MEDICO-LEGAL

Aspects of Identifiction

Reported by:

Marianelyn G. Garcia
Identification is the determination of the
individuality of a person or thing.

Importance of Identification of Person

1. In the prosecution of the criminal offense,
the identity of the offender and that of
the victim must be established,
otherwise it will be a ground for the
dismissal of the charge or acquittal of the
accused.
2. The identification of a person missing or
presumed dead will facilitate settlement of the
estate, retirement, insurance and other social
benefits.

3. Identification resolves the anxiety of the next-

of-kin, other relatives and friends as to the
whereabouts of a missing person or victim of
calamity or criminal act.

4. Identification may be needed in some

transactions.
Rules in Personal Identification:

1.Law of Multiplicity of Evidence in Identification -

The greater the number of points of similarities and
dissimilarities of two persons compared, the greater is the
probability for the conclusion to be correct.

2.The value of the different points of identification varies in the

formulation of conclusion.

3.The longer the interval between the death and the

examination of the remains for purposes of identification,
the greater is the need for experts in establishing identity.
Rules in Personal Identification:

4.Inasmuch as the object to be identified is highly

perishable, it is necessary for the team to act in the
shortest possible time specially in cases of mass disaster.

5.There is no rigid rule to be observed in the procedure of

identification of persons.
Methods of Identification:
1.By comparison

2.By exclusion

The bases of human identification may be classified as:

1.Those which laymen used to prove identity

2.Those which are based on scientific knowledge

ORDINARY METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION

Points of Identification Applicable to the Living Person Only:

1.Characteristics which may easily be changed:

a. Growth of hair, beard or mustache
b. Clothing
c. Frequent place of visit
d. Grade of Profession
e. Body Ornamentations
ORDINARY METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION

Points of Identification Applicable to the Living Person Only:

2.Characteristics that may not easily be changed:

a. Mental Memory
b. Speech
c. Gait — A person, on account of disease or some
inborn traits, may show a characteristic manner of
walking.
ORDINARY METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION

Gait — A person, on account of disease or some inborn

traits, may show a characteristic manner of walking.
(1) Ataxic gait
(2) Cerebellar gait
(3) Cow's gait
(4) Paretic gait
(5) Spastic gait
(6) Festinating gait
(7) Frog gait
(8) Waddling gait
ORDINARY METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION

Gait Patterns:
A scientific investigation of the gait pattern may be
useful for purposes of identification and investigation of the
crime scene.
Gait pattern is the
series of foot marks by
a person walking or
running. Examination of
the gait includes the
direction line, gait line,
foot angle, principal
angle and the length
and breadth of the
steps.
ORDINARY METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION

d. Mannerism — Stereotype movement or habit peculiar to

an individual. It may be:
– (1) Way of sitting.
– (2) Movement of the hand.
– (3) Movement of the body.
– (4) Movement of the facial muscles.
– (5) Expression of the mouth while articulating.
– (6) Manner of leaning.
ORDINARY METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION

e. Hands and feet — Size, shape and abnormalities of the

hands and feet may be the bases of identification.
Foot or hand marks found in the investigation of the crime scene
may be: (1) Foot or hand impression
(2) Footprint or handprint.

f. Complexion — Complexion can be determined when the

whole body is exposed preferably to ordinary sunlight.

g. Changes in the eyes — A person identified because he is

earsighted, far-sighted, color blind, astigmatic, or crosseyed.
ORDINARY METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION
h. Facies — There are different kinds of facial expressions
brought about by disease or racial influence.
(1) Hippocratic facies (2) Mongolian facies
ORDINARY METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION
h. Facies — There are different kinds of facial expressions
brought about by disease or racial influence.

