legal medicine my report

8/12/2019 Legal Medicine My Report

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Legal Medicine

GROUP 1 -Introduction

DEFINITION

LEGAL MEDICINE is a branch of medicine whichdeals with the application ofmedical knowledge to thepurpose of law and justice. Itis the application of the basicand clinical, medical andparamedical sciences toelucidate legal matters.

Legal Medicine and Forensic Medicine are synonymous and in common practice are usedinterchangeably, although legal medicine strictlyspeaking means medicine applied to legal cases ,while forensic medicine science to elucidate legal problems .

MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE is that branch oflaw which deals with theorganization and regulation ofthe medical profession, withthe contractual obligationexisting between practitionerand his patient and with theduties imposed on thepractitioner by the state.

DISTINCTION BETWEEN LEGAL MEDICINE ANDMEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE

LEGAL MEDICINE MEDICALJURISPRUDENCE

branch of medicalscience

branch of law

a medicine applied tolaw andadministration ofjustice

law applied to thepractice of medicine

originate from thedevelopment ofmedical science, itbeing a branch ofmedicine

emanates from acts ofCongress, executiveorders, administrativecirculars, custom andusage and decisions oftribunal which haverelation to the practiceof medicine

based on theprinciples ofcoordination, thatlegal medicines

based on the principlesof subordinations, that itis the duty of a physicianto obey the laws in as

coordinate medicineto law and justice

much as our governmentis established on theprinciple of governmentof laws and not of menand that no one isconsidered above the

law

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

1. To give the students and practitioners ofmedicine a theoretical and practicalknowledge of the subject in his relation tolaw.

2. To give information to physicians of hisrights and duties and the manner inwhich the law expect him to act undercertain circumstances.

3. To enable a lawyer find the principleswhich apply, and the laws and decisionswhich may govern, in any case involvingmedical questions, as well as the pointsupon which medical experts should beexamined.

4. To acquaint medical and law students andpractitioners of the recent advances offorensic medicine and the medico legalsystem and procedure adapted indifferent countries.

5. Students of criminology and policesciences must be acquainted with the

medical aspect of criminal investigation,their significance, interpretation andprobative value in court.

SCOPE OF LEGAL MEDICINE

The scope of legal medicine is quitebroad. It is the application of all branches ofmedicine and other allied sciences to law andadministration of justice. The knowledge ofwounds has been acquire in surgery, abortion ingynecology, sudden death in medicine, effects oftrauma in pathology, etc. although viewed in a

different angle.

NATURE OF LEGAL MEDICINE

Knowledge of legal medicine means theability to acquire facts, the power to arrange thosefacts in the logical order, and the application forthe purposes of law the conclusion which theylead.


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A physician should be an impartialobserver, intent only or seeking the truth of a casein relation its circumstances, the conscience withwhich he discharges his duties is but a corollary tohis putting into practice the medico legalknowledge he has acquired.

It is not only necessary that a physicianshould have an impartial and accurate observationof the facts but also must possess the power toimpart in words or in writing all of his observationto others. He must convey all the facts he hasobserved and be able to give is logical opinion.

Some members of the medical professionhave been inclined to regard medico-legal matterwith abhorrence. They consider it as an additionto their usual duties while other refuse to handlemedico-legal cases because of fear, and waste of

material time when being summoned in court. But, no physician in practice can ignore nor refuse toface the problem of legal responsibility and hisduties to the court.

MEDICAL JURIST- (Medico-legal Expert) is aphysician who specializes in thescience of legal medicine. Hemust possess sufficientknowledge pathology, surgery,toxicology, and other branchesof medicine in the application tolaw and justice.

SOME PRINCIPLE GOVERNING APPLICATION ANDEFFECTS OF LAW

1. Ignorance of the law excuses no one fromcompliance therewith.

2. Law shall have no retroactive effect,unless the contrary is provided.

3. Rights may be waived unless the waiver iscontrary to law, public order, publicpolicy, morals, good customs, orprejudicial to a third person with a rightrecognized by law.

