Week 2 - Introduction to Forensic Anthropology Flashcards
1
Q
what is forensic anthropology
A
- > branch of biological anthro concerned with the identification and recovery of human SKELETAL remains in a legal context using anthological methods and theories
2
Q
forensic anthro pre 1940s
A
- > anatomists, physiologists were self taught, had informal training
- > little medicolegal significance
3
Q
forensic anthro from 1940-1970
A
- > WW2, Korean and Vietnam wars left alot of bodies that needed to be identified
- > alot of age based observation as they were mostly white males
- > discipline was legitimized and there were increased method development
4
Q
forensic anthro 1970-1990s
A
- > increased professionalization, American Academy of Forensic Anthropology
- > renaissance of human skeletal biology
1. Modern comparative samples
2. better analytical stats to interpret variation
5
Q
forensic anthro 1990-present
A
- > a lot more accessible; there are now university programs and databases for the discipline
- > best practices guidelines and standards used in the discipline and in courts
6
Q
medicolegal
A
the application of medical science to law
7
Q
medicolegal system
A
- > system head is either a coroner or a medical examiner who is responsible for determining cause and manner of death
- > formal mechanism for death investigation and certification within a specific geographic area
8
Q
coroner
A
- > elected or appointed
- > does not need to be a physician
- > does not need to attend or perform autopsies
- > i.e. physician, law enforcement officer, funeral director
9
Q
medical examiner
A
- > appointed by public official
- > licensed, board-certified forensic pathologist
- > perform autopsies
- > convene inquests
10
Q
describe new brunswicks coroner services
A
- > independent and publicly accountable investigation of death agency
- > they determine the identity of all reported deaths in NB and how, when, where and by what means they died
- > deal with all deaths that are unnatural, unexpected, unexplained or unattended
- > responsible for determining whether such reported deaths are related to natural causes, accident, suicided, or homicide
11
Q
What warrants a medicolegal investigation in NB
A
• If a person has died as a result of
- > violence
- > misadventure or negligence
- > misconduct or malpractice
- > during pregnancy or following pregnancy in circumstances that might reasonably be attributable to the pregnancy*
- > suddenly and unexpectedly
- > from disease or sickness for which there was no treatment given by a medical practitioner
- > from any cause other than disease or natural causes!!!!!!
12
Q
What are the 3 time classification of death
A
- Perimortem
- Antemortem
- Postmortem
13
Q
perimortem
A
- > events surrounding death
- > any disease, trauma, illness that initiates the sequence of events leading to death
- Brief - gunshot; long - chronic illness
- > concludes at the end of interaction between individual and causative agent (not nessarily death)
14
Q
antemortem
A
- > begins at birth and ends at the perimortem period
15
Q
postmortem
A
begins at the end of perimortem and continues until the body is discovered
16
Q
cause of death vs manner of death
A
COD
- > disease or injury responsible for initiating the sequence of events, brief or prolonged, that result in death
MOD
- > the fashion in which the cause of death came into being.
17
Q
What are the 5 recognized manners of death
A
- Natural
- > resulting exclusively from disease or advanced age - Accidental
- > trauma or elevated toxicity causing or contributing to death, harm inflicted not intentional (i.e. car crash, falls, drowning, OD) - Suicide
- > intentional killing of oneself - Homicides
- > death at the hands of another - undetermined
- > when manner of death is elusive
18
Q
medicolegal significance; how is significance determined
A
- is the material skeletal vs other material
- Is the skeletal material human vs non-human
- is the human skeletal material contemporary vs non-contemporary (historic/prehistoric)
19
Q
Contemporary vs non-contemporary
A
- > 50 years (1970s) for forensic
- > cannon establish ID, legal challenges, lack of data
20
Q
what to look for to determine if the remains are contemp vs non contemp
A
- > whether soft tissue is present
- > appearance and quality of preservation
- > postmortem treatment: embalming, autopsy evidence, processing chemicals
- > location and context of remains
- > presence of artifacts/grave goods
- > body modifications (i.e. dental and medical devices)
21
Q
describe skeletal examinations
A
- > all methods have inherent limitation (measuring bones by hand has deviation)
- > assessments/determination: observing morphological traits (categorical/discrete data) i.e. sex determination
- > estimations: observing metric traits (continuous data) i.e. age determination
22
Q
examples of macroscopic assessments
A
- > inventory of remains
- > condition of remains
- > estimation of age, sex, pathology and trauma-biological profile
- > degree of expression and overall morphology
- > presence vs absence
- > limitations: subjective, less standardized, bias, experience and training requirements
23
Q
metric assessments
A
- > skeletal measurements = osteometrics
- > variation difficult to detect
- > used in calculation - i.e. stature
- > statistica power, elimination of error, requires training (landmark ident.), how to calculate and interpret data
24
Q
radiography assessments
A
- > documentation, detection and diagnosis
- > detects foreign materials (i.e. ballistics)
- > shows internal structures (sinuses, dentition) and changes to bone (implants, pathology)
25
describe case documentation in a medicolegal context
1. Authentication
- > multiple pros sign off on the data
2. Verification
3. Traceability
- > we know where all the evidence is at any given time
26
3 governing rules of evidence
1. Federal rules of evidence 702
2. Frye ruling
3. daubert ruling
- > Mohan ruling - Canada
27
Mohan ruling
- > to be admitted expert evidence must:
1. be relevant
2. be needed to assist the trier of fact
3. not trigger any exclusionary rules
4. be given by a properly qualified expert
28
requirements to be an expert witness
- > strict rules for qualification as "expert"
- > usually PhD minimum
- > can offer opinion based on experience or experiential findings
- > sufficient knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education to assist with understanding evidence
