REPORT IN LEGAL MEDICINE

CHAPTER VII: SPECIAL DEATHS

Prepared by: Natividad, Miamor D.

BL-3

1. JUDICIAL DEATH

- execution of death penalties

- Constitutional guaranty against inhuman, cruel, and barbarous means

Death Penalty

Pros

- only method of eliminating the hopeless enemy of the society

- deters potential criminals as no other forms of punishment does

- if capital punishment is properly carried out, instead of brutalizing the

society, it satisfies the sense of justice and provides social satisfaction and a
sense of protection

Cons

- an irreversible penalty

- not reformative

- capital punishment is not a deterrent in effect (criminality not diminished)

- violates humanitarian sentiments

- retributive (not corrective)

Methods of Judicial Death

1. Death by Electrocution a person is made to sit on a chair made of

electrical conducting materials with straps of electrodes on wrists, ankles and head.
(Art. 81-84, RPC)

Death may be due to shock; respiratory failure due to bulbar paralysis or asphyxia;
and due to prolong and violent convulsion.

2. Death by Hanging- convict is made to stand in an elevated collapsible flat-

form with a black hood on the head, a noose made of rope around the neck and the
other end of which is fixed in an elevated structure above the head.
Death may be due to dislocation or fracture of the upper cervical vertebrae; partial or
complete severance of the spinal cord; rupture of the cervical muscles; asphyxia due
to the pressure on the vagus nerve; syncope due to the pressure on the vagus
nerve; or cerebral anemia which results to an inhibition of the vital centers of the
brain.

3. Death by Musketry the convict is made to face or with his back towards a
firing squad and is put to death by a volley of fire.

4. Death by gas chamber the convict is enclosed in a compartment and an

obnoxious or asphyxiating gas is introduced.

Other Methods of Judicial Death

1. Beheading the most common way is with the use of guillotine

2. Crucifixion nailing the person on a cross

3. Beating- a hard object is forcibly applied to the head to crush the skull.

4. Cutting asunder mutilating the body with a sharp heavy instrument until
death ensues

5. Precipitation from a height.

6. Destruction by wild beast.

7. Flaying skinning alive

8. Impaling.

9. Stoning.

10. Strangling.

11. Smothering.

12. Drowning.

2. EUTHANASIA (Mercy Killing)

- is the deliberate and painless acceleration of death of a person usually

suffering from an incurable and distressing disease

- contrary to the principle that no person has the right to end his own life,
much less can he delegate it to another
Types of Euthanasia

1. Active Euthanasia intentional or deliberate application of the means to

shorten the life of a person. It may be done with or without the consent or the
knowledge of the person.

Active Euthanasia on Demand is the putting to death of a person in

compliance of the wishes of the person (patient) to shorten his sufferings.

2. Passive Euthanasia - there is absence of the application of the means to

accelerate death but the natural course of the disease is allowed to have its way to
extinguish the life of a person

a. Orthothanasia when an incurably ill person is allowed to die a natural

death without the application of any operation or treatment procedure.

b. Dysthanasia when there is an attempt to extend the lifespan of a person

by the use of extraordinary treatments without which the patient would have died
earlier

Ways of Performing Euthanasia

1. Administration of a lethal dose of poison

2. Overdosage of sedatives, hypnotics or other pain relieving drugs
3. Injection of air into the blood stream
4. Application of strong electric currents
5. Failure to institute the necessary management procedure which is
essential to preserve the life of a patient.
a. Failure to perform tracheostomy when there is marked distress in
breathing due to laryngeal obstruction.
b. Failure to give transfusion in severe hemorrhage.
c. Depriving the child of nutrition.
d. Removal of patient from a respirator when voluntary breathing is not
possible.

Who may Perform Euthanasia:

1. The patient himself;
2. The physician, with or without the knowledge and consent of the
patient;
- punishable under Art. 253, RPC: giving assistance to suicide
- if poison was administered by the physician to the patient, then it is
murder.
3. SUICIDE (self-destruction)
- the unfortunate consequence of mental illness and social disorganization.
- suicide rarely occurs during the pre-adolescent stage

Psychological Classification of Suicide:

a. First degree deliberate, planned, premeditated, self-murder
b. Second degree impulsive, unplanned, under great provocation or
mitigating circumstances.
c. Third degree accidental suicide. This occurs when a person puts his or
his life into jeopardy by voluntary self-injury, but where we infer that the intention to
die was relatively low because the method of self-injury was relatively harmless
or because provision for rescue were made.
d. Suicide under circumstances which suggest lack of capacity or intention
- when psychotic; highly intoxicated (alcohol or drugs)
e. Self-destruction due to negligence not really considered as suicide
- alcoholism, reckless driving, cigarette smoking
f. Justifiable Suicide self destruction by a person with a terminal illness

Common methods of committing suicide

1. Drugs and poisons
2. Hanging
3. Firearm
4. Jumping from height
5. Drowning
6. Cutting and stabbing
7. Suffocation by plastic bag
8. Electrocution
Suicide and Drugs

- Automatism due to drug may be considered as accidental rather than

suicidal.
- a patient develops a state of toxic delirium after ingesting one or several
doses of the drugs, alcohol, or combination thereof, and while in the delirious or
automatism stage, takes much more of the drug unintentionally.

