Forensic Dental Evidence (eBook)

Front Cover 1
Forensic Dental Evidence: An Investigator's Handbook 4
Copyright Page 5
Dedication 6
Contents 8
Contributing Authors 14
Photo Credits 16
Foreword 18
Preface to Second Edition 20
Preface to First Edition 22
The Logic of Forensic Investigation 23
Categories of Dental Evidence 24
Acknowledgments 26
Introduction 28
Scope of Forensic Dentistry 28
Teaming Law Enforcement Investigators with Forensic Dentistry 29
Educational Objectives 30
Companion_website 32
Chapter 1: Historical Dental Investigations 34
Overview 34
The Forensic Examination of Herakleides 37
The Aging of Herakleides 37
Acknowledgments 38
References 38
Introduction 38
A Short Biography of Adolf Hitler 39
Hitler's Death 40
Remains and X-Rays 42
High and Moderate Degrees of Concordance 47
Conclusions 49
References 50
Hesi-Ré: The First Dentist 51
Lollia Paulina: The First Record of Forensic Dental Identification 51
Dr. Joseph Warren: The First Forensic Dental Identification in the United States 52
Edinburgh 1814: The First Use of Dental Evidence in a Court Case 53
Tooth Eruption Patterns as an Age Determinant 54
Parkman/Webster Murder Trial, Boston 1850: The First Court Case Largely Built on Dental Evidence 55
John Wilkes Booth: Identification of the Infamous Assassin 58
The “Bazar de la Charité” Disaster Results in the World’s First Forensic Odontology Text 58
Postscript 60
References 60
Chapter 2: Dental Detectives 62
Who Is a Qualified Forensic Dentist? Advice: Use the Best 62
What Dentists do 63
What to do When “a Skull with Some Teeth” Has Been Discovered 64
The Use of Teeth by Forensic Science 68
Factors that Change the Appearance of Teeth over a Lifetime 69
The Language of Dental Identification 71
Tooth Names and Quantity of Teeth in Adults and Children 73
Human Tooth Morphology 74
The Dental Investigator's Role in Forensic Case Work 81
Collecting and Preserving Useful Evidence 81
Scientific Dental Investigations 83
The Most Famous Bitemark Case of the 20th Century 84
Woman's Identity Confirmed by a Missing Tooth 85
Chapter 3: The Next Level in Victim Identification: Materials Properties as an Aid in Victim Identification 88
Introduction 88
Modern Challenges, Radiography, and Fluorescence 90
SEM and SLICE 94
XRF 95
Incinerated Remains 96
Collection and Analysis 101
References 105
Chapter 4: Forensic Dentistry Investigation Protocols 106
Dental Uniqueness 107
Dental Autopsy 116
Terminology for Body Identification (from the ABFO Guidelines, www.abfo.org) 124
Chapter 5: Recognition, Documentation, Evidence Collection, and Interpretation of Bitemark Evidence 126
The History of Bitemarks in the New World 129
Sequence of Events in a Bitemark Investigation 129
Recognition 130
Preliminary Bitemark Examination 132
Skin Distortions Affecting Biter Identification 133
Features Indicative of Bite Marks in Skin 137
Locations of Bitemarks on Humans 139
Variable Appearance of Bitemarks 141
Evidence Collection for Bitemarks 145
Photography 146
Impressions of a Bitemark 146
What the Dentist Does Next 146
Objects Bitten: How Certain Is the Dentist About the Biter? 146
What the Dentist Looks for in the Suspect’s Mouth 147
Evidence Collection Protocols 149
Recovery of Bitemark Evidence from the Victim 151
Photographs of Potential Bitemark Evidence 151
Recording the Topography of a Bitemark 153
Documentation of Bite Mark Evidence 154
Live Victim Testimony 155
Recovery of Bitemark Evidence from a Live Person 155
Laboratory Analysis of Bitemark Evidence 155
Evidence Collection from a Suspect 156
Dental and DNA Evidence Collection from a Suspect 157
Comparison of Injury and Suspect Dental Exemplars 157
Summary 158
References 158
Chapter 6: Bitemarks in Englandand Wales 160
Introduction 160
The Process: Identifying a Bitemark and Collecting Evidence 161
The Process: Evidence Collection from the Bite Suspect(s) 164
The Process: Comparison 166
The Process: Report and Trial 167
Summary 168
References 168