(3) Facies Leonine (4) Myxedemic facies Triangular Faces

ORDINARY METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION

i. Left or right-handedness

j. Degree of nutrition — The determination must be in

relation to the height and age. A person may be thin,
normal or stout.
Points of Identification Applicable to Both Living
and Dead before onset of Decomposition:
1) Occupational Marks
2) Race (color of the skin, feature of the face, shape of the
skull, wearing apparel)
3) Stature
4) Tattoo marks
5) Weight
6) Deformities
7) Birth Marks
8) Moles
Points of Identification Applicable to Both Living
and Dead before onset of Decomposition:
10)Scars
Characteristics of the scar may show the cause of the previous
lesion:
a. Surgical operation
b. Burns and scald
c. Gunshot
d. Tuberculosis sinus
Points of Identification Applicable to Both Living
and Dead before onset of Decomposition:
10)Scars
e. Flogging f. Gumma g. Lupus

h. Venesection
i. Wet cupping
Points of Identification Applicable to Both Living
and Dead before onset of Decomposition:

11. Tribal Marks

12.Sexual Organ

13.Blood Examination
ANTHROPOMETRY (Bertillon System)
Alphonse Bertillon, a French criminologist, devised a scheme
utilizing anthropometrical measurement of the human body as the basis
of identification.
Basis of the Bertillon System of Identification:
1. The human skeleton is unchangeable after the twentieth year.
2. It is impossible to find two human beings having bones exactly like.
3. The necessary measurement can easily be taken with the aid of a simple
instrument.
ANTHROPOMETRY (Bertillon System)
Information Included in the System:
1.Descriptive data
2.Body marks
3.Anthropometical measurements:
a. Body measurements
b. Measurement of the head
PORTRAIT PARLE - (spoken picture) is a verbal, accurate and
pictures-que description of the person identified.
If available, the investigator may look at what is commonly called
rougue's galary or photographic files of wanted or missing persons
for comparison with the cartographic sketch.
EXTRINSIC FACTORS IN
IDENTIFICATION
1.Ornamentations
2.Personal belongings
3.Wearing apparel
4.Foreign bodies
5.Identification by close friends and relatives
6.Identification records on file at the police
department, immigration bureau, hospitals, etc.
7.Identification photograph
LIGHT AS A FACTOR IN
IDENTIFICATION
Clearest moonlight or starlight: Experiments have shown that the best
known person cannot be recognized by the clearest moonlight at a
distance greater than 16 to 17 yards and by starlight any further than 10
to 13 yards.
a. Broad daylight b. Flash of firearm:
(1) Usually the assailant is hidden.
(2) The assault is unexpected and the attention of the person or
witness is at its minimum.
c. The flash of lighting produces sufficient light for the identification
of an individual provided that the person's eye is focused towards the
individual he wishes to identify during the flash.
d. In case of artificial light, the identity is relative to the kind and
intensity of the light. Experiments may be made for every particular
artificial light concerned.
SCIENTIFIC METHODS OF
IDENTIFICATION
Aspects of Identification Requiring Scientific Knowledge:
• Fingerprinting
• Dental Identification
• Handwriting
• Identification of Skeleton
• Determination of Sex
• Determination of Age
• Identification of Blood and Blood Stains
• Identification of Hair and Fibers
A.FINGERPRINTING
Fingerprinting is considered to be the most valuable
method of identification. It is universally used because:
1. There are no two identical fingerprints.
2. Fingerprints are not changeable.

Practical Uses of Fingerprints:

1.Help establish identity in cases of dead bodies and unknown or
missing persons.
2.Prints recovered from the crime scene associate person or weapon.
3.Prints on file are useful for comparative purposes and for the
knowledge of previous criminal records.
SCIENTIFIC METHODS OF
IDENTIFICATION
Dactylography is the art and study of recording fingerprints
as a means of identification.
Poroscopy is the study of the pores found on the pappillary
or friction ridges of the skin for purposes of identification.
Advantages of Using Fingerprinting as a Means of
Identification:
1.Not much training is necessary for a person to take, classify and
compare fingerprints.
2.No expensive instrument is required in the operation.
3.The fingerprint itself is easy to classify.
4.Actual prints for comparative purposes are always available and
suspected errors can easily be checked
Methods of Producing Impressions:
1.Plain method
2.Rolled method

