Forensic : Identification

Definition: Recognition of a person through certain features that distinguish him from others.

Types:

1)Legal: complete description of unknown body.

Required in:
-case of fire, explosion & travel accidents.
-dead body found on road, fields, railway or in water.
-decomposed or multilated bodies & skeletal remains.

2)Personal or civil: by relatives, friends or witness

3)Criminal: police job.

Required in case of murder, rape, impersonation or interchange of newborn.
Comprises: dactylography, photography, lip prints, foot prints & DNA fingerprinting.

Identification of the Living
- Personal (visual) identification
- Photography (ID or car license)
- Anthropometry (variuos body measurements)
- Fingerprints (Dactylography): done by the police.
- Poroscopy (pores of sweat exam)
- Foot print (Sole print) & other types of prints iris, lip, hard palate, sound, ear and DNA.
- Handwriting
- Blood grouping

Identification of the Dead Bodies
1) Dead (un-multitated) body
- 1ry physical characteristics (very difficult to change during life): sex, age, height/stature, weight, race and DNA fingerprints.
- 2ry physical characteristics (can change during life, either deliberately or as result of medical/dental interference): skin color, teethm hair, scars, tattooing, fingerprints, external peculiarities (like circumsion, moles or warts), deformities, clothing, jewellery, cosmetic

2) Multitated body: like gravely injured/ multitated bodies found in mass disaster
- Presumptives: visual, anthropometric, personal data. Usually identifies the victim as a member of certain population rather than a unique individual.
-Positive identification: legal identification based on comparison between pre & postmortem info; such as dental examination, fingerprints, palm prints, foot prints or DNA profiling.

Identification of Bones
- Are they actually bones?: anatomical shapes & texture
- Are they human bones? : anatomical features & precipitin test
- Do they belong to one person?: If found 2 skulls mean 2 different persons
- Identification of Sex (After puberty)
- Identification of Age
- Identification of Stature: heifgt, long bones length, Pearson's formula
- Identification of Race : Like Negroid and Mongoloid
- Deformities from bones
- Causes of death : pathological, traumatic, toxic
- Time passed since death: (< 6 months: soft tissues ara found on tissue, 6-12 months: bones attach to ligaments, after 1 year: only bones present which are lighter, whiter, less smelly & more brittle as time passed)