Legal Medicine Pointers

HUMAN ANATOMY
- Abdominopelvic cavity is the largest cavity in the body.
- Ventral cavity – thoracic and abdominopelvic cavity
- Dorsal cavity – cranial and spinal cavity
- There are 9 abdominal regions and 4 abdominal quadrants in the peritoneal cavity.

DEATH
 Types of death
 Brain death
 Somatic death or Clinical death
 Molecular or Cellular death
 Death or "state of suspended animation"
 Signs of death
 Cessation of the Heart and Circulation
 Cessation of Respiration
 Cooling of the body (algor mortis) - The progressive fall of the body temperature is one of the most
prominent signs of death. As a general rule the body attains the temperature of the surrounding air from
12-15 hours after death in tropical countries.
 Insensibility of the body & loss of power to move
 Changes in the skin
 Changes about the eye
 Changes in the body following death
 Changes in the muscle
 Changes in the blood - The color of the lividity may indicate the cause of death.

 Autolytic or Autodigestive changes after death

 Putrefaction of the body – breaking down of complex proteins into simpler components associated with
the evolution of foul-smelling gasses and accompanied by the change of the color of the body.
 Special modification of putrefaction
 Mummification
 Saponification or Adipocere formation
 Maceration
 Presumption of death – 7 years/4 years (4/2)
 Officials of the government authorized to make death investigations
 Provincial and city Fiscals
 Judges of Courts of First Instance (now called Regional Trial Courts)
 Justice of Peace (now called Municipal Trial Courts)
 NBI Director
 Chief of Police
 Solicitor General
 2 types of Autopsy
 Hospital Based/non-official autopsy/ Non-medico legal/ “elective” – need consent
 Medico-Legal / Official autopsy/ “mandatory” – consent not needed
 Deaths that should be autopsied - Death by violence, Accidental Death, Suicides, Sudden Death of persons
apparently of good health, Death unattended by a physician, Death occurring in unnatural manner, Death on
arrival
 Causes of Death
 Immediate (Primary) Cause of Death
  The Proximate (Secondary) Cause of Death
 Death by Inhibition
 Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) – usually under 6 months age
 Sudden Unexplained Nocturnal Death (SUND)
 Manner of death
 Natural death - death caused by natural disease condition in the body.
 Violent or unnatural death - due to injuries inflicted in the body by some forms of outside force.
 Penal classification of violent deaths
 Accidental Death – if purely personal, no criminal liability
 Negligent death – may be charged of homicide thru reckless imprudence
 Suicidal death – no criminal liability for the person committing suicide. But the person who gives
assistance to the commission of suicide of another to the extent of doing the killing himself, shall suffer
the penalty of prison temporal.
 Parricidal death
 Infanticidal death - killing of a child less than 3 days old
 Murder
 Homicidal death
 Pathological classification of the causes of death
 Death from syncope - sudden and fatal cessation of the action of the heart with circulation included
 Death from asphyxia - sudden supply of oxygen to the blood or tissues or both has been reduced below
normal working level
 Death from coma - state of unconsciousness with insensibility of the pupil and conjunctivae
 Special deaths
 Judicial death
 Euthanasia/mercy killing - contrary to the principle that "no person has the right to end his own life",
much less can he delegate such right to another.

DECEPTION DETECTION
- Polygraph/lie detector
- Polygraph examination is inadmissible in court.

EVIDENCE
 Types of medical evidence
 Autoptic or real evidence - Evidence perceived by the senses - sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch
 Testimonial evidence – testimony given orally and expressed under oath
 Experimental evidence – a medical witness may be allowed in court
 Documentary evidence
 Physical evidence
 Criminalistic evidence
 Who is a witness? All persons who can perceive and make known their perception to others.
 Kinds of Evidence necessary for Conviction
 Direct evidence - proves the fact in dispute without the aid of any inference or presumption
 Circumstantial evidence - The proof of fact or facts from which, taken either singly or collectively, the
existence of a particular fact in dispute may be inferred as a necessary or probable consequence
 Corroborative evidence - Collection of facts and information that backs up someone's story or support a
proposition that is already supported by some initial evidence

SEX CRIMES
- Defloration – laceration of hymen through sexual intercourse
 Crimes of chastity
 Rape
 Seduction
 Acts of lasciviousness
 Abduction
 Adultery and concubinage
 Prostitution
 Abuse against chastity