4.

Customs which are contrary to law, publicorder or public policy shall not becountenanced.

BRANCHES OF LAW WHERE LEGAL MEDICINE ISAPPLIED

1. Civil lawa. the determination and termination of civil

personality

b. the limitation or restriction of a naturalpersons capacity to act c. marriage and legal separationd. paternity and filiatione. testamentary capacity of a person making

a willf. the right to hereditary succession

2. Criminal Lawa. Felonies and circumstances which affect

criminal liabilityb. Civil liability ex delictuc. Crimes relative to opium and prohibited

drugsd. Crimes against personse. Crimes against chastityf. Crimes against civil status of personsg. Quasi offenses

3. Remedial Lawa. Physical and Mental Examination of a

personb. Hospitalization of insane personsc. Rules of Evidence

4. Special Lawsa. Dangerous Drug Actb. Youth and Child Welfare Codec. Sanitation Coded. Insurance lawe. Labor Codef. Employees Compensation Law

5. CORPUS DELICTIIs the body or substance of the crime and isdefined as the fact that a crime actually hasbeen committed. In all criminal prosecutions,the burden is on the prosecution to prove thecorpus delicti .


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HISTORY OF LEGAL MEDICINE IN THE PHILIPPINES

Paulus Zacchias ( 1584 1659 ) is the Father of Forensic Medicine. H e was the first to describethe importance and application of medicine to the proper administration of justice.

In the Phil. the father of Legal Medicine can be rightfully bestowed to Dr. Pedro P. Solis . His book onLegal Medicine copyrighted in 1987, contains the most extensive treatise and teachings in PhilippineLegal Medicine.

MEDICO-LEGAL SYSTEMS COMMONLY ADAPTED IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

MEDICAL EVIDENCE

Evidence s the means, sanction by law of ascertaining in a judicial proceeding the truth respecting amatter of fact.

Reference: Section 1, 2, 3, 4, -128 rules of court

Medical Evidence is the means sanction by law of ascertaining in a judicial proceeding that truthrespecting a matter of fact wherein scientific medical knowledge is necessary.

FORMS OF EVIDENCE

1. Real Evidence this form of evidence is made known or addressed to the senses of the court.

Section 1, Rule 130 Rules of Court

View of an Object whenever an object has such a relation to the fact in dispute as to afford reasonablegrounds or belief respecting it, such object may be exhibit to or viewed by the court, or its existence,situation, or character proved by witnesses, as the court in its discretion may determine.

a. Indecency and impropriety are exceptions to this rule of evidence, but when exhibition isnecessary for the end of justice, notions of decency and delicacy of feeling will not be allowed toprevail.

b. Repulsive objects and those offensives to sensibilities should also be excluded if they are notabsolutely necessary for the proper administration of justice.

2. Testimonial Evidence a physician may be placed at the witness stand to answer questionspropounded to him by counsels of parties or by the presiding officer of the court. His testimonymust be given orally in open court and under oath or affirmation.

Qualification of an Ordinary Witness

Section 18, Rule 130, Rules of CourtExcept as provided in the next succeeding section, all persons who, having organs of sense, can

perceive, and perceiving, can make known their perception to others, may be witness. Neither parties norother persons interested in the outcome of a case shall be excluded, nor those who have been convictedof crime, nor any person on account of his opinion on matters of religious belief.

Qualification of an Expert Witness

Section 42, Rule 130, Rules of Court

The opinion of a witness regarding a question of science, art or trade, when he is skilled therein,may be received in evidence.


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3. Experimental Evidence a medical witness may be required to perform certain experiments to

prove a certain matter of fact. Again such evidence must not be offensive to decency,sensibilities, and propriety. The court, however, in its discretion may or may not allowexperimental evidence.

4. Documentary Evidence any written evidence presented by a physician in court which is relevantto the subject matter in dispute and not excluded by the rules of court is documentary evidence.

