants in alleged police assaults and alleged perpetrators.
b. ADDITIONAL ROLES OF FORENSIC PHYSICIANS
1. Provide expert opinions in courts and tribunals
2. Certify death in custody investigations
3. Serve as part of pressure group and independent investigators in ethical and moral issues (victims
of torture, war crimes, female genital mutilation)
4. Administer medicine to asylum-seekers (medical and forensic issues)
5. Implement principles of immediate management in biological or chemical incidents.
Clinical Forensic Medicine involves the examination of living patients who have certain rights (e.g. right
of confidentiality) and capabilities (e.g. capacity to give consent). The medical doctor examining prisoners or
victims of abuse must, therefore, consider the boundaries among the conflicting rights of the person examined,
the processes of investigations and the interest of justice.
A FORENSIC PHYSICIAN has a dual responsibilities to the patient and the general; public that might
come in conflict, such as when a rape victim request for confidentiality at the expense of the perpetrator
becoming free of criminal charges.
In clinical forensic medicine, most examination have both therapeutic and forensic aspect. The doctor
has the primary responsibility of providing care and actual treatment for giving a referral for further treatment
However, the examination will most likely involve the interpretation evidential content, such as major or minor
injuries that could that could later be the subject of detailed cross-examination in court. While the doctor has
a duty of confidentiality to the person examined, the forensic physician also has an obligation to provide
necessary and appropriate information to the police to facilitate the investigation of a crime.
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FORENSIC TOXICOLOGY
Forensic Toxicology is a forensic science discipline that deals with the identification and quantification
drugs, poisons, and other toxic substances in body tissues and fluids. Victims who are suspected to have been
accidentally or purposely poisoned are examined by the toxicologist to detect toxic substances in the blood,
urine, spinal fluid and tissue.
FORENSIC ANTHROPHOLOGY
The scientific field of physical anthropology which is concerned with the study of humans in relation to
their physical characteristics. The subspecialty of Forensic Anthropology is concerned with the examination of
both and skeletal remains in order to provide information about sex, race, age and time of death. Forensic
Anthropologist can differentiate between post-mortem changes to help in identifying mysterious remains and
to determine whether the death was caused by foul play.
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ASSIGNMENT TWO:
Instructions: Write your answer in your notebook or type it a word doc. file and submit a PDF or an image file
copy of your output. (DO NOT GOOGLE SEARCH YOUR ANSWER)
1. What is FORENSIC SCIENCE?
2. What is FORENSIC TOXICOLOGY? How is it different from Forensic Anthropology and Forensic
Pathology?
3. What are the roles performed by a Forensic Physician?
4. What is Forensic Pathology? What is its role in Criminal investigation?
