20 Oral Definition of Terms

CDI 500 – Special Crime with Legal Medicine

1. Regular Sources – records, files from government or non – government agencies, news items. TV broadcast,
intercepted radio, telephone messages and stored computer data.

2. Cultivated Sources – these are information’s furnished by informants or informers.

3. Grapevine Sources – This are information coming from the underworld characters such as prisoners or ex-convicts.

4. INTERROGATION – the process of obtaining an admission or confession from those suspect who have committed a
crime. It is confrontational in nature. The term interrogation also applies to an uncooperative or reluctant witness. This
kind of witness is treated as suspect in order that he will divulge the information needed by the investigator.

5. FIELD INQUIRY – it is the general questioning of all persons at the crime scene conducted by the investigator.

6. INSTRUMENTATION –it is the process of applying instruments or tools of police sciences in criminal investigation
and detection. The use of the police laboratory in the examination of physical evidence, such as Forensic Ballistics and
other sciences.
7. STRIP METHOD – the searches proceed slowly at the same place along the path parallel to one side of the rectangle.
At the end of the rectangle, the searchers turn and proceed back along new lanes but parallel to the first movement.

8. THE DOUBLE STRIP OR GRID METHOD – it has the same process as that of the strip method but with
modification that the lanes covered by the strip method is reprocessed twice.

9. THE SPIRAL OR CIRCULAR METHOD – the searches follow each other in a path of spiral, beginning in the
outside and spiraling towards the center of the scene.

10. ZONE METHOD – the area divided into quadrants and each searcher is assigned to his specific quadrant. This
method is sometimes called quadrant method.

11. THE WHEEL, RADIAL OR SPOKE METHOD – this method is applied if the area to be searched this method is
applied if the area to be searched is approximately circular or oval. The searchers gather at the center and proceed outward
a radii or spokes. The setback of this method is that the distances of the searchers increase as they proceed outward.

12. SUSPENDED ANIMATION - it is the condition in which the cardiac activity, breathing and functioning of the
nervous system may reach a low level of activity that a homicide investigator may be deceived into an assumption of
death.

13. CONTUSION  an injury found in the substance of the skin discoloration of the surface due to extravasations of
blood caused by the application of a blunt instrument.

14. ABRASION Injury characterized by removal of the specific epithelial layer of the skin brought about by friction
against a hard rough surface.

15. HEMATOMA  extravasations of blood in the newly formed cavity known as blood tumor caused by blunt
instrument.

16. INCISED WOUND  produced by sharp-edge instrument like bolo, broken glass, etc.

17. STAB WOUND  forcible application of a sharp pointed with sharp edges.
18. PUNCTURED WOUND  produced by sharp pointed instrument.

19. LACERATED WOUND  tearing of the skin due to forcible contact with a blunt instrument, which the edges are
irregular.

20. Forensic pathology is the branch of medicine associated with the study of structural changes in the body caused by
disease or injury.