Kinds of Impressions:
1. Real impression
2. Chance impression
a. Visible print
b. Plastic print
c. Latent print
Types of Fingerprint Patterns:
Poroscopy (Locard's method of identification): as a means of identification,
is applied when only a part of the fingerprint is available for proper means
of identification.
• Can fingerprints be effaced?
As long as the dermis of the bulbs of the finger is not completely destroyed,
the fingerprints will always remain unchanged and indestructible.
• Can fingerprints be forged?
There is no case on record known or have been written that forgery of
fingerprints has been a complete success.
B. Dental Identification
Importance:
1.The possibility of two persons to have the same dentition is quite
remote.
2.The enamel of the teeth is the hardest substance of the human body.
3.After death, the greater the degree of tissue destruction, the greater is
the importance of dental characteristics as a means of identification.
4.The more recent the ante-mortem records of the person to be
identified, the more reliable is the comparative or exclusionary mode of
identification that can be done.
In order to make an accurate dental record available for
purposes of comparison with that of the person to be identified,
Presidential Decree No. 1575 was promulgated, requiring practitioners of
dentistry to keep records of their patients.
C. Handwriting
Sec. 23, Rule 132, Rules of Court - The handwriting of a person may
be proved by any witness who believes it to be the handwriting of such
person, and has seen the person write, or has seen writing purporting to
be his upon which the witness has acted or been charged, and has thus
acquired knowledge of the handwriting of such person.
The genuiness of any disputed writing may be proven by any of the
following ways:
1.Acknowledgement of the alleged writer that he wrote it; Statement of
witness who saw the writing made and is able to identify it as such; By
the opinion of persons who are familiar with the handwriting of the
alleged writer, or
2.By the opinion of an expert who compares the questioned writing with
that of other writings which are admitted or treated to be genuine by the
party against whom the evidence is offered.
C. Handwriting
Sec. 44, Rule 130, Rules of Court — Opinion of ordinary witnesses:
• The opinion of a witness regarding the identity of handwriting of a
person, when he has knowledge of the person or handwriting; the
opinion of a subscribing witness to a writing; the validity of which is in
dispute, respecting the mental sanity of the signer; and the opinion of
an intimate acquaintance respecting the mental sanity of a person,
the reason for the opinion being given, may be received as evidence.
• In order for an ordinary witness to be qualified to express his opinion,
it must be shown that he has some familiarity with the handwriting of
the person in a way recognized by law.
C. Handwriting
Some Practical Uses of Handwriting Examination:
1.Financial crimes (bogus checks, credit card fraud, embezzlement).
2.Death investigation (suicide notes, hotel registration cards)
3.Robberies (pawnshop notes, cashing of stolen checks)
4.Kidnapping with ransom (demand note, threatening letter).
5.Anonymous threatening letters.
6.Falsification of documents (deeds of conveyance, receipts).
A Bibliotics is the science of handwriting analysis. It is the
study of documents and writing materials to determine its genuineness
or authorship.
A Graphology is the study of handwriting for the purpose of
determining the writer's personality, character and aptitude.
C. Handwriting
Classification of Signature Forgery:
• a. Traced forgery —
• b. Simulated forgery
• c. Spurious forgery

• The principle of identification of handwriting is also applicable to

handprinting and handnumbering.
C. Handwriting
Instruments Necessary in Questioned Document Examination:
1.Photographic instruments
2.Magnifying lens and stereoscopic binocular microscope
3.Ultraviolet lamp and infra-red radiaton
4.Measuring caliper,
5.Good lighting facilities.

Purpose of Handwriting Examination:

1.Whether the document was written by the suspect.
2.Whether the document was written by the person whose signature it
bears.
3.Whether the writing contains additions or deletions.
4.Whether the document such as bills, receipts, suicide notes or checks
are genuine or a forgery.