Legal Medicine

 Branch of science that deals with application of medical

knowledge to the purpose of law and in the
administration of justice

 It is the application of basic and clinical, medical and

paramedical sciences to elucidate legal matters
 Medical Jurisprudence

 Knowledge of law in relation to the practice of medicine

 It concerns with the study of the rights, duties and

obligations of medical practitioner with particular
reference to those arising from doctor-patient
relationship
 Medical Jurist

 Medical examiner, medico-legal officer, medico-legal

expert

 A physician who specializes or is involved primarily

with medico-legal duties

 It is the duty of every physician, when called upon by

the judicial authorities, to assist in the administration of
justice on matters which are medico-legal in character.
 Ordinary Physician
 Sees an injury or disease
on the point of view of
treatment
 Purpose in examining a
patient is to arrive at a
definite diagnosis so that
appropriate treatment can
be instituted
 Minor or trivial injuries are
usually ignored in as much
as they do not require
usual treatment
 Medical Jurist
 Sees injury or disease on
the point of view of cause
 Purpose of examining a
patient is to include those
body lesions in his report
& testify before the court
or before investigative
body
 Records all bodily injuries
even if they are small or
minor because these
injuries may be proofs to
qualify the crime or to
justify the act
 Law

 Characteristics of Law:

 It is a rule of conduct
 Dictated by legitimate power
 Compulsory and obligatory to all
 Forms of Law

 Written or Statutory Law (Lex Scripta)

 Unwritten or Common Law (Lex Non-

Scripta)
 Forensic

 Denotes anything belonging to the court of law

or used in court or legal proceedings or anything
fitted for legal or public argumentations
 Medicine

 Science and art dealing with prevention, cure and

alleviation of disease

 It is that part of science and art of restoring and

preserving health

 It is the science and art of diagnosing, treating, curing

and preventing disease, relieving pain and improving the
health of a person
 Legal

 Refers to anything conformable to the letters or

rules of law as it is administered by the court
 Jurisprudence

 Science of giving a wise interpretation of the

law and making just application of them to all
cases as they arise
 Principle of Stare Decises

 A principle that, when the court has once laid

down a principle of law or interpretation as
applied to a certain state or facts, it will
adhere to and apply to all future cases where
the facts are substantially the same.
Branches of Law Where Legal
Medicine May be Applied
 In Civil Law

 Determination and termination of civil personality

(Art. 40-41)
 Limitation or restriction of a natural person’s capacity
to act ( Art. 23 & 29)
 Marriage & Legal Separation
 Paternity and Filiation
 Testamentary capacity of a person making a will
Branches of Law Where Legal
Medicine May be Applied
 In Criminal Law

 Circumstances affecting criminal liability

 Crimes against person
 Crimes against chastity
Branches of Law Where Legal
Medicine May be Applied
 In Remedial Law

 Physical and mental examination of a person (Rule

28)
 Proceedings for hospitalization of an insane person
(Rule 101)
 Rules on evidences
Branches of Law Where Legal
Medicine May be Applied
 In Special Laws

 Dangerous Drug Act (RA 6425, as amended)

 Youth and Child Welfare Code ( PD 603)
 Insurance Law (Act No. 2427, as amended)
 Code of Sanitation (PD 856)
 Labor Code (PD 442)
 Employee’s Compensation Law
 Medical Evidence

 Autoptic or Real Evidence

 Addressed to the senses of the court

 Limitations:
 Indecency and impropriety
 Repulsive objects and those offensive to the
sensibilities
 Medical Evidence

 Testimonial Evidence

 MD in the witness stand

 Ordinary witness
 Expert witness
 Medical Evidence

 Experimental Evidence

 A medical witness may be allowed by the court to

confirm his allegation or as a corroborated proof to an
opinion he previously stated
 Medical Evidence

 Documentary Evidence

 Medical Certificate
 Medical Expert Opinion
 Deposition
 Medical Evidence

 Physical Evidence

 Articles and materials found in connection with the

investigation and which aid in establishing the
identity of the perpetrator the circumstances under
which the crime was committed, or in general assist
in the prosecution of a criminal
 Corpus delicti evidence
 Associative evidence
 Tracing evidence
 Preservation of Evidence