METHODS OF PRESERVING EVIDENCE1. Photography and sound recording2. Sketching3. Description4. Testimony of witnesses

KINDS OF EVIDENCE NECESSARY FOR CONVICTION1. Direct Evidence that which proves the fact in dispute without the aid of any inference or

presumption. The evidence presented corresponds to precise or actual point at issue.2. Circumstances Evidence the proof of facts from which, taken either singly or collectively, the

existence of a particular fact in dispute may be inferred as a necessary or probable consequence.When is Circumstantial evidence sufficient to Produce conviction?a. When there is more than one circumstance,b. When the facts from which the inferences are derived are proven, andc. When the combination of all the circumstances is such as to produce a conviction beyond a

reasonable doubt.

DEGREE PF PROOF REQUIRED IN THE COURT OF JUSTICE:1. In civil cases, preponderance of evidence only is required.2. In criminal cases, proof beyond reasonable doubt is required.


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MEDICAL ASPECT OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

I. IDENTIFICATION OF PERSONS AND MATERIALS 1. ANTHROPOMETRY (BERTILLONS SYSTEM)

- the study of measurement of human body

A. DEAD PERSONS AND ITS REMAINS a. identification and examination of skeleton

b. determination of sex, race, age, height, from the skeleton c. identification of hair, and other fibers d. identification of sex, age in living person e. determination of age of fetus f. determination of age of childhood and adulthood

2. FINGER PRINTING

- Formation started from embryo and perfected within four (4) months - Never affected by physical growth, aging of human bodies - Everybody differ each other during the lifetime of individual

WAYS of DETERMINATION DACTYLOGPRAHY

is the art and study of recording and studying fingerprints as a means ofidentification

DACTYLOSCOPY the art of identification by comparison of fingerprints

POROSCOPY the study of pores found on the capillary or friction ridges of the skin

CRIMINAL INTERROGATION

1. Initial interview with the investigator handling the case. 2. Pre - test interview with the subject to be examined 3. Conduct of instrument test with asking the questions previously reviewed by the

subject. 4. Post interview/ interrogation with the subject

1. DECEPTION - DETECTION METHOD

a. POLYGRAPHY/ - scientific method of detecting deception with the use of the polygraph

instrument

PURPOSE: to determine truth or deception based on the presence of emotional


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disturbance of the subject as appearing on the recorded physiological responses toquestion relative to the case under investigation.

RELATION TO MEDICAL ASPECT:

1. PNEUMOGRAPHrecords changes of breathing 2. GALVANOGRAPH

records the skin resistance of the subject to a very small amount of lectricity 3. CARDIOSPHYGMOGRAPH

records the changes of blood pressure and pulse rate 4. KYMOGRAPH

motor that pulls or drive chat paper

CONSIDERED INDICATION OF DECEPTION

Increase and decrease of blood pressure

Increase in blood pressure only Decrease only in blood pressure An increase or decrease pulse rate Increase or decrease of amplitude

2. NARCO ANALYSIS (TRUTH SERUM) A person is able to lie by using his imagination. In the Narco Analysis Test, the subject's

imagination is neutralised by making him semi -conscious. In this state, it becomes difficult forhim to lie and his answers would be restricted to facts he is already aware of.

In a Narco test the subject is administered a fixed quantity of Sodium Pentothal orSodium Amytal which puts him/her in a state of Hypnotism.

Such a test is generally conducted on a suspect who is not coming out with the truth.Once put to this test he is half sleep and answers the questions truthfully.

However this test cannot be taken as an evidence in a court of law. But certainly it helps proceed in the right direction and collect evidence which can form the basis for prosecution in acourt of law.

3. STIMULUS ASSOCIATION TEST

WORD ASSOCIATION TEST List of stimulus and non stimulus words are read to the subject who is instucted to answer

as quickly as possible

4. USE OF HYPNOTISM


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