Evidences that will Infer Death as Suicidal

1. History of depression, unresolved personal problem, or mental disease
2. Previous attempt of self-destruction;
3. If committed by infliction of physical injuries, the wounds are located in the
areas accessible by the hand, vital parts of the body and usually solitary.
4. The effects of the act of self-destruction may be found in the body of the
victim:
 a. Hand may be blood-stained if suicide was done by inflicting wound;
b. Wounding hand may be positive to paraffin test in gunshot. The
wound of entrance may show manifestation of a contact or near shot.
c. Empty bottle or container of poison may be present at the suicide
scene.
d. Absence of signs of struggle; or
e. cadaveric spasm present in the wounding hand holding the weapon.
5. Presence of suicide note;
6. Suicide scene in a place not susceptible to public view; and
7. Pieces of evidence that will rule out homicide, murder, parricide, and other
manner of violent death.

4. DEATH FROM STARVATION

- Starvation or inanition is the deprivation of a regular and constant supply of
food and water which is necessary to normal health of a person.

Types of Starvation

1. Acute Starvation is when the necessary food has been suddenly and
completely withheld from a person.
2. Chronic Starvation is when there is a gradual or deficient supply of food.

Causes of Starvation
1. Suicidal- hunger strike; excessive desire to lose weight; lunatics during
depressive state; as an expression of political dissent
2. Homicidal deliberate deprival of food for helpless illegitimate
children, feeble-minded and old persons
3. Accidental scarcity of food or water during famines or draught;
shipwreck, entombment of miners caused by landslides, marooned
sailors, or fall in a pit

Length of Survival
- the human body without food loses 1/24th of its weight daily, and a loss of
40% of the weight results to death.
- without food and water : cannot survive more than 10 days
- with water: may survive without food for 50 to 60 days

Factors that affect the Length of Survival

1. Age- children suffer earlier

2. Condition of the body healthy with more fat deposit can resist more
3. Sex women can withstand starvation longer (they have more adipose
tissues than men)
4. Environment exposure to higher temperature will accelerate death; suitable
clothing will delay death; active physical exertion hasten death; severe cold
will hasten death

The Length of Survival Depends upon the following:

a. Presence or absence of water

b. Partial or complete withdrawal of food
c. Surroundings
d. Females survive better than males, but children and older persons die
quickly
e. condition of the body

SYMPTOMS OF STARVATION:

Acute feeling of hunger

Feeling of extreme thirst
Pale and cadaverous face
Emaciation and absorption of the subcutaneous fat (4 or 5 days after)
Dry and cracked lips
Sunken eyes and dilated pupils
Weak, fainted, inaudible voice
Wrinkled and dry skin with disagreeable odor

Cause of Death

- inanition
- circulatory failure due to brown atrophy of the heart
- intercurrent infection

Post-mortem Findings

1. External Findings
- greatly emaciated body emitting a peculiar offensive odor
- eyes are dry, red and open with the eyeballs sunken
- bed sores may be present
 2. Internal Findings
- soft and pale muscles and wasted with subcutaneous fat
almost completely disappeared
- general reduction in the size and weight of all the organs
except the brain
- brain is soft and pale and there is serious infusion in the
ventricle
- demineralization of bones
- findings are referrable to concomitant disease which may
develop on account of the diminished resistance

Medico-legal Question in Death Due to Starvation

1. Determination whether death was caused by starvation
- examine the internal organs and search for the existence of any
disease that may possibly be the cause of death
2. Determination of the cause of starvation
 REPORT IN LEGAL MEDICINE

CHAPTER VIII: DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD BODY

Prepared by: Natividad, Miamor D.

