Forensics

Question 1

What are the different types of blunt force injuries?

Answer 1

1. Abhrasion
2. Contusion
3. Laceration

Question 2

What is an abrasion?

Answer 2

Blunt force injury where (primary) the epidermis was injured.

Question 3

How is a abrasion made?

Answer 3

1. Friction scraping away the epidermis
2. Crushing by direct force
3. Blow tangential to the skin

Question 4

How do abrasions present

Answer 4

ooze and bleed (but not profusely)

heals by forming a scap

Question 5

What are the different types of abrasions?

Answer 5

1. brush (scrape or gliding)
2. impact
3. patterrned

Question 6

what is a brush abrasion?

what will you see?

Answer 6

Abrasion d/t scraping/gliding (tangential force applied to the body).

rolls, heaps of tissue OPPOSITE to the direction of force.

Large scrapes “brush burns”

Question 7

What is a patterned abrasion?

Answer 7

when an impact leaves a pattern on the skin

Question 8

When will you see brush abrasions?

Answer 8

motorcycle accidents

Question 9

What are dicing injuries?

Answer 9

dicing on left side means face was on passenger window to left

front windshield will split and passenger will break into small dicing structures

Question 10

Laceration

Answer 10

(blunt force to body surface that splits skin)

frequently see soft tissue bridges

Question 11

What is the wounding formula?

Answer 11

• shorter time and smaller area => WORSE

W= E * K * 1/T * 1/A

E= energy transferred (1/2 mV^2)

K= modify facitor (elasticity of striking object or tissue being injured)

T= period (time) of NRG transfer

A= areas of application of force

Question 12

Contusion

Answer 12

“A contusion is a bruise d/t
hemorrhage => soft tissue due to rupture of subcutaneous blood vessels by blunt force
injury

Question 13

Why do contusions not bleed out?

Answer 13

epidermis is intact

Question 14

Where can contusions be seen?

Answer 14

skin or deep viscera (internal organs)

Question 15

What does the extent and severity of a contusion correlate with?

Answer 15

1. Amount of force
2. Vasculature of the tissue injired
3. Type of injury
4. Location of the tissue: is it over bone
5. Are you easily bruised? Age, cirrhosis, blood problems

Question 16

Can the age of a contusion be predicted based Upton the color change?

Answer 16

YES: but only when yellow: tells us the bruise is older than 18 hours

Blue, purple and red do not help

brown is just a mixture of colors, so no

Question 17

stab wound/ (incise wound)

Answer 17

SHARP FORCE INJURY where the depth of the injury is greater than the length

deeper than longer

Question 18

how is a stab wound made?

Answer 18

instrument with pointed edge is thrusted onto body; object is longer than puncture and deeper than it is wide

fall on a pointy object

Question 19

what is a stabbing instrument?

Answer 19

anything that can overcome tensile stretnth of the skin

scissors, screwdrivers, BBQ foks

Question 20

Single edged blade will make a ______ shaped incision, while

a double edged blade will make more of a______injury

Answer 20

Single: triangular

Double: round diamond

Question 21

To tell what hand someone stabs: ______

Answer 21

you tend to reach up higher with dominant hand

Question 22

What are examples of long guns

Answer 22

1. bolt/lever action
2. semi-automatic
3. fully automatic

Question 23

Other types of guns

Answer 23

1. Smooth bores

2. Hand guns: revolvers and semiautomatics

Question 24

Characteristics of a gun wound?

_____ = more powder

Which is more important: velocity or mass of the bullet?

Rifling produces what kind of bullet?

Answer 24

• closer=more powder
• velocity is more important than mass
• rifling=spinning bullet

Question 25

___ guns fire with more velocity => more damage.

Answer 25

Long

Question 26

Which bullets go faster: bigger or smaller

Answer 26

bigger, even if they are bigger

Question 27

which guns have more wounding ability?

Answer 27

long

Question 28

do only bullets come out of gun?

Answer 28

no

Question 29

The adult skull has a inner and outer table, separated by a diploe. In entry wounds, what do they look like?

Answer 29

Outer table: circumscribed (sharp) Inner table: beveled

Question 30

The adult skull has a inner and outer table, separated by a diploe. In exit wounds, what do they look like?

Answer 30

Outer table: beveled Inner table: circumscribed Exit skull GSW are opposite

Question 31

What is unique about blunt force to the head (and in some cases GSW).

Answer 31

they do not cross previous fracture lines (they stop, rather than cross). thus you can time when the wound happaned.