Chapter 7: Legal Issues Concerning Bitemark Evidence in the United States 170
Legal Factors of Evidence Collection and Its Use in Court 171
The Fourth Amendment: Arrest Search and Seizure 171
Admissibility of Expert Evidence Based on Relevance and Scientific Reliability 172
National Acadamy of Sciences (NAS) 2009 Review of Bitemark Evidence 173
Report Concerns About Certain Forensic Disciplines 173
Report Concerns About Bitemark Analysis 174
Types of Dental Testimony by Dentists 176
Use of Bitemark Evidence in Jurisdictions Using the Frye Standard for Admissibility 178
Use of Bitemark Testimony Under the Federal Rules of Evidence 179
Typical Questions Law Enforcement Asks Regarding Dental Evidence 181
The Scientific Limitations of Bitemark Testimony 181
Bitemark Guidelines 182
Scientific Literature on Bitemark Identification 182
The Accuracy of Skin as a Substrate for Bitemarks 183
Uniqueness of the Human Dentition 183
Future Improvements to Bitemark Identification 184
The Innocence Project/Network 185
Erroneous Bitemark Opinions that Were Overturned by DNA 185
References 189
Chapter 8: DNA for First Responders: Recognizing, Collecting, and Analyzing Biological Evidence Related to Dentistry 192
Why DNA? 192
DNA Applications in Forensic Dentistry 193
Sample Collection Techniques 194
Behind the Laboratory Door 199
Interpreting DNA Evidence 208
References 214
Chapter 9: Missing and Unidentified Persons: The National Crime Information Center Dental Enhancements 216
The Function of the Dental Enhancements 216
History and Development of the Dental Functions in NCIC 218
Collection of Dental Information 220
The NCIC Missing and Unidentified Persons File Data Collection Entry Guides 223
The National Dental Image/Information Repository 226
Comparison Logic 227
The NCIC Dental Crossmatch Report ($.M) 229
NCIC Offline Search 233
NCIC Records Entered Prior to April 4, 2004 233
Juvenile Runaway Issues 233
Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) Conversion Issue 234
Wanted Persons Issues 235
Other Missing and Unidentified Persons Resources 235
Conclusion 236
Acknowledgments 236
References 237
Chapter 10: The Disaster Victim Identification System: Its General Structure and the Swiss Involvement 240
Introduction 240
Interpol and DVI 242
The Disaster Victim Identification Guide 242
The Swiss DVI Organization 248
Disasters 250
The Swiss DVI Team in Thailand After the Tsunami 251
The Back-Office in Berne, Switzerland 252
Conclusions 254
References 255
Chapter 11: Recognizing, Documenting, and Analyzing Physical Evidence in Abuse Cases 258
Child Maltreatment 263
Abuse During Pregnancy 265
Physical Injuries During Dating Relationship 266
Spouse Abuse (Intimate Partner Violence) 266
Elder Abuse and Neglect 268
Techniques for Recording Evidence of Traumatic Injuries 272
Conclusion 272
References 273
Chapter 12: Managing a MassFatality Incident 276
Introduction 276
Dental Response 278
Temporary Morgues 278
Processing Human Remains 279
Identification Methods 280
Challenges in Mass Disaster Management 283
Family Assistance Center 285
Mental Health Counseling 285
Aftermath of a Commercial Airline Accident 285
MFI Recommendations for Medical Examiners’ Needs 287
International DVI Teams Cooperating During an Event 293
Chapter 13: Identifying Victims of 9/11 296
Chapter 14: Australasian and MultinationalDisaster Victim Identification 306
Overview 306
Local Incidents 307
Regional Assistance 313
Multinational Disasters 315
Simplifying Deployments 318
Conclusion 318
Acknowledgments 319
References 319
Chapter 15: Photography and ForensicDental Evidence 320
Photographic Duties 321
Standard Photographic Protocols 322
Conclusion 328
Reference 328
Chapter 16: The Use of Digital Imaging in Human Identification and Crime Scene Analysis 330
Measuring the Physical Characteristics of Two- and Three-Dimensional Evidence 331
Bitemarks 332
Digital Comparison of Bitemark Evidence 338
Dental Identification: The Uses of Digital Imaging 340
References 349
Index 350