Chapter 9 Flashcards
Purposeful premeditated and unlawful taking of the life of a human being by another person. It is considered the most serious of all statutory crimes and may be divided into 1st & 2nd degree
Murder
What are the various modes of wrongful death?
Accidental death, natural death, suicide, and murder
Most serious and includes Premeditation and preplanning
First degree murder
Lesser offense but requires that the person “attempted” to kill the intended victim
Second degree
Deliberate killing of another person and subdivided into voluntary and involuntary
Manslaughter
Killing another person in act of passion and lacks premeditation
Voluntary manslaughter
Accidental or non intentional death of another person due to severe negligence
Involuntary manslaughter
Steps of preliminary investigation
Is victim alive or dead Medical help for victim Apprehend perpetrator if still on scene Make appropriate notifications if perp has left scene Safeguard crime scene Detain witnesses
After prelim duties protect crime scene and establish maintain chain of custody
Human decomposition takes place in five stages
Stage 1 fresh stage
Stage 2 putrefaction stage (bloating)
Stage 3 black putrefaction stage
Stage 4 butyric fermentation stage (mummification)
Stage 5 dry decay stage (skeletonization)
Visual evidence of decomposition includes
Body color Changes in the eyes Body temp Rigor Morris Postmortem lividity
Type of wound inflicted by a firearm can be affected by a number of factors
Type of caliber used
Distance between shooter and victim
Whether lethal bullet had ricocheted off another object
Where muzzle of weapon was held against the body when discharged, certain residue will be present
Contact wound
Killing several victims in three or more separate events with time breaks as short as two days to as much as weeks or even months between victims
Serial murder
Killing of at least four victims In a single incident within a short span of time
Mass murder
Murder that arouses intense public interest
Sensational murder
Killing in a rampage fashion and involves killing two or more victims in a short time at multiple locations(w/out a cooling off period)
Spree murder
A case is considered ________ until a suspect has been identified arrested and prosecuted for the crime
unsolved
Muzzle is held tightly against the skin. Little external evidence that it is a contact wound if entrance is inspected usually searing and powder blackening of the immediate edge of the wound is seen. Autopsy will reveal particles of soot and unburnt powder in wound track
Hard contact wound
Muzzle is held lightly against the skin soot that is carried by gas is deposited in a zone around entrance which can be wiped away
Loose contact wound
Barrel is held at acute angel to skin gas and soot radiate outward from where the gun does not touch the skin. Hot sooty gases escape the gap leaving a blackened and seared section of the skin w/scattered grains if powder
Angled wound
Muzzle is close to skin but is not in direct contact grains do not have a chance to disperse and leave powder tattooing wide zone of powder soot and seared blackened skin surround the entrance wound
Near contact wound
Muzzle is held away from the skin but close enough that it produces powder tattooing reddish brown or orange lesions around entrance wound also characterize this type wound
Intermediate wound
Leaves no marks other than those produced by bullet perforating the skin
Distant wound
Process of stiffening or contraction of body muscles, after vital functions cease, sets in 2-4 hours after death. Starts at same time throughout the entire body. First observed in jaws and neck tends to progress head to foot.
Rigor mortis
Blood settles to bottom side of body because of gravity, purplish lividity forms on skin closest to surface. May appear one half hour to four hours after death.
Post mortem lividity
Bullet enters an object and remains inside
Penetrating wounds
The bullet passes completely through the object
Perforating wound
Reddish brown area of roughened skin, surrounds an entrance wound and small amounts of blood escape through
Note: exit wound is larger w/ protruding tissue and no abrasion ring exit wound far more blood escapes
Abrasion ring
A choke is a constriction in last couple inches in barrel plays role in the rate which the pellets spread as they travel away and can vary in degree of construction. Common choke designations are
Full, modified, and improved cylinder
At ranges of around _________ the shot and wadding mass will produce a single large hole in a target
5-10 feet
The close range entrance less than 5 ft hole is almost _________ you might notice a pinkish color to material around hole
square
Distances greater than ________ shot mass starts to break up. Fliers will start to appear around the edge of entrance wound and wadding may or may not enter the victim
5-10 feet
Cooling of the body’s temperature to that of its surroundings. Occurs in fresh stage, few days after death
Algor mortis
The products from the breakdown create acids, gases, and other products that cause production of putrefactive effects. It is produced during early stages of human decomposition( in fresh stage)
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
Diptera insects begin to lay eggs on the body during this stage especially member of the caliphoridae family of insects
Fresh stage
Odor, color changes, and bloating of the body, green color change
Putrefaction stage
When bacteria enters venous system that leads to formation of red streaks along the veins (putrefaction stage)
Hemolyze
Red streaks along veins that changes to green (putrefaction stage)
Marbelization
The black putrefaction stage ends as the bones become apparent which can take anywhere from ________ after death depending on region and temperature.
10-20 days
Types of insects differ based on where the body is although _________ can be found feeding on the body in almost all cases.
Diptera larvae
Studies various stages of growth of each larva before it develops into an adult insect.
