lip prints

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LIP PRINTS

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Page 1: Lip Prints

LIP PRINTS

Page 2: Lip Prints

• The wrinkles and grooves visible on the lips have been named by Tsuchihashi as ‘sulci labiorum rubrorum’

• The imprint produced by these grooves is termed ‘lip print’, the examination of which is referred to as ‘cheiloscopy’

• The grooves are heritable and are supposed to be individualistic

• Lip prints, therefore, can constitute material evidence left at a crime scene, much like fingerprints

Page 3: Lip Prints

CLASSSIFICATION

Lips were first classified by Santos into 2 categories:

• Simple wrinkleso Straight lineo Curved lineo Angled lineo Sine-shaped curve• Compound wrinkleso Bifurcatedo Trifurcatedo Anomalous

Page 4: Lip Prints

• Tsuchihashi later proposed a separate classification, dividing the pattern of grooves into six types:

• Type I- clear cut vertical grooves that run across the entire lip

• Type I’- similar to type I, but do not cover the entire lip

• Type II- branched grooves• Type III- intersected grooves• Type IV- reticular grooves• Type V- grooves that cannot be morphologically

differentiated

Page 5: Lip Prints

Type I- vertical

Type I’- intersecting

Type II- branching

Type III- reticular

Type IV- undetermined

Page 6: Lip Prints

• A combination of these grooves may be found on any given set of lips• To simplify recording lips are divided into quadrants similar to dentition – a

horizontal line dividing upper and lower lips and a vertical line dividing right and left sides

• By noting the type of groove in each quadrant, the individual’s lip print can be recorded

• Lip prints are usually left at the crime scene and can provide direct link to th suspect

• Traditionally, the use of lipsticks were essential to leave behind colored traces of lip prints

• In recent years, however lipsticks have been developed that do not leave any visible trace after contact with surfaces such as glass, clothing, cutlery or cigarette butts

• Nevertheless, these lip prints are characterized by their permanence and produce ‘persistent’ lip prints that can be recovered days after being produced

• Although invisible, Alvarez and associates have shown that these prints can be developed and visualized using agents such as aluminium powder and magnetic powder

• Ball states that the vermillion border has minor salivary glands and the edges of the lip have sebaceous glands with sweat glands in between . The secretions of oil and moisture from these enable development of latent lip prints in most crime scene

Page 7: Lip Prints

DISADVANTAGES OF LIP PRINT INVESTIGATION

• A major disadvantage of lip print investigation pertains to doubt about the permanence of lip patterns

• While they remain unchanged throughout one’s life, Sivapathasundharam and coworkers have cautioned that major trauma to the lips can result in scarring

• Surgical treatment that rendered to correct any abnormility also affects the size and shape of lips, thereby altering the pattern and morphology of grooves

• Tsuchihashi states that another disadvantage is the anatomic position of lip grooves on the zone of transition close to the vermillion border- a zone which is extremely mobile

• Also the pressure applied and its direction may alter the lip prints