Webinar- Dead Wrong

Defense counsel: Would you agree with me that the decedent most likely died within this timeframe (gives exact hours.)

Forensic pathologist (me): No.

Counsel: Why?

Forensic pathologist: Cuz it ain’t CSI.

I am a big fan of crime fiction and TV shows. I’ve read hundreds of books by authors from all over the world. I try not to focus on what crime writers got wrong about forensic pathology, but I have my limits. “The death occurred at midnight, and our killer is left-handed,” said a coroner who just finished an autopsy at the medical examiner’s office.” It is all wrong, I would say to anyone willing to listen. Coroners do not perform autopsies unless they happen to be forensic pathologists. The time of death cannot be determined by looking at stomach contents. The handedness cannot be determined by examining the wounds, and soon.

As you have guessed by now, this presentation is about common forensic pathology mistakes in crime fiction and how it works in real life. 

But we know it all, you might say. Maybe. Maybe not. I have met coroners, police and lawyers, who had the same misconceptions about certain forensic pathology aspects as the crime writes. 

Subjects Covered:

Who is who conundrum

Coroner vs Medical Examiner vs Forensic Pathologist 

      “Natural causes “

      Confusion between the cause and manner of death 

      Estimating PMI (time since death) in fiction (and occasionally court) vs real life

      Post-mortem changes (rigor, livor, etc.)

      Stomach contents

      Henssge’s Nomogram

      Experimental methods (e.g., Than a to microbiome)

      Deductions based on examination of injuries 

      Handedness 

      Positions of a victim and an assailant 

      Manner of death (homicide vs complex/atypical suicide)

      He did not drown in a bathtub

      Diatoms 

This talk will be entertaining and educational at the same time.