Identification procedures as a part of death investigation in Turkey

Forensic identification techniques include the examination of ID cards, the decedent's private belongings, fingerprints, footprints, lip marks, dental findings, red blood cell enzymes, performing photograph matching, facial reconstruction, visual identification, and DNA "fingerprinting." As part of forensic examinations, the identification of corpses that are fresh, decomposed, fragmented, or skeletonized as well as individual body parts and human remains can be requested. Identification becomes a challenging task for forensic terms particularly in mass-disaster situations. Each identification case should be considered to its own merit and the way to do that should be based on the effectiveness and cost of each method used. In Turkey, one of the major duties of the medicolegal system on the investigation of deaths is to identify the deceased if unknown.This study is undertaken to investigate the procedures, as well as their validities, used to deal with individualization of dismembered bodies directly sent to the Council of Forensic Medicine, Ministry of Justice, for autopsy and/or visual identification, as well as those received from peripheral districts for forensic identification. According to the Turkish Penal Procedural Law, a positive identification of the deceased is mandatory before performing an autopsy. According to the law, the ID cards are not taken to be sufficient for recognition of the deceased, and the major way of identification in daily practice is visual identification by a relative or any recognizant person to approve the identification to the prosecutor. If visual identification fails, fingerprints, dental x-rays or body x-rays, and DNA "fingerprinting" can be used to establish identity when compared with known records of the individual obtained by law enforcement.This retrospective study was carried out into 421 dismembered bodies, among 3063 autopsies performed in year 2002 by the Department of Morgue at the Council of Forensic Medicine, with particular insight into the identification procedures undertaken and their results. The overall negative identification rate was 30.4%, and in 1% of the cases, the visual identification by relatives were not confirmed by DNA identification and taken as misidentified.     

Role of orthopedic implants and bone morphology in the identification of human remains

When conventional methods of identification, such as visual recognition and dental comparison, cannot be used to identify a deceased person, it becomes necessary to consider alternative methods. The presence of an orthopedic implant in a body may assist identification if ante-mortem medical records are available for comparison. Another method of identification involves comparison of ante-mortem and postmortem radiographs. Eight cases are reported from Forensic Science SA where the presence of orthopedic implants and/or ante-mortem radiographs were used to try to establish identification. In six cases, positive identification was established, and in two cases with upper limb orthopedic implants, the bones remained unidentified. Manufacturers were unable to provide any information about the distribution and use of the implants that could be of use with identification, as there are no requirements in Australia for individual medical implants to be tracked. Such a system has the potential to aid postmortem identification if serial codes were etched onto implants that could then be traced to manufacturers, surgeons, and recipients of these devices.     

Identification of the unidentified deceased and locating next of kin: experience with a UID web site page, Fulton County, Georgia

BACKGROUND: Medical examiner and coroner offices may face difficulties in trying to achieve identification of deceased persons who are unidentified or in locating next of kin for deceased persons who have been identified. The Fulton County medical examiner (FCME) has an office web site which includes information about unidentified decedents and cases for which next of kin are being sought. METHODS: Information about unidentified deceased and cases in need of next of kin has been posted on the FCME web site for 3 years and 1 year, respectively. FCME investigators and staff medical examiners were surveyed about the web site's usefulness for making identifications and locating next of kin. RESULTS: No cases were recalled in which the web site led to making an identification. Two cases were reported in which next of kin were located, and another case involved a missing person being ruled out as one of the decedents. The web site page is visited by agencies interested in missing and unidentified persons, and employees do find it useful for follow-up because information about all unidentified decedents is located and easily accessible, electronically, in a single location. CONCLUSIONS: Despite low yield in making identifications and locating next of kin, the UID web site is useful in some respects, and there is no compelling reason to discontinue its existence. It is proposed that UID pages on office web sites be divided into "hot" (less than 30 days, for example) and "warm" (31 days to 1 year, for example) cases and that cases older than a year be designated as "cold cases." It is conceivable that all unidentified deceased cases nationally could be placed on a single web site designed for such purposes, to remain in public access until identity is established and confirmed.     