Entomologist
Grave wax formation is loss of body color and formation of a chessy appearance on the cadaver(butyric fermentation stage)
Adipocere
________ temperatures leads the protein in bones to break down more rapidly
Higher
Studies the clues to cause of death found in the corpse as a medical phenomenon
Forensic pathology
Studies skeletons and human remains to seek clues to identity race sex of their former owners
Forensic anthropology
A basic guide for the effect of environment on decomposition (or ratio) if all other factors are equal then where there is free access of air a body decomposes twice as fast than if immersed in water and eight times faster if buried
Casper’s law
Freshly skeletonized bone is often called ________ and has a characteristic greasy feel
Green bone
Pupils may become irregular in size and shape and typically become milky and cloudy in color within _____ of death
8-10hrs
A corpse will feel cool to the touch from ______ after death and will remain the same temperature as it’s surrounding for about 24 hours after death.
8-12 hrs
The _______ the difference between the body and the environment the faster the body will cool down
greater
Ring from gunpowder deposited around wound has a dirty appearance and can usually be wiped off
Smudging
Tiny pinpoint hemorrhage from unburnt powder being deposited in skin, cannot be wiped away
Tattooing
This test for GSR, Involves swabbing suspects hand with cotton swabs, soaking in acid solution, exposed to high temps, and a light reads the absorption rate. It is time consuming and time limited process because swabs have to be “digested”
Atomic absorption test
__________ test where the amounts of chloride on each side of the heart were compared to determine if the person drowned in fresh or salt water
Getter Chloride
A robot rule based expert system programmed to profile serial criminals
Violent criminal apprehension program (ViCAP)
________ and nonnegligent manslaughter as defined in the UCR program is the willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another.
Murder
Spree murders involve killings at __________ locations with almost no time break between murders
two or more
Mass murder is the killing of _________ at one location within one event.
four or more victims
Serial murder happens over time and involves the killing of several victims in ____________.
three or more separate events
Nearly _____ of the nations murders were reported in the ______.
44%/South
He or she must become aware of the crime scene situation and be prepared to take certain immediate actions , the focus being identifying any aspects of the scene that might be subject to chemical change, change by dissipation or change because something was moved
Scene-conscious
Refers to the sequential documentation of evidence that shows the seizure ,custody ,control ,transfer ,analysis ,and disposition of evidence
Chain of custody
A specific person must always have the __________of a piece of evidence
physical custody
A good practice for investigators is to have ___________ person identify the remains to avoid a case of mistaken identity
more than one
Other identifiers investigators should look for to identify remains is fingernail scrapings, fingerprints if deceased and __________
Wounds and blood : if wounds indicate severe bleeding and little blood is on the scene the body may have been moved
The declaring does not actually have to die for the statement to be admissible but he or she needs to have had a genuine belief that he or she was going to die and declaring must be _______ to testify in court
Unavailable
The dying declaration must relate to the circumstances or the cause of the declarants _______.
own death
The dying declaration will be in admissible unless it is based on the declarants ____________.
actual knowledge
Forensic autopsy deaths are placed in one of five categories
Natural ,accidental ,homicide, suicide and undetermined
The time span for the hatching of the maggot is ____
24 hours
If buried remains decay _______ in acidic based soils than in alkaline soils
faster
The formation of adipocere _______ decomposition by inhibiting the bacteria that causes putrefaction
slows
One reliable method of determining body temperature is to insert a thermometer into the rectum of the deceased. The medical examiner will usually place a thermometer in the victims ______.
Liver
IACP offers a working formula to determine estimated time of death when it is thought to be less than 24 hours
98.6(normal temp) 2(rectal temp) no. hrs since deat
___________________________________
1.5 (average heat loss)
After lividity has set in for ____ the body will not diminish in color and will remain unchanged
12 hours
At the completion of rigor mortis typically _______ after death the torso jaws neck an duper lower extremities are stiff as a board
8-12 hours
After lividity has set in for ____ the body will not diminish in color and will remain unchanged
12 hours
Bodies found in air will have decomposed ______ as fast as those found submerged in water
twice
If a reddish brown to orange red powder tattooing exists that indicates the individual was ____ when the wound was inflicted
Alive
If the powder has produced _________ marks instead the individual was deceased before the shooting
Gray or yellow
No grooves on the bullet it was likely fired from a ______ such as a rifle if there is elongated grooves with deep incisions it was likely fired from a weapon smaller in size
Large weapon
Most labs will not test samples collected from living person more than ____ after the shooting
6 hours
The gauge of a shotgun is determined by the number of round lead balls of bore diameter that it takes to equal ______.
One pound
The irreversibility of drowning begins ______ in warm water and for as long as 66 minutes in cold water
3-10 minutes
A perso. Is considered a victim of “near drowning” if after being rescued he survives for ____ after being submerged in water even if he dies shirty after or suffers brain damage
24 hours
______ of all drowning a are considers “dry drownings”
10-15 percent
A person dies by suicide about every ____ in the US
16 minutes
_______ of all people who die by suicide have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder
90 percent
______ are used in more suicides than homicides
Firearms
It is estimated that _____ of suicides are accompanied by a note
12-20 percent
When completing the act of suicide victims will often ______ their actions
“personalize”
