The Role of the Pathologist at the Scene of the Crime

✍ Scribed by Alan Usher

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 1970
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 418 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0015-7368
• DOI: 10.1016/s0015-7368(70)70611-7

✦ Synopsis

l z ~~e l r l , Engla~td

T h e arrangt7ments made O y the Police prior to tlze pat/zologist's arri?)al are noted, and the type qf equifiment he i s likely to bring with h i m i s indicated. T h e aims of the pathologist's visit to the scene of the crime are tlzen discztssed, together zuitlz some questions, which if answered 7uozdld proviile imhortant information.

The pathologist tends, from the very nature of his work, to be involved mainly in the investigation of serious crimes-those which result from acts of violence and which culminate in the death of a person or persons and in order to provide reasonable bounds for a thirty-minute paper such as this, I propose only to discuss such crimes. Leaving aside, therefore, such matters as rape, motor manslaughter and the like in which the patho!ogist may have an important reconstructive part to play, I intend to speak solely of his role a t the scenes of murder or suspected murder.

Actions Taken Prior to the Pathologist's Arrival

Certain preliminary arrangements will have already been 11rrtde by any efficient police force by the time that the pathologist and his team arrive a t the scene. We will, therefore, for the purposes of this paper, assume that :- The victim's death is obvious or has been certified by a doctor.

The local coroner has been contacted and has given permission for the pathologist in question t o examine tlie body.