The pathologic process, injury, or disease that directly results in or initiates a series of

events that lead to a person's death (also called the mechanism of death), such as
a bullet wound to the head, exsanguination caused by a stab wound, manual or
ligature strangulation, myocardial infarction resulting from coronary artery disease, etc.)
The manner of death, the circumstances surrounding the cause of death, which, in most
jurisdictions, include the following:[1]
Homicide
Accidental
Natural
Undetermined
The autopsy also provides an opportunity for other issues raised by the death to be addressed, such
as the collection of trace evidence or determining the identity of the deceased.
The forensic pathology examines and documents wounds and injuries, both at autopsy and
occasionally in a clinical setting.
Forensic pathologists collect and examine tissue specimens under the microscope (histology) to
identify the presence or absence of natural disease and other microscopic findings such as asbestos
bodies in the lungs or gunpowder particles around a gunshot wound.
They collect and interpret toxicological analyses on body tissues and fluids to determine the
chemical cause of accidental overdoses or deliberate poisonings.

2a.

[1]
To place a person at a crime scene or to eliminate a person from consideration.

2b.

DNA analysis is widely applied to determine genetic family relationships such as paternity, maternity,
siblingship and other kinships.

2c.
To identify an unidentified person or whose identity needs to be confirmed.

3.
A Physician on account of his training and experience can give his opinion on set of medical facts.
He can deduce or infer something, determine the cause of death, or render opinion pertinent to the
issue and medical in nature.
Rule 130 Section 48 of the rules of Court states that the opinion of witness is not admissible, except
if it is the opinion of a witness on a matter requiring special knowledge, skill, experience or training
which he shown to possess, may be received in evidence.

4.

5.
Polygraph examination results with regards to lie detection has no weight and inadmissible since
polygraph techniques are still in the experimental stage and have not received the degree of
acceptance among scientist, the test cannot be conclusive to ones veracity because it has so many
errors, some factors that are responsible for the errors are nervousness or extreme emotional
tension experienced by the subject, physiological abnormalities, mental abnormalities,
unresponsiveness in a living guilty subject, etc.

6.
The Methods of preserving evidence are:
1. Photographs, audio and/or videotape, microfilm, Photostat, Xerox, voice tracing, etc.
2. Sketching - if no scientific apparatus to preserve the evidence is available then rough
drawing of the scene or object to be preserve is done.
3. Description by putting into words the person or thing to be preserved. Describing a things
requires keen observation and a good power of attention, perception, intelligence and
experience.
4. Manikin Method a miniature model of a scene or a human body indicating marks of the
various aspects of the thing to be preserve.
5. Preservation in the mind of the witness a person who perceived something relevant for
proper adjudication of the case maybe a witness in court if he has the power to transmit to
others what he has perceived.
6. Special methods like whole human body embalming, blood, soft tissues, stains, poison

SeVEn.
Gunshot wounds can provide a lot of information about what happened in a shooting, such as the
make and model of gun, the range of fire, the sequence of fire patterns, the path travelled between
entrance and exit wounds, the likelihood of survival and the specific manner of death.

What are the basic features of gunshot wounds?

Entrance Wounds
Appear as a punched-out hole in the skin.
Diameter of the wound is usually smaller than the bullet. This is because the skin is elastic and it
retracts after the bullet enters the skin.
There is an abrasion ring (sometimes called the abrasion collar) around the wound. This is a ring of
skin with the outer layer or epidermis missing, through which small amounts of blood can escape.
Underlying tissues will not protrude.
Tattooing or smudging (gunshot residues) may be present around the wound depending on the
distance of the shooter from the victim..

Exit Wounds

Exit wounds from low velocity fireams tend to be relatively small. They can have a variety of shapes
e.g. slit-like, X-shaped, irregular.

Exit wounds from high velocity firearms tend to be large and destructive.
A typical exit wound does not have an abrasion ring.
Underlying tissues may be protruding.
Tattooing or smudging is always absent.

Of course, the bullet may not actually exit the body, particularly if the ammunition is low calibre.
A more detailed account of the features of entrance and exit wounds, where the entrance wounds
are characterised according to the distance from which the shot was fired, can be found here.

Definition / general
Entry wounds are categorized based on range

Contact: muzzle is pressed against the skin when fired

In areas of "loose" skin (abdomen, chest): circular wound with blackened, seared skin margins
On head, where the scalp is tightly covering the skull, entry wounds can have several different
appearances:
Round wound with blackened, seared skin margins
Stellate shaped wound, due to tearing of skin from expanding gas dissecting between the scalp and
skull
Round wound with muzzle imprint, also due to gas expanding under the skin causing it to press back
against the gun
Near contact: muzzle of the gun is held a short distance from the skin (< 1 cm from skin with
handguns)
Appears as circular wound with blackened and seared edges that are wider than seen with contact
wounds

Intermediate: defined by the presence of stippling ("powder tattooing") on the skin surrounding the
entry wound
Stippling is due to unburned powder grains exiting from the gun causing pinpoint abrasions on the
skin; these are not burns
Actual distance from skin varies according to the gun; generally from a few centimeters up to several
feet

Distant: any distance beyond that which produces stippling

Appear as round wounds with sharp margins and an abrasion ring on the surrounding skin

Centerfire rifle wounds:

In contact wounds of the head with centerfire rifles, there is massive tissue destruction of the skin,
skull, and brain

Full metal jacketed bullets produce less tissue damage and tend to travel through the body
undeformed
Semi jacketed ammunition creates the classic "lead snowstorm" appearance on xray due to peeling
back of the jacket as it travels through the body, releasing numerous small lead fragments

Shotgun wounds:
Shotgun bullets contain numerous pellets
At contact range up to a few feet, the entrance wound is a single round defect
At a range of 3 - 4 feet, the pellets begin to spread out before reaching the body, producing one
large entry wound surrounded by scalloping or several smaller defects due to penetration by
individual pellets
As the range increases, the central defect becomes smaller and the number of surrounding pellet
holes increases

Exit wounds:
Usually more irregular in shape than entry wounds
Do not show soot deposition, muzzle imprint, stippling, or blackening of the skin edges
A shored exit wound is one in which the skin is in contact with another object when the bullet exits;
this causes an irregular area of abrasion on the skin, which can be confused with the abrasion ring
of an entrance wound
Gunshot wounds in bone:
In flat bones (i.e. skull), entrance wounds are round with sharp margins and show internal beveling:
the inner table of the skull is more eroded than the outer table, producing a "cone" shape in the
direction of the bullet path
Fragments of bone travel in the direction of the bullet path through the cranial vault

Exit wounds may be more irregular and show external beveling (outer table of the skull is more
eroded than the inner table, producing a cone shape facing outward)
In the skull, gunshot wounds often produce numerous fractures due to rapidly increasing pressure as
the bullet travels through the skull