Identification of human skeletal remains by comparison of bony details of the cranium using computerized tomographic (CT) scans

A case is described where a cranium from an unknown individual is identified by comparison of antemortem and postmortem computerized tomographic (CT) images of the bony structure of the skull. While on at least one occasion CT scans of individual cranial landmarks have been used to identify unknown remains, this study is remarkable because positive identification of a deceased individual was accomplished by performing a CT scan on an unidentified cranium and comparing multiple landmarks and images with corresponding features in an antemortem CT scan of a missing man. Bony details of the frontal and sphenoid sinuses, ethmoid and mastoid air cells, sagittal cranial suture, and the torcula (the internal occipital protuberance) were exactly the same on both CT scans, confirming them as the same person.     

Cranio-facial morphanalysis: a new method for enhancing reliability while identifying skulls by photo superimposition

Skull-photograph superimposition continues to be the most prevalent method employed for identifying a skull recovered in a criminal case as that belonging to a putative victim whose face photograph is available. The reliability of identification achieved has been shown to be 91%, indicating the possibility of a skull mismatching with a face photograph belonging to a person other than the actual deceased. This lack of reliability dampens the confidence of the expert and in turn confounds the mind of the judge. It has been shown that the variations in the shape of the facial organs are influenced by the corresponding variations in the skeletal elements of the facial skull. "Cranio-facial morphanalysis", a new anthroposcopic method proposed here for evaluating the shape correlations between a skull and a face photograph, when applied conjointly with skull-photograph superimposition is shown to increase the reliability in forensic skull identification.     

现行婚姻法的不足与民法典立法对策

修订后的婚姻法及司法解释在若干方面仍存在缺陷。在制定民法典时应当增加关于近亲属名誉权、近亲属亲情保持权、近亲属称谓权、亲属悼念权与遗体瞻仰权、亲属遗体保护权、亲属延续后代权等亲属权的规定 ;完善关于生育权的规定 ;确立婚后共同所得和家庭生活必需的个人所得归夫妻共有的基本原则 ;合理确定无效婚姻请求权的主体 ;建立兼顾身份和产权的婚姻住房制度 ;并应当明确姘居第三人的共同侵权责任。     

试论死者人格利益的民法保护

我国民法通则规定,公民的民事权利能力始于出生终于死亡。自然人生前享有人格权,但自然人死后其人格利益是否需要保护和如何保护是一个值得研究的理论和实践问题,对此学界观点不一。目前,我国对于死者人格利益保护的相关法律制度还很不完善,本文对死者人格利益保护的理论基础、法律依据及必要性进行了分析,对死者人格利益的民法保护进行了思考,并提出了一些相关的立法建议。     

部分权利能力制度的构建

局限于19世纪的哲学认识,权利能力仅被赋予自然人和法人,其他人和组织形态的权利能力被忽略。因而,当迫切需要法律对这些人和组织予以调整时,传统权利能力的规定成为不可逾越的体系障碍,必须通过法律续造的方法构建部分权利能力制度。事实上,民法关于权利能力制度的构造以及立法上的一些规定已经为部分权利能力的构建提供了坚实的理论基础和立法例支撑。部分权利能力是在部分而非全部的民事法律关系中作为民事权利享有者和义务承担者的能力,它通过考察自然人和法人以外的人和组织的人格状态和特定法律关系的价值和目的来认定。部分权利能力是一个开放的概念,它不但包括胎儿、死者与合伙的部分权利能力,还包括其他一些人和组织的部分权利能力。     

Gunshot residue testing in suicides: Part II: Analysis by inductive coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry

