Wounds, Burns & Bruising - What can a Forensic Medical Examiner do?
What is an FME?
An FME is a forensic medical examiner, and they are primarily concerned with injuries and their causes. Formally known as Police surgeons, FME’s are utilised in a wide range of cases. From common assault through to murder and sexual assaults, the expertise of FME’s can be used to ascertain the force and method that have caused injuries, which can then be used to prove or disprove the narrative that has been provided by the defendant or victim.
What can an FME address?
Stabbings, bruises, burns - how they were caused? what level of force was required? What level of pain it would inflict? Are the wounds defensive or offensive in nature? These are all questions that can be addressed by a forensic medical examiner, and are commonly used in cases that include:
· Murder
· Serious assault
· Sexual assault
· Torture
Testing the narrative
Defendants and victims will have their own version of events that will need to be proved or disproved for the court process to reveal the truth of an incident. For example, how any wounds, bruises or burns occurred. An FME is able to investigate each narrative that has been put forward and ascertain if the nature of the wounds, and how they were caused, match up with the narratives put forward by all parties.
How do they do it?
Given that wounds heal over time, it is usually difficult for a forensic medical examiner to physically examine the wounds as they were at the time they were alleged to have happened. However, an FME is highly skilled, and they are able to use photographs that were taken by the police soon after the event. The skill set of a Forensic Medical Examiner enables them to use these photographs to ascertain how the wounds were caused and if that matches the narrative given by the parties involved.
Images of the wounds, whether they are lacerations, burns or bruising, along with images of the weapons used, are combined to test the narratives given by both defendant and victim. The images of the wounds are examined, and the FME can ascertain the force required to cause the wound, and also match the wound pattern to the object that caused it.
Investigating torture
The Istanbul protocol of 2004 established a manual on the effective Investigation and documentation of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. This is often used in immigration cases in which it is claimed that a person is a victim of torture in their home country. The forensic medical examiners at Clarity are fully versed in the Istanbul Protocol, and are able to identify suspected torture injuries and ascertain the age of the wounds, and how they were caused.
Case study 1 – Stabbing & Wounds.
In a case in which an adult male was allegedly stabbed to death by another adult male, it was the defendants case that he acted in self-defence. The victim had suffered from knife wounds that appeared to be inflicted using a serrated knife from the kitchen of the defendant, with the defendant claiming that they had occurred during a struggle.
However, with the assistance of an FME, instructed by Clarity, analysing the crime scene images taken by the Police forensics team, the prosecution was able to test the self-defence narrative of the defendant. The FME found that the wounds on the hands and arms of the victim were the result of the victim attempting to defend himself, while the superficial wounds on the defendant showed signs of a struggle, but they were not consistent with the defendants story. The lack of wounds caused by a serrated knife on the defendant pointed to the knife being in his possession during the struggle, and the FME was able to establish that the knife wounds on the victim showed tell-tale signs that were caused by a forceful and deliberate stabbing motion from a serrated knife.
Through the analysis of the forensic medical examiner, the defendants narrative was tested and shown to be false through images that showed the wounds were caused in a way, and with a level of force, that did not match with the narrative given.
Case study 2 – Beating & Bruising Patterns
An example is a case in which a drug addict was accused of beating another drug addict to the point that the victim died of the wounds that were inflicted. There was a witness that claimed the defendant had caused the death by beating. However, the defendant claimed that he barely touched him, and the wounds were caused by the victim falling down a flight of stairs.
There were bruising patterns on the victim that told the story of what had happened prior to his death. A Forensic Medical Examiner was instructed to analyse the bruising patterns to ascertain whether they could have been caused by a fall down the stairs, or were there other causes that were more plausible?
In this case, the forensic medical examiner was able to analyse the bruising and ascertain the force required to cause the bruising was not consistent with the level and positioning of bruising that would be caused by a fall down the stairs. Instead, the forensic medical examiner was able to ascertain that the bruising would have been caused by multiple blows, most likely by a shoed foot similar in size to the shoes worn by the defendant at the time. This indicated that the defendants story was false, and the bruising was consistent with the witness statement.
Case study 3 – Rape & Sexual Assault
Each alleged sexual assault case has a defendant and victim, each with their own narrative. If indeed, a sexual encounter took place, a common defence is that the encounter was consensual. However, there are tell-tale signs that can be seen by a forensic medical examiner.
The starting point of an investigation by a forensic medical examiner is to examine the coloscopy disc that will be held at the hospital in which the alleged victim was given their examination. The Forensic medical examiners at Clarity Expert Services will be able to travel to any hospital in the UK to view the coloscopy disc.
The next step is to analyse the alleged victims statement of what happened and compare it to the analysis of any sexual wounds, bruising patterns, or marks of a struggle. If there are any marks of a struggle, the forensic medical examiner will be able to comment on how the marks were made, and also the force required to make them.
This analysis will be essential in any sexual assault case, as the level of force required to cause these marks will indicate if the defendants claim of consensual sex is plausible.
Benefits of working with Clarity
The benefits to the case are that that all FME’s at Clarity are court ready and have extensive experience in delivering their reports in a hostile court setting, while under intense scrutiny by the opposing barrister, and with the expert at all times being impartial, unbiased, and totally independent from outside interference allowing for a full and balanced report based solely on the facts.
At Clarity, our team has the expertise to match your need with the appropriate skill set, all at legal aid rates, and with nationwide coverage. Our extensive database includes all aspects of forensic medicine that can be accessed nationwide. If you have any questions about the type of FME you need, contact the team at Clarity and they will take you through the process and ensure get you the right Forensic Medical Examiner for your case.