Question 32

marginal abrasion, dirt, powder grains, and soot in the depths of the wound

Answer 32

contact wound

Question 33

marginal abrasion, stippling and powder tattooing pattern; on skin you can see powder (intermediate zone) and the gunshot wound of entry

Answer 33

intermediate wounds

Question 34

marginal abrasion no powder soot stippling no powder soot IN wounds

Answer 34

distant wounds

Question 35

What can we say about entry and exit of handguns (low velocity); long guns (high velocity?

Answer 35

hand guns (low v) => pt presents with a small entrance wound and a small/no exit wounnd long guns (high v) => relatively small entry=> BIG exit

Question 36

the faster an object hits someone the ___ damage it will cause and a _____ area of the same density will cause MORE damage d/t inverse relationship

Answer 36

MORE SMALLER

Question 37

What is the macro level approach to mass casualties?

Answer 37

Macro: the scene - Safeguarding (protect live people first - then the scene) - Surveying - Documenting - Proper approach to specimen retrieval

Question 38

What is the micro level approach to mass casualties

Answer 38

Retrive biologic materials and transmittal vs. inorganic specimens/substances use paperbag for organic compounds

Question 39

What can degrade DNA

Answer 39

water and UV light (use paper bag t0 avoid precipitation)

Question 40

In Waco, who showed up in Feb of 1993?

Answer 40

BATF Burea of alcohol, tobacco and firearm

Question 41

In Waco, who showed up in April of 1993?

Answer 41

FBI

Question 42

What is the role of the ME? do they have a duty to the family?

Answer 42

1. assign a cause of death (COD) 2. To render an opinion as to the manner of death no

Question 43

Is cardiorespiratory arrest ever a legitimate cause of death?

Answer 43

NO => jjust means <3 and lungs stopped working

Question 44

If a case appears obvious, why do a forensic autopsy?

Answer 44

anybody can allege anything - confined a disease that contributes, (neurotic, cutters) - need to protect society

Question 45

cause of death

Answer 45

proximate what initated everything: REAL COD gunshot

Question 46

mechanism of death

Answer 46

immediate COD | pathophysiology of the COD

Question 47

manner of death

Answer 47

NASHU

Question 48

how do we write

Answer 48

[mechanism of death] due to [COD] ______ manner of death

Question 49

________ of death is a judicial opinion determined by the pathologist that is based off of everything we know. It can change as we get more information

Answer 49

Manner of death NASHU

Question 50

Cause of death is determined by an _____

Answer 50

autopsy

Question 51

List and carefully describe manners of death, i.e. natural, accident, suicide and homicide. Answer the question: Is it ever legitimate to formally list a manner of death as “undetermined”?

Answer 51

Manner of death CAN be marked as undetermined because some people can die d/t idiopathic causes.

Question 52

5. Explain, with examples, why homicide and murder are not synonymous terms.

Answer 52

Homicide: a life that was taken by person OR ENTITY. | • Thus, lethal injection is a homicide (euthenasia)

Question 53

what is the focus of forensic examination/inquiry

Answer 53

not natural disease (even though taken into account) but foul play and unnatural death are the focus

Question 54

why do hospitals do less autopsies

Answer 54

we dont known an unknown undiagnosed disease to get discvovered or get sued (everyone can get sued except ME time consuming expensive

Question 55

When we die, body undergoes what changes

Answer 55

stiffens cools collects pools of blood determined by body position

Question 56

Rigor mortis: body _____ Algor mortis: body _____ Livor mortis: body _____:

Answer 56

rigor mortis = body stiffening algor mortis => body cooling livor mortis = body postioning (LP) and collec

Question 57

[Q:] if the body temperature is warm, and there is no stiffness, how long ago did the patient die?

Answer 57

0-3

Question 58

[Q:] if the body temperature is warm, and there IS stiffness, how long ago did the patient die?

Answer 58

3-8

Question 59

[Q:] if the body temperature is cold, and there IS stiffness, how long ago did the patient die?

Answer 59

8-36

Question 60

[Q:] if the body temperature is cold, and there NO stiffness, how long ago did the patient die?

Answer 60

More than 36 hours; remember the body is reduced to gas and water and skin begins to slip.

Question 61

11. Describe the major forms of body decomposition (3) and the settings in which they occur.

Answer 61

1. putrerifactive = most common 2. adipocere formation 3. mummification

Question 62

• Putrefactive

Answer 62

warm places (humid) starts in RLQ (colon) => microbes invade => proliferate=> green colon => body is reduced to gas and water and skin slips

Question 63

• Adipocere formation

Answer 63

occurs when we are in water for a long period of time epiderms degrades fatty deposits

Question 64

• Mummification

Answer 64

body dries up with no gas formation