Several different methods can be employed to test for gunshot residue (GSR) on a decedent's hands, including scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive x-ray (SEM/EDX) and inductive coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). In part I of this 2-part series, GSR results performed by SEM/EDX in undisputed cases of suicidal handgun wounds were studied. In part II, the same population was studied, deceased persons with undisputed suicidal handgun wounds, but GSR testing was performed using ICP-AES. A total of 102 cases were studied and analyzed for caliber of weapon, proximity of wound, and the results of the GSR testing. This study found that 50% of cases where the deceased was known to have fired a handgun immediately prior to death had positive GSR results by ICP/AES, which did not differ from the results of GSR testing by SEM/EDX. Since only 50% of cases where the person is known to have fired a weapon were positive for GSR by either method, this test should not be relied upon to determine whether someone has discharged a firearm and is not useful as a determining factor of whether or not a wound is self-inflicted or non-self-inflicted. While a positive GSR result may be of use, a negative result is not helpful in the medical examiner setting as a negative result indicates that either a person fired a weapon prior to death or a person did not fire a weapon prior to death.     

Dead ringers? Legal persons and the deceased in European data protection law

Notwithstanding suggestions that the concrete treatment of legal and deceased person data during European data protection's development has been broadly comparable, this article finds that stark divergences are in fact apparent. Justification for the inclusion of both categories has rested on a claimed linkage to living natural person interests. However, despite early fusion, legal persons have been increasingly seen to have qualitatively different information entitlements compared to natural persons, thereby leaving European data protection with a very limited and indirect role here. In contrast, living natural persons and the deceased have not been conceived as normatively dichotomous and since the 1990s there has been growing interest both in establishing sui generis direct protection for deceased person data and also indirect inclusion through a link with living natural persons. Whilst the case for some indirect inclusion is overwhelming, a broad approach to the inter-relational nature of data risks further destabilizing the personal data concept even in relation to living persons alone. Given that jurisdictions representing almost half of the EEA's population now provide some direct protection and the challenges of managing digital data on death continue to grow, the time may be ripe for a ‘soft’ recommendation on direct protection in this area. Drawing on existing law and scholarship, such a recommendation could seek to specify the role of both specific control rights and diffuse confidentiality obligations, the criteria for time-limits in each case and the need for a balance with other rights and interests which recognises the significantly decreasing interest in protection over time.     

Age determination of an unknown body in early adulthood

The authors report on the estimation of the age of an unidentified deceased adolescent in connection with the body's identification. A physical examination by a forensic physician and an examination by a forensic dentist, including determination of the dental status and an X-ray of the teeth were used to estimate the age. In addition, an X-ray of the left hand as well as an X-ray and MRT scan of the clavicles were carried out by forensic radiologists. Combining the results of the individual examinations, the age of the deceased was estimated to range between 18 and 21 years. In the course of the police investigation it was found out that the deceased was 20 years and 7 months old. This has led to the conclusion that combined use of methods allows the age even of adolescents to be determined with relatively high accuracy and a minimum of time and effort.     

Radiocarbon dating as tool to assist in triaging cases of unidentified human remains in Victoria,Australia: A case series

In cases where human remains are unidentified because there is no initial identification hypothesis, limited contextual information, and/or poor preservation, radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating may be a useful tool to further assist with identification. Through measuring the amount of ¹⁴C remaining in organic material, such as bone, teeth, nail, or hair, radiocarbon dating may provide an estimated year of birth and year of death for a deceased person. This information, may assist in, establishing whether a case of unidentified human remains (UHR) is actually of medicolegal significance and therefore, requires forensic investigation and identification. This case series highlights the application of ¹⁴C dating to seven of the 132 UHR cases in Victoria, Australia. Cortical bone was sampled from each case and the level of ¹⁴C was measured to provide an estimated year of death. Four of the seven cases analyzed contained the levels of ¹⁴C consistent with an archeological timeframe, one contained a level of ¹⁴C consistent with a modern (i.e., of medicolegal significance) timeframe, and the results for the remaining two samples were inconclusive. Applying this technique not only reduced the number of UHR cases in Victoria but also has investigative, cultural, and practical implications for medicolegal casework in general.     

