INDIVIDUAL WORK 3
Week 6 Individual Work Assignment
Sarah Sutton
Everest College
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for CJE 1600-19
Criminal Investigations
Professor Stevie Hayes
02/21/2013
PG. 2
The crime scene is a home invasion robbery of victim Samuel Jones and his family. Sam, the father, was found in the kitchen, shot three times in the back.
To what extent do wounds play a role in understanding the facts and circumstances surrounding a wrongful death? Make sure to discuss wounds related to wrongful death cases in general, as well as apply what you have learned to the specific scenario.
There are many different types of wounds each of which can tell experts something about the manner of death. Wound types vary from bullet, stabbing, blunt force, rape, poisoning, burn, or traffic fatality. A forensic pathologists ' role is to investigate what the wound discloses about how it was inflicted and what inflicted it. Expert pathologists are able to perform wound analysis to reconstruct an event, utilize evidence which may suggest self-defense, and analyze whether the wound was received before or after death (Welner, 2011).
According to Welner (2011) approximately two-thirds of the homicides committed in the United States involve the use of a firearm. Forensic pathologists are able to distinguish the subtle differences between contact gunshot wounds, near contact gunshot wounds, medium range gunshot wounds, and distant gunshot wounds. This process involves both technology and experience to determine various relevant details about the incident such as direction, range, sequence of fire pattern, the path traveled between entry and exit wounds, the likelihood of survival after sustaining a gunshot, the make and model of the gun, and the specific
PG. 3
(Welner,2011).
Most deaths caused by gunshot wounds result from discharges of handguns, rifles, or shotguns. Knowing the type of weapon is important for making comparison tests
References: Hess Orthmann, C. H., & Hess, K. M. (2013). Criminal Investigation (10th Ed). Clifton Park, NY: Cengage Publishing. Welner, M.D., New York, NY (2011)