Introduction

Death is a normal passage rite for every human being on earth. Death can come in different ways; it could be from natural causes, suicide, murder or murder-suicide (Hanzlick, 2016). Regardless of the method, death has several implications that can either be civil, criminal or public health-related. The coroner, nonetheless, has the final say to determine whether a person is dead or alive. Despite the emphasis on proper documentation of death, numerous limitations associated with personnel that handles the corpse, procedures of death investigations and accounts of survivors and witnesses discredit the credibility of ‘death’ -entirely or partially-. There is a need to determine the importance of death investigation from various entities to comprehend the relevance of death documentation for filing purposes.

Defining ‘Death’

The term ‘death’ has always been a gray area when it comes to defining it from different people. According to the Oxford Dictionary, death is defined as ‘the action or the fact of dying or being killed which ends the life of a person.’ (Hanzlick, 2016). But, the definition can be varied when linked to entities of the religious, spiritual, child-based, adult-based and legal orientation of description. For example, the innocence of a child can define a person who is dead as not moving while, religious and spiritual entities as well as adults, determine death as being lifeless and not heart movement.

The most significant flaw of the American federal law is imposing power on the coroner to determine who is ‘dead’ or still alive. The repercussions are that there is a limited investigation of how the person died, or why the person died(Hanzlick, 2016). The pronouncement of death, therefore, entirely depends on the coroner who is authorized to pass on the certification of death to the bereaved. The problem with this is that sometimes the process of determining the death is not considered or given much attention. The necessity to investigate the death of a person can bring relief and solemn to those involved(Hanzlick, 2016). As such, a lot of attention on the phases and stages of death and sings of death should be given priority. It entails the emphasis of processes, procedures, tasks, and actions needed in securing the ‘crime’ scene to present a holistic environment for thorough investigation.

Death Investigation

In 2015, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were exonerated for the murder of their roommate, Meredith Kercher. According to the defense team, the forensic evidence collected included dozens of DNA evidence collected from the crime scene. It included the two defendants and the police officers involved in securing the scene (Forensics Colleges, 2018). For example, the defense team indicated that the police officers did not adorn in caps and did not change gloves when they collected evidence which permitted for cross-contamination(Forensics Colleges, 2018). As a result, the murder of Meredith Kercher went unpunished due to negligence by the law enforcers.

According to the Federal Law, a person who detects or is suspicious of any death, including police officers should notify the coroner immediately and quarantine the area (Wangmo et al., 2014). However, several cases over the years have presented negligence and integrity issues when it comes to securing a crime scene. As a result, this affects the results and documentation of the death scene(Hanzlick, 2016). The emphasis, consequently, is placed on death scene management. This encompasses custody deaths, natural deaths, and murder or suicides. There are several tasks and processes involved in handling a death scene. These include:

1. Preservation of the death scene:

• As soon as the death is discovered, the access to the body and the surrounding area should be restricted. The reason is that the coroner or medical examiner should be the only person who assesses the authority to limit crime scene contamination. About O. J. Simpson case, implications of the crime scene investigation indicate that three detectives contaminated the crime scene with their footprints alongside the house(Forensics Colleges, 2018). This stressed the court in determining the actual evidence and ruling of the court case. As a result, O. J. Simpson was found innocent for the murder of his wife, Nicole Simpson. As such, there is a need to preserve the crime scene to avoid such issues(Forensics Colleges, 2018).
• Any interference of the crime scene should be promptly indicated and investigated. This includes the presentation of DNA and footprint and fingerprint samples of those who contaminated the crime scene to eliminate them.

1. Investigation of Death Scene

• The death scene should always be treated as a crime site regardless of the cause or manner of death until the study of the scene is concluded. The reason is that a qualified medical examiner should confirm the end and check for evidence. Borrowing from the Jahi McMath case, the young 12-year-old girl was to undergo a routine tonsillectomy- removal of the tonsil but, this went gravely wrong and went into cardiac arrest and died. The medical officers including the medical examiner indicated that the girl was brain dead and in medical terms, this was considered legally dead.
• However, issues of what determines what is death arose. From a religious perspective, the Jahi McMath case extrapolated from the religious background and considered Jahi to be alive despite her being declared brain dead(Forensics Colleges, 2018). According to State law, death is defined as ‘the full occurrence of human death based on medical practice provided that the death occurred based on: respiration and circulation are not artificially maintained and is irreversible, and there is total and irreversible brain function.’
• From a legal perspective, death is only defined as being the ‘irreversible cessation of all vital function including brain activity.’ The latter supersedes any definition of death and remains the last resort for determining what is ‘death.’ As such, it relies on the coroner and in exceptional circumstances, the medical practitioners to indicate whether a person is dead or alive (Uniform Determination of Death At, 1980)(Hanzlick, 2016).

1. Crime scene Preservation

• For custodial and murder or suicide cases, preservation of the crime scene is necessary. The reason is to ensure that there is thorough documentation of the crime scene, body and any other evidence(Wangmo et al., 2014). In most cases, there is a ‘chain of custody’ to be maintained where a record, signed by the investigator including the date and time of the handling of each item of evidence is filed.
• Time of death can help verify statements and provide supportive evidence. This is crucial for the post-mortem lividity and rigidity and concludes what the cause of death was including body core and body temperatures. Bobbi Kristina Brown, the late daughter to the late Whitney Houston, was found ‘dead’ in her bathtub- her face found face-down and unresponsive. According to initial evidence and post-mortem report, Bobbi Brown was induced with a toxic cocktail after a violent altercation. On one end, Bobbi’s murder case was never seen as one because, she was in a vegetative state under hospice care when she passed on(Forensics Colleges, 2018). Further investigation, indicated that Gordon who intoxicated she caused her death.
• This case highlights that the time of death could be varied and this should include the time of suspected death. This plays a critical role in the building of a case and strengthening the defense. Evidence encompasses the staff that handled the deceased and any other person before her death and during her death.

1. Management of Body

• Proper control of the body is a critical part of an investigation. The process helps with collecting examinations of the death scene. The procedure indicates that the body should be treated with respect, should be identified before the medical examiner comes as well as the preservation of the body. However, incidences can limit the procedures and this can contaminant or implicate a person(Hanzlick, 2016). According to the Bobbi Kristina Brown, it was necessary to identify whether she was dead or alive. The need for this eventually indicated that she was still breathing and this required immediate medical response. From this analysis, it is clear that there is a need to examine whether the person is dead or alive to preempt to call the police or 911.

Conclusion

Death investigation, according to the present paper, has indicated variated assumption and facts when it comes to dead body handling and medical examiner’s confirmation of death. Cases of Bobbi Brown, Jahi McMath, and Meredith have confirmed that stereotypic procedures and handling of death investigations can either go right or wrong. However, this can have serious implications especially for those handling criminal investigations as this can lead to case dismissal. Inherently, the paper has presented critical views of how case analysis can aid in understanding how death analysis is prevalent in determining whether a person is dead (medically and legally) or not.

References

Hanzlick, R. (2016). Death investigation: systems and procedures. CRC Press.

Wangmo, T., Ruiz, G., Sinclair, J., Mangin, P., &Elger, B. S. (2014). The investigation of deaths in custody: a qualitative analysis of problems and prospects. Journal of forensic and legal medicine, 25, 30-37

Forensics Colleges. (2018). Fraud In Forensics: Five Cases Of Abuse And Evidence Mishandling. Retrieved from https://www.forensicscolleges.com/blog/resources/real-cases-of-forensic-fraud-flawed-evidence

 
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