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36 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What 4 types of death are medical examiner/coroner cases?
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1. All deaths from trauma
2. All deaths from poisoning/substance 3. All deaths in police custody 4. All sudden and unexpected death occurring while the person is in apparent good health. |
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What is the difference between manner of death and cause of death?
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Manner of death: a classification of how the death occurred
Cause of death: the disease or injury which caused death |
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What are the 5 choices for manner of death?
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Manner of Death:
Homicide Suicide Accident Natural Undetermined |
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What are 3 variables that help in estimating time of death?
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1. rigor mortis
2. lividity 3. body temperature |
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What temperature is the room if rigor mortis proceeds in the following way:
1. Rigor mortis becomes discernible in 2-4 h 2. Maximal rigidity in 6-8 h 3. Rigidity maintains until decomposition begins at 15-18 h 4. All rigidity should be gone in 24 h |
room temperature (72 F)
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Hot temperature makes rigor mortis cycle go faster or slower?
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Faster
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Cold temperature makes rigor mortis cycle go faster or slower?
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Slower
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At room temperature (72 F) at what times do the following occur?
1. Rigor mortis becomes discernible 2. Maximal rigidity 3. Rigidity maintains until decomposition begins 4. All rigidity should be gone |
1. Rigor mortis becomes discernible in 2-4 h
2. Maximal rigidity in 6-8 h 3. Rigidity maintains until decomposition begins at 15-18 h 4. All rigidity should be gone in 24 h |
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Purple discoloration on the dependent surfaces of the body are called what?
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Lividity (livor mortis)
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When does lividity become fixed?
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6-8 h
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What are the 4 components of ammunition?
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1. primer
2. propellant 3. bullet (or projectile) 4. cartridge case |
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What is a reportable death?
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Death that should be reported to the medical examiner or coroner regardless of where or when the initial injury event occurred.
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Entrance or exit wound?
puncture would with circumferential marginal abrasion collar |
entrance
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Entrance or exit wound?
Variability and irregularity in size and shape (jagged, star-shaped, slit-like, or gaping), no abrasion collar but may have an irregular abrasion in some cases. |
Exit
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Which gun produces more soot, a 0.45 or 0.22?
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0.45
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Which can be wiped away: soot or stippling?
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Soot.
Stippling refers to the reddish punctate abrasions due to propellant granules hitting the skin and includes tattooing which results from powder granules embedding themselves in the skin which occurs with spherical propellants. |
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What distance range was the shot from if there is stippling?
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up to 3 feet
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Up to what distance is the gun if there is soot?
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6 inches to 1 foot.
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How far away is the gun?
Blast destruction, tearing of the skin or clothing. Soot and powder particles mostly in the inside of the garment or driven into the wound. The outline of certain contacting parts of the firearm may be printed in the skin adjacent the entry hole. |
Contact (zone 1)
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How far away is the gun?
Intense, dark sooting with dense deposits of unburned and partially burned powder particles around the bullet hole. Blast destruction still possible in clothing and even skin in some cases. Powder tattooing on the skin. |
1-4 inches (zone 2)
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How far away is the gun?
Some medium to light gray sooting with a roughly circular "shotgun" pattern of powder particles around the bullet hole. Powder tattooing is still possible particularly with dense and/or poorly burning powders. |
3-8 inches (zone 3)
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How far away is the gun?
No visible sooting. Widely dispersed powder particles often loosely adhering to the receiving surface. The distribution pattern is usually circular at closer distances but may become poorly defined to nonexistent at greater distances. Chemical tests can be employed to raise latent powder or GSR patterns or garments. |
6-36 inches (zone 4)
AKA: 6 inches to 3 feet |
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How far away is the gun?
No discernible firearms discharge products present. Bullet wiping present around the margin of the entry side of the bullet hole regardless of range. |
3 feet or greater (zone 5)
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What is a shotgun wad and how is it useful in forensics?
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The wad is the material (either paper or plastic) which separates the birdshot or buckshot pellets from the gunpowder.
If the wadding is recovered, you can figure out the gauge of the shotgun. Sometimes, if the shot is within 20-40 feet, the wad will end up in the person shot and the person will have 2 entrance holes. |
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What is the rule of thumb for estimating distance in shotgun wounds?
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Each inch diameter in the spread of shotgun pellets entering the body equals 1 yard.
e.g. 5 inch diameter wound = muzzle of shotgun 5 yards away |
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What's the difference between an incised wound and stab wound?
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Incised wound: length of skin wound is greater than depth of wound
Stab wound: depth of penetration greater than width of skin wound |
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What type of trauma is this?
A scrape of the outer layer of skin may be due to friction or vertical impact onto rough surface. |
Abrasion
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What type of trauma is this?
Bleeding beneath the skin as a result of a mechanical force disruption small blood vessels. |
Contusion (bruise)
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What type of trauma is this?
A tear of the skin as a result of mechanical force. Can result from a blow with an object or from something falling and striking a part of the body. |
Laceration
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What type of trauma is this?
Bleeding between the dura and the brain. Results from a tear of the bridging veins which run from the cerebral cortex to the dural sinuses. Venous bleeding (slowly develops). |
Subdural hematoma
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What type of trauma is this?
Bleeding between the skull and the dura. Results when a skull fracture lacerates a branch of the middle meningeal artery in the temple. Arterial bleeding may present with massive compression of the brain within a one hour time frame. |
Epidural hematoma
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What is the difference between coup and counter-coup contusions of the brain?
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Coup: contusion at site of impact
Counter-coup: contusion at the opposite side of impact |
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Petechiae or no?
Hanging (suspended) |
No. The arteries and veins are occluded.
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Petechiae or no?
Strangulation |
Usually yes. The veins are occluded but arteries either are not or only intermittently or partially.
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Petechiae or no?
Hanging (sitting on floor with neck ligature) |
Yes. The veins are occluded but arteries either are not or only intermittently or partially.
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In neck strangulation what bone can be fractured? What cartilage?
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Bone: hyoid bone
Cartilage: greater horns of the thyroid cartilage |
