Forensic Pathologys Role in Homicide Investigations - Term Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages Research indicates that most of the coroners did not have any special medical or legal training that could enable them to conduct a thorough and credible investigation to unearth the cause and circumstances that resulted in the death (Robinson and Cina, 2011). However, with globalization and advancements in technology, the practice has become more professional in several countries such as the United States. Today, when death occurs that raises suspicion, a forensic investigation is conducted so as to understand the cause of death, the identity of the deceased, time, and place where the death occurred, how the death occurred, as well as the circumstances of the death (Wecht & Kaufmann, 2009). However, unlike the investigations initially conducted by coroners, forensic investigations are conducted by professionally trained medical examiners so as to establish the real cause of death. What is notable is that forensic investigation of the cause of death is multi-disciplinary that entails the collaboration of forensic pathologists, forensic scientists, crime scene investigators (CSIs), entomologists, anthropologists, as well as odontologists among other specialists (Wecht & Kaufmann, 2009).   The causes of such deaths are not easy to determine without special postmortem investigations being conducted on the body to establish the real cause of death and the circumstances that led to the death. Generally, when a death has been reported, it is the responsibility of crime scene investigators (CSIs) to move to the scene of the accident and carry out preliminary investigations as to the cause of death (Robinson & Cina, 2011). Nevertheless, it has come out that some deaths especially those involving sudden deaths resulting from homicide such as serial murders are not easy to establish without a postmortem thereby calling for forensic pathologists to carry out investigations. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More