FORENSIC LAW NOTES To be included within History of Fingerprints William Herschel 1833 Chief Magistrate of the Hooghly District in Jungipoor India first used fingerprints on native contracts Bruising is also known as Contusion Asphyxiation deprivation of oxygen that can result in unconsciousness and often death GSR GUN SHOT RESIDUE Gunshot residue GSR also referred to as Cartridge case Discharge Residue CDR or Firearm Discharge Residue FDR These are unburnt or partially burnt particles gases non volatile substances coming from primer propellant bullet and firearm These are visible and invisible depending on various factors Their location testing and identification play a very important part in the investigative trials while absence of GSR can also give significant information I Areas of GSR Deposition GSR may be looked for i ii iii iv v On the hands mainly present on thumb trigger finger and web of hand On the clothes of the victim if the human being is the target Intermediate targets may also have GSR depositions Inside of cartridge cases and barrel may have GSR In addition outside surface of barrel can also be examined for GSR Fired projectiles may also be examined for gunshot residue The presence of GSR at the expected region of hands arms face and clothes of the suspect also helps to ascertain whether he or she had actually fired the projectile or not The firing of a weapon not only propels residue towards the target but also blows gun powder and primer residue towards the shooter Deposits of GSR are found on the web region of the hand II Classification of GSR Depending upon the distance from which the propellant on the firearm is triggered GSR Patterns can be classified into two types They are Production of GSR in Distant Range i In the case of distant range firing there will be no GSR like blackening scorching and tabooing as well as metallic chips around the hole of entrance All of them will not appear and remain absent However during the passage of a bullet through the rifled barrel and through a defective roughened or country made weapons also termed improvised weapons small fragments of metal are cut and propelled in the direction in which projectiles are ejected In view of the fact that these particles are heavier than the powder grains they travel longer distance beyond the maximum distance to which powder grains are ejected Similarly some grey color or tiny metallic particles which had been cut during their travelling through roughened bores or rifled weapons may appear on the edges of entry holes which would be circular in case of normal shot and oval in case of angular shot The trace element analysis will reveal the true position Lubricants dirt dust and metal shavings lead to the formation of ring of dust ii Production of GSR in Close Range While a weapon is fired and the muzzle end tip of the gun through which the bullet escapes when fired is expected to touch the target it is termed contact range When the contact is tight and pressing the surface of a target uniformly and close the skin surrounding the perforation is not blackened with embedded powder grains as in a case of close range shot indicating absence of GSR Occasionally some burned and unburned powder grains may get deposited on the skin in and around the margins of entrance wound The imprint of the muzzle end may be evident around the entrance wound in case of pressed shots but no appearance of GSR The tissue around the bullet track will appear as a bright red colour due to its reaction with carbon monoxide which is a product of combustion GSR INQUEST AND TYPES OF INQUEST In Forensic Law Inquest refers to the Legal Inquiry or Investigation to ascertain the circumstances and cause of death Inquests are conducted in case of sudden suspicious and unnatural deaths Criminal Profiling Criminal profiling involves making inferences about the physical habitual emotional psychological and even vocational characteristics of criminals However there are many different methods of criminal profiling and all vary with respect to the soundness of underlying theory logic and insight Inquests conducted in India Police inquest Section 174 of Cr PC is the most commonly conducted inquest in India Magistrate inquest Section 176 of Cr PC Executive magistrate inquest Judicial magistrate inquest Police inquest Conducted by police person in accordance with Section 174 of Cr PC Officer in charge of a police station on receiving information about a nonnatural death or any death with suspicion of foul play shall imme diately give intimation to the nearest executive magistrate empowered to hold inquests and proceed to the death scene Such police person not below the rank of sub inspector SI investigating into a case is referred to as the investigating officer IO The IO conducts death investigations in the presence of two or more witnesses called as Panchas or Panchayatdars and prepares a detailed report called the Panchnama The IOs report Panchnama describes the general and specific observations of the scene weapons and wounds present on the body if any and the possible manner of death The Panchnama is signed by the IO and Panchas and forwarded to the District Magistrate or the Sub Divisional Magistrate If the enquiry confirms death from natural causes the dead body is handed over to the relatives of the deceased In cases of suspicion or confirmation of nonnat ural causes a detailed enquiry is conducted and a requisition is given to the doctor authorized for conducting postmortem examination Magistrate inquest Conducted as per Section 176 of Cr PC Inquiry by magistrate into cause of death As per Section 174 4 of Cr PC the following magistrates are empowered to hold inquests namely any District Magistrate or Sub Divisional Magistrate and any other exec utive magistrate especially empowered on this behalf by the state government or the District Magistrate Additional District Magistrates collectors subcollectors deputy commis sioners tahsildar etc are empowered to hold magistrate inquests in India Magistrate inquest is usually conducted by the executive magistrates those with admin istrative responsibilities and in certain circumstances by judicial magistrates or metropolitan magistrates those with judicial responsibilities Executive magistrates may also hold an inquiry into the cause of death either instead of or in addition to the investigation held by the police officer wherever required Judicial magistrate or metropolitan