Identifying the dead: methods utilized by the Pima County (Arizona) office of the medical examiner for undocumented border crossers: 2001-2006

The Pima County (Arizona) Office of the Medical Examiner has seen a dramatic rise over the past 6 years in the number of deaths related to the illegal crossing of our international border with Mexico. This rise in deaths is undoubtedly related to an increase in the number of foreign nationals who cross into the various Arizona jurisdictions that utilize the Pima County Medical Examiner to investigate their unnatural deaths. Because of the utterly dangerous nature of trekking across the Sonoran Desert, especially in the summer months, many of these unfortunate migrants succumb to the effects of heat-related illness and perish along the journey. The combined effects of a dry, hot environment and the remoteness of some of the trekking corridors can quickly render a deceased person unidentifiable by visual means. Thus, our office is faced with not only an increase in the number of deaths requiring medico-legal investigation but also an increase in the number of decedents needing additional specialized examinations in an effort to effect identification. This paper attempts to outline the problems and the methods utilized by our office over the past 6 years in the identification process of undocumented border crossers. It is hoped that this paper, as well as the others presented at this symposium, will allow for the sharing of information amongst all medical investigators who assist in the identification of these migrants. The identification of these individuals takes on added importance when one considers the possible nationalities, and perhaps motivation for entering into the US, of those that remain unidentified.     

Prevalence of mixed DNA profiles in fingernail swabs from autoptic cases

Physical contact between two or more persons can give rise to the transfer of DNA from one person to another and biological material can accumulate under the fingernail hyponichium. The purpose of this study is to value the normal levels of foreign DNA profiles under the fingernail of individuals deceased of a non-violent death, in order to define the usefulness of this approach in the recovery of a suspect's DNA profile. No foreign DNA was found in the majority of the cases.     

Visual identification from videotape after electronic erasure of mutilating injuries.

A rapid method of identification by using computerized videotape erasure of mutilating injuries is presented. The identification of a human head, which was mutilated and severed in two major fragments, illustrates the application of the method. Following the reconstruction and suturing of the head fragments, the face was videotaped and the mutilating injuries were electronically erased. The televised broadcasting, in color, of the reconstructed face, free of injuries, elicited prompt visual identification by relatives of the deceased within < 1 h.     

Cerebral infarct following traumatic carotid artery thrombosis

An autopsy case of a 45-year-old man is presented. The man had sustained a minor head injury in a traffic accident 11 years ago previously and 5 years later had a cerebral infarction due to thrombosis of the carotid artery. There was histological evidence of a traumatic lesion of the vessel wall. Several contradictory expert opinions were rendered regarding the questionable causal relationship between occlusion of the artery and the previous trauma. In the court of appeal, an agreement was arrived at between the widow of the deceased and the third-party insurance of the person responsible for the accident.     

Amyloid inclusions in choroid plexus epithelial cells. A simple autopsy method to rapidly obtain information on the age of an unknown dead person

Different methods such as X-ray examination of the skeleton and inspection of the teeth have been described for estimation of the age of an unidentified dead person. These methods are more or less exact but the results will not be available until many days after the autopsy. In the present paper, we present a fairly simple method to obtain information on the age of a deceased using amyloid inclusions in the choroid plexus epithelial cells.     

死者生前人格上财产利益之保护

人格权内含精神与财产双重利益。对人格上财产利益的保护是人性自主的必然结果,且不论人之生死,人格上之财产利益皆应受保护。生者人格上财产利益保护应采用德国法上一元论的人格权保护模式,而死者人格上财产利益保护则应参照美国法上的公开权模式。利用死者生前之人格特征获利的权利乃一种无形财产权,归属于死者之继承人。继承人行使此项权利需按照死者明知或可推知的意思进行,权利行使期限宜为50年。