Criminal Investigation Final Flashcards
Felonious assault
assault committed for the purpose of inflicting severe bodily harm or death. Normally with a deadly weapon.
Nonfelonious homicide
homicide that is either justifiable or excusable
Justifiable homicide
the necessary killing of another person in performance of a legal duty or the exercise of a legal right when the slayer was not at fault.
Excusable homicide
the one who commits an excusable homicide is to some degree at fault but the degree of fault is not enough to constitute a criminal homicide.
Felonious homicide
treated and punished as crimes and typically fall into two categories: murder and homicide
Murder
the killing of any human being by another with malice aforethought
Manslaughter
a criminal homicide that is committed under circumstances not severe enough to constitute murder but that cannot be classified as either justifiable or excusable homicide
Medico-legal examination
brings medical skill to bear on injury and death investigations
Forensic pathology
the study of how and why people die
Autopsy can answer
- time of death
- cause
- weapon
- how many wounds/which was fatal
- how long did they live after injury
- what position were they in at time of assault
- what direction was force applied
- evidence of struggle/self-defence
- rape or other sex related acts
- drugs or alcohol
Algor mortis
when the body cools from normal temp of 98.6 to room temperature
- body temp decreases at roughly 1.5 degrees per hour
- best to test within 10 hours of death
What effects the rate of cooling body
- size of body
- clothing and covering
- movement and humidity of the air
- immersion in water
Ocular change
- the cornea becomes cloudy within 2 hours or less if eyes are open.
- if eyes are closed 12 -24 hours
- cornea of eyes become opaque on third day
- eyes bulge out of the socket
- then eyes retract into head
Stomach contents
- after light meal food leaves within 1-2 hrs
- medium 3-4 hrs
- heavy meals 4-6 hrs
Rigor mortis
when the body becomes rigid within 1-3 hours after death and the joints freeze
- impacted by body temp
- in complete rigor when jaw, elbows and knees are completely immovable (takes 10-15 hrs)
How long until rigor goes away
24-36 hours
Livor Mortis
- reddish purply coloration in dependent areas of the body due to accumulation of blood in the small vessels of the dependent areas secondary to gravity
- mistaken for bruising
- normally evident within 30 min - 2 hr
- reaches maximum coloration 8-12 hrs
- may indicate time of death, body has been moved after death, indicate cause of death
Cadaveric spasm
a death grip/specific type of rigor that is more accelerated
Forensic entomology
the study of insects associated with a dead body, which is typically used to determine the elapsed time since death
Where to larvae like to go on a dead body.
- eyes
- ears
- entrance of the nostrils
- beneath waist
- under shirt cuffs/under pant legs
- eye orbits
- auditory meatus
- inside cranial vault
- pelvis and sacrum
Bakersfield, California case
- woman and three children, and mother found dead
- no evidence was found
- suspect was estranged husband
- he was in Columbus Ohio
- rented a dodge neon/car had high number of miles
- Dr. Kimsey found true bugs and paper wasps