 Photographs, audio and/or video tape, microfilm,

photostat, xerox, voice tracing, etc
 Sketching
 Rough sketch
 Finished sketch
 Description
 Skin lesion
 Penetrating wound
 Hymenal laceration
 Person
 Preservation of Evidence
 Manikin method
 Preservation in the mind of the witness
 Special methods
 Whole human body – embalming
 Soft tissues ( skin, muscles, visceral organs) – 10%
formalin solution
 Blood – refrigeration, sealed bottle container, addition
of chemical preservatives
 Stains ( blood, semen) – drying, placing in sealed
container
 Poison – sealed container
 Deception Detection

 Devices which record the psycho-physiological response

 Polygraph or Lie Detector Machine – records

physiological changes that occur in association with
lying in a polygraph
 Deception Detection

 Devices which record the psycho-physiological response

 Word Association Test

 Psychological Stress Evaluator
 Deception Detection

 Use of drugs that try to “inhibit the inhibitor”

 Truth Serum
 Narcoanalysis or narcosynthesis
 Intoxication

 Hypnotism - alteration of consciousness and

concentration in which the subject manifest a heightened
of suggestibility while awareness is maintained
 Deception Detection
 By Observation – physiological and psychological
signs and symptoms of guilt

 Sweating
 Color change
 Dryness of the mouth
 Excessive activity of the Adam’s apple
 Fidgeting
 Peculiar feeling inside
 Deception Detection

 By Observation – physiological and psychological

signs and symptoms of guilt

 Swearing to the truthfulness of his assertion

 Spotless past record
 Inability to look at the investigator straight in the
eye
 Not that I remember expression
 Deception Detection

 Scientific Interrogation

 The questioning of a person suspected of having

committed an offense or of persons who are reluctant
to make a full disclosure of information in his
possession which is pertinent to the investigation
 Deception Detection

 Suspect - person whose guilt is considered on

reasonable ground

 Witness – person other than the suspect who is

requested to give information
 Different Types of Criminal
Offenders
 Based on Behavioral  Based on proficiency
Attitude  Ordinary offenders
 Active aggressive  Professional offenders
offenders
 Passive inadequate  Psychological
offenders classification
 Emotional offenders
 Based on the state of the
mind  Non-emotional
offenders
 Rational offenders
 Irrational offenders
 Deception Detection
 Scientific Interrogation

 Emotional appeal
 Mutt and Jeff technique
 Bluff on split-pair technique
 Stern approach
 The subject is given the opportunity to make a
lengthy, time-consuming narration
 Deception Detection

 Basis of interrogator’s inference that the subject is

not telling the truth

 The statements have many improbabilities and gaps

on its substantial parts
 The statements are inconsistent with the material facts
 The statements are incoherent
 Deception Detection
 Confession

 An expressed acknowledgement by the accused in a

criminal case of the truth of his guilt as to the crime
charged, or of some essentials thereof

 Confession is a statement of guilt while admission is

usually a statement of fact by the accused which does
not directly involve an acknowledgement of guilt
 Deception Detection
 Requirements for the Admissibility of Evidence
Obtained Through Interrogation

 Custodial Investigation and Self-Incrimination (1987

Constitution)

 Miranda v. Arizona (Miranda Rights) – safeguards

were established for the interrogation of suspected
persons
 Deception Detection
 Confession

 Kinds:
 Extra-judicial confession
 Voluntary
 Involuntary

 Judicial confession
 Deception Detection
 Confession

 Kinds:
 Extra-judicial confession – made outside of the
court prior to the trial of the case
 Under the rules of court, extra-judicial confession is
not a sufficient ground for conviction unless
corroborated by evidence of corpus delicti

 Voluntary
 Involuntary
 Deception Detection
 Confession

 Kinds:
 Judicial confession – confession of an accused in
court
 Under the rules of court, admissions made by the
parties in the pleadings, or in the course of the trial
or other proceedings do not require proof and
cannot be contradicted unless previously shown to
have been made through palpable mistake
 Maltreatment of Prisoners
 Elements ( Art. 235, RPC)

 The offender is a public officer or employee

 The offender has under his charge a convicted or
detention prisoner
 The offender maltreats the prisoner by overdoing in
the correction and handling of the prisoner by the (1)
imposition of punishment not authorized by the
regulation, or (2) by inflicting such punishment in a
cruel and humiliating manner, or by maltreating to
extort a confession or obtain informations
 Maltreatment of Prisoners
 Tokyo Declaration

 Provides guidelines to be observed by physicians

concerning torture and other inhuman treatment