Forensic science,also known as criminalistics,is the application of science to criminal and civil laws. During criminal investigation in particular,it is governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal procedure. It is a broad field utilizing numerous practices such as the analysis of DNA,fingerprints,bloodstain patterns,firearms,ballistics,and toxicology.
Forensic entomology is the scientific study of the colonization of a dead body by arthropods. This includes the study of insect types commonly associated with cadavers,their respective life cycles,their ecological presences in a given environment,as well as the changes in insect assemblage with the progression of decomposition. Insect succession patterns are identified based on the time a given species of insect spends in a given developmental stage,and how many generations have been produced since the insects introduction to a given food source. Insect development alongside environmental data such as temperature and vapor density,can be used to estimate the time since death,due to the fact that flying insects are attracted to a body immediately after death. The identification of postmortem interval to aid in death investigations is the primary scope of this scientific field. However,forensic entomology is not limited to homicides,it has also been used in cases of neglect and abuse,in toxicology contexts to detect the presence of drugs,and in dry shelf food contamination incidents. Equally,insect assemblages present on a body,can be used to approximate a given location,as certain insects may be unique to certain areas. Therefore,forensic entomology can be divided into three subfields:urban,stored-product and medico-legal/medico-criminal entomology.
Forensic pathology is pathology that focuses on determining the cause of death by examining a corpse. A post mortem examination is performed by a medical examiner or forensic pathologist,usually during the investigation of criminal law cases and civil law cases in some jurisdictions. Coroners and medical examiners are also frequently asked to confirm the identity of remains.
A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death,and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within the coroner's jurisdiction.
An autopsy is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause,mode,and manner of death;or the exam may be performed to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present for research or educational purposes. For animals,the term necropsy is generally reserved.
Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury was a British pathologist. His cases include Hawley Crippen,the Seddon case,the Major Armstrong poisoning,the "Brides in the Bath" murders by George Joseph Smith,the Crumbles murders,the Podmore case,the Sidney Harry Fox matricide,the Vera Page case,and the murder trials of Louis Voisin,Jean-Pierre Vaquier,Norman Thorne,Donald Merrett,Alfred Rouse,Elvira Barney,Toni Mancini,and Gordon Cummins. Spilsbury's courtroom appearances became legendary for his demeanour of effortless dominance.
The medical examiner is an appointed official in some American jurisdictions who is trained in pathology that investigates deaths that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances,to perform post-mortem examinations,and in some jurisdictions to initiate inquests.
Thomas Tsunetomi Noguchi is the former Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner for the County of Los Angeles. Popularly known as the "coroner to the stars",Noguchi determined the cause of death in many high-profile cases in Hollywood during the 1960s and 1970s. He performed autopsies on Marilyn Monroe,Albert Dekker,Robert F. Kennedy,Sharon Tate,Inger Stevens,Janis Joplin,Gia Scala,David Janssen,Divine,William Holden,and John Belushi.
Song Ci was a Chinese physician,judge,forensic medical scientist,anthropologist,and writer of the Southern Song dynasty. He is most well known for being the world's first forensic entomologist,having recorded his experience examining bodies for judicial cases in the Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified.
Witness to a Prosecution is a Hong Kong television series produced by TVB. The original broadcast was on the TVB Jade network with 45-minute episodes airing five days a week from 20 December 1999 to 16 January 2000. The drama stars Bobby Au-yeung as the famous historical forensic medical expert Song Ci. Set during the Southern Song Dynasty of Mid-Imperial China,Witness to a Prosecution tells a fictionalised account of Chee's modest beginnings and the events leading to the creation of his book Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified,the world's earliest documentation of forensic science.
Medical jurisprudence or legal medicine is the branch of science and medicine involving the study and application of scientific and medical knowledge to legal problems,such as inquests,and in the field of law. As modern medicine is a legal creation,regulated by the state,and medicolegal cases involving death,rape,paternity,etc. require a medical practitioner to produce evidence and appear as an expert witness,these two fields have traditionally been interdependent.
"Autopsy" is a television series of HBO's America Undercover documentary series. Dr. Michael Baden,a real-life forensic pathologist,is the primary analyst,and has been personally involved in many of the cases that are reviewed.
Bernard Henry Knight is a British forensic pathologist and writer. He became a Home Office pathologist in 1965 and was appointed Professor of Forensic Pathology,University of Wales College of Medicine,in 1980.
Chinese society during the Song dynasty (960–1279) was marked by political and legal reforms,a philosophical revival of Confucianism,and the development of cities beyond administrative purposes into centres of industry and of maritime and river commerce. The rural population were mostly farmers,with some hunters,fishermen,and workers in the imperial mines and salt marshes. Conversely,shopkeepers,artisans,city guards,entertainers,laborers,and wealthy merchants lived in the county and provincial centres along with the Chinese gentry—a small,elite community of educated scholars and scholar-officials.
Charles Randal Smith is a former Canadian pathologist known for performing flawed child autopsies that resulted in wrongful convictions.
Judge Bao stories in literature and performing arts are some of the most popular in traditional Chinese crime fiction. All stories involve the Song dynasty minister Bao Zheng who solves,judges and sentences criminal cases.
The Forensic Medicine Division of the Applied Sciences Group of the Health Sciences Authority is a forensic medical consultancy service of the government of Singapore. The Centre provides professional consultancy services in the field of forensic medicine,primarily to law enforcement in support of the coronial death investigation system in Singapore as well as criminal investigations into homicidal deaths. The Division operates a mortuary facility in Block 9,a Singapore General Hospital building along Outram Road.
Steven Timothy Hayne is a pathologist from the US state of Mississippi who attracted significant controversy surrounding his medical practices and testimony in criminal trials,most notably those of Cory Maye,Jimmie Duncan,and Tyler Edmonds.
The Corpse Reader is a novel in a mix of several genres,has elements of historical thriller,realistic,medical fiction,and science fantasy by Spanish author Antonio Garrido,based on the work of Sòng Cí,considered to be the founder of CSI-style forensic science. It tells the story of a young man of humble origin whose determination led him from his position as a gravedigger in the Fields of Death of Lin'an to a position at the prestigious Ming Academy.
The death of Chan Yin-lam occurred during the 2019 Hong Kong protests,and gave rise to speculations by protesters about its cause. Lam was a 15-year-old student who died on or shortly after 19 September 2019. Her naked corpse was found floating in the sea near Yau Tong,Hong Kong,on 22 September 2019. Following a preliminary autopsy,police asserted that no foul play was suspected and that Chan had killed herself,while there were allegations that she was murdered by Hong Kong authorities in connection with her participation in the 2019 Hong Kong protests. The coroner's inquest concluded with the jury unanimously returning an open verdict,after Magistrate Ko Wai-hung ruled out both homicide and suicide as possible causes due to insufficient evidence to support this.
