Forensic Lecture: The Establishment of Identity

The Establishment of Identity

Why is it Important?

Legal Reasons:

  • Record Keeping: For administrative purposes and official statistics.

  • Legal Claims and Inheritance: To allow the release of legal claims and facilitate the inheritance process, including property, estate, and insurance.

  • Criminal Enquiries: Facilitates police investigations into criminal activities.

  • Legal Investigations: Allows for legal investigations, inquests, and other tribunals.

Humanitarian Reasons:

  • Inform Relatives: To establish the identity of deceased individuals, ensuring information is passed on to their relatives.

What to Identify

(The transcript does not have specific details about this topic.)

Classification of Human Identifiers

Primary Identifier:

  • DNA

  • Fingerprints

  • Dental records

Secondary Identifier:

Primary Identifiers Explained

DNA Analysis:

  • Uniqueness: DNA is a reliable source for identification because a significant portion of the genetic information is unique to an individual (except in identical twins).

  • Mass Disasters: DNA technology is commonly used in identifying victims of mass disasters, especially when there are body fragments, or when dental comparisons and fingerprints are not possible.

Fingerprints:

  • Uniqueness: No two fingerprints have ever been found identical, even in twins; the same applies to palms, foot, or lip prints.

  • Challenges: Identification via fingerprints can be challenging in putrefied or decomposed bodies.

  • Features: Fingerprint features include bifurcation, short ridge, ridge enclosure, crossover/bridge, island, core, spur, delta, and ridge ending.

Odontology (Dental Analysis):

  • Comparison: Involves comparing Antemortem (AM) clinical records and Postmortem (PM) dental examinations.

  • X-rays: X-rays are also helpful in dental identification.

Limitations of Primary Identifiers

  • Lack of Ante-Mortem Data: In many disasters, the use of primary identifiers is hampered by a lack of ante-mortem data.

  • Impracticality: A strict focus on primary identifiers is not always practical and may preclude identification altogether.

  • Context is Important: Human identification should not exclusively be based on a single means of identification or separated from the investigatory context.

Secondary Identifiers

Scars:

  • Matching: Surgical scars can be matched with antemortem history.

  • Origin: Scars can arise from previous healed injuries that breach the epidermis.

  • Keloid Overgrowth: In some ethnic groups, particularly Africans, scars can heal with keloid overgrowth.

Primary Forensic Identifiers

Fingerprint Analysis:

  • Collects and compares known and questioned friction ridge prints to effect identification in Disaster Victim Identification (DVI).

Dental Comparison:

*Comparing the post-mortem dental findings with ante-mortem records establishes the identification of the deceased in DVI.

DNA Analysis:

  • Compares DNA profiles from postmortem samples with those of antemortem samples and family members to confirm the identity of the deceased in DVI.

Secondary Forensic Identifiers

  • Personal/Medical Information

  • Evidence/Clothes

Stature (Height) Identification

  • Measurement: Height is measured from heel to crown.

  • Post-Mortem Changes:

    • Height may slightly differ after death due to loss of muscle tone in the early stages, causing lengthening.

    • During the rigor stage, the body shortens due to flexion of muscles.

    • After rigor passes, loss of tension in the vertebral column can cause height to increase again by about 2−52-5 cm.

Gender Identification

  • External Examination:

    • External genitalia.

    • Pubic hair.

    • Clothing and accessories.

  • Internal Examination:

    • The uterus and prostate are among the last organs to decompose.

  • DNA analysis

Age Identification

  • Hair

  • Teeth eruptions

  • Growth chart comparison in infants and children

  • Arcus senilis

    • Rare under 60s

  • Skin

    • Cherry haemangioma, hyperkeratosis

Teeth Eruptions

Baby Teeth Eruption and Loss Chart

Permanent Teeth Development

Other elements for age identification

Arcus Senilis

Growth Chart

Skin Changes

Ancestry and Race Identification

  • Clothing

  • Hair texture/style

  • Physical artifacts including circumcision, nose piercing, ethnic tattoo.

  • Facial appearance

  • Body size

  • Skin pigmentation