Archiv für Kriminologie
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Archiv für Kriminologie · Nov 2004
Historical Article[A century of the The German Society of Forensic Medicine or Legal Medicine].
On 20 September 1904 the Section of Forensic Medicine of the former Society of German Natural Scientists and Physicians decided in Breslau to found an independent "German Society of Forensic Medicine". The constituent assembly was held in Meran on 25 September 1905, with Fritz Strassmann from Berlin being elected as the first president. ⋯ Later the name of the association was changed several times; the last change (to "German Society of Legal Medicine") was made in 1968. The close relationship between legal medicine and criminalistics is demonstrated on the background of the historical development.
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Archiv für Kriminologie · Nov 2004
Case Reports[Medicolegal aspects of witnessed suicide due to gunshot to the head. II. Legal medicine aspects and examination of the firing hand].
The second part of the paper on suicides by gunshots to the head in the presence of witnesses focuses on relevant morphological autopsy findings such as entrance site, signs of close range or contact shots, bullet path etc. and also discusses selected aspects of ascertaining gunshot residues. For the identification of the shooter an integral medicolegal assessment of all the facts including the investigation results and the autopsy findings is essential. However, the morphological findings alone do not allow safe diagnosis, as for example in a homicide the temporal region, which was affected in all our cases, may have been deliberately chosen by the perpetrator as a localization typical of suicide. ⋯ It was found that especially the combined application of topographical (adhesive tape/PVAL) and cumulative (SEM) methods allowed for the doubtless identification of the shooter, thus usually confirming the suicide. By the example of one case it is demonstrated that without the immediate collection of evidence at the scene objective reconstruction of the event becomes impossible. On the basis of the reported cases recommendations are finally given for a differentiated approach in the medicolegal evaluation of alleged witnessed suicide by gunshot (to the head).