BL-3

Sec. 1103, Revised Administrative Code:

Persons Charged with Duty of Burial (regardless of the ultimate liability
for the expense)

a. surviving spouse (if the deceased was a married man/woman)

b. nearest kin (if deceased was unmarried man or woman or a child and left
any kin)
c. municipal authorities (if the deceased left no spouse or kindred possessed
of sufficient means)

- shall perform such duty within 48 hours after death, having the ability to do so

Sec. 1104, RAC:

Rights of Custody to Body

GR: Every person charged by law with the duty of burial is entitled to the
custody of such body for the purpose of burying.
XPNs: - when an inquest is required by law for the purpose of determining
the cause of death;
- when death is due or accompanied by a dangerous communicable
disease, will remain in the custody of the local board, local health officer, or
of the municipal council, until buried.

- right of custody does not mean ownership of a dead body, thus the
possessor cannot exercise the full rights of ownership

- there is a right of property in human remains at least in a limited sense. The

right of possession of a corpse is equivalent to ownership and any unlawful
interference is an actionable wrong. (Philips v. Montreal Gen Hospital (33 S.C. 483;
14 R.L. 159)

- preferential right and duty to make arrangements for the funeral and to
decide how the remains should be disposed of.
 -- Executors right of custody is superior to the right of spouse dead body (if
deceased left a will stating among others the manner his body will be disposed)
- EXECUTOR: the person mentioned in a will who will carry on the provision
of the will
- in the absence of a testamentary disposition, the right of the surviving
spouse is tantamount

METHODS OF DISPOSAL OF DEAD BODY

1. Embalming -is the artificial way of preserving the body after death by
injecting 6 to 8 quarts of antiseptic solutions of formalin, perchloride of
mercury or arsenic, which is carried into the common carotid and the femoral
arteries.
2. Burial or Inhumation
a) The body must be buried within forty-eight hours after death
- Sec. 1092, Revised Administrative Code
GR: no unembalmed body shall remain unburied longer than 48 hours
after death; and after the lapse of the said period, the permit for burial,
interment or cremation shall be void and a new permit must be
obtained
XPNs: 1. When subject of legal investigation
2. when specifically authorized by the local health authorities
3. impliedly when the body is embalmed
4. if the person died of a communicable disease ( must be
within 12 hours unless permitted otherwise)
b) Death Certificate
- Sec. 1087, RAC: Requirement of Death Certificate- by whom to be
issued:(1) attending physician; (2) local health authorities; (3) mayor;
(4) municipal secretary; or (5) any councilor
- Sec. 91, PD 856: Code of Sanitation Burial Requirement
- no remains shall be buried without a death certificate
c) Permission from the Provincial Fiscal or from the Municipal Mayor is
Necessary if death is due to violence or crime
- Sec. 1089, RAC: Proceedings in case of suspected violence or
crime if the person who issues has the reason to believe or suspects
that the cause of the death was due to violence or crime, he must
immediately notify local authorities ( justice of peace or auxiliary justice
of peace); but the permission for burial may only be granted by the
Provincial Fiscal, if not available, then the municipal mayor
- Sec. 1099, RAC: Placing of body in overground tomb: prohibited
unless the coffin or casket is permanently sealed
- Sec. 1100 RAC: the depth of grave must be at least 1 -1/2m
 - Sec. 2695, RAC: Desecration of burial premises: prohibited

FUNERALS:
- Art. 305- 309, NCC:
- limitations to funeral rites:
1. will of the deceased
2. burial of the person sentenced to death must not be held with
pomp ( Art. 85, RPC)
3. restrictions as to funeral ceremonies in cases of death due to
communicable disease (Sec. 1105, RAC: body of the deceased shall
not be taken to any place for public assembly nor shall any person be
allowed to attend the funeral except the adult members of the
immediate family)
3. Disposing of the Dead body in the Sea
- dead body is thrown in an open sea provided that the deceased is not
suffering from a serious communicable disease. ( Sec. 1093, RAC: Permit for
conveyance of body to sea for burial. Upon a written request, permit may be
granted by the authorized officer)

4. Cremation
- the pulverization of the body into ashes by the application of heat.
- must be with permit
Instances when permit for cremation must not be granted:
1. Deceased left a written direction not to be cremated
2. exact identity of the deceased has not yet been definitely
ascertained
3. exact cause of death cannot be definitely ascertained and
further inquiry or examination is still needed.

5. Use of the Body for Scientific Purpose

- Sec. 97, PD 856, Code of Sanitation: use of remains for medical studies
and scientific research
- subject to rules and regulations prescribed by the Department
(Bureau of Health/ Director of Health)
- Corpse of prisoners after judicial execution may be turned over to institution
of learning or scientific research ( Art. 85, RPC)

EXHUMATION
-the deceased buried may be raised or disinterred upon the lawful order of the
proper authorities ( fiscal/court/any entity vested with authority to investigate)