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5 SCENE OF DISCOVERY OF THE BODY
5.1 Standard
The pathologist will in liaison with Procurator Fiscal, the SIO, the CSM and other experts present:
a) agree the plan for examination of the scene
b) enter the scene only by the agreed route of access, using the protective clothing agreed as appropriate to the circumstances of the case
c) determine whether any special techniques or procedures may be needed during the examination of the scene and body
d) determine, in consultation with the CSM and forensic scientist (if present), what specimen recovery will take place at the scene and, in due course, take (or supervise the taking of) such samples
e) ensure that all production labels necessary to ensure the chain of custody of samples removed for evidential purposes are signed at the time
f) ensure the protection of any trace evidence that is not to be collected prior to removal of the body from the scene
g) advise on the route of removal of the body from the scene and, if necessary, supervise the removal of the body by the funeral director or other appropriate person
h) bring to the attention of the CSM, and be prepared to give advice upon, any health and safety issue (where this lies within the pathologist's area of expertise)
i) where appropriate record all medical data that assists in attempts to determine the time of the death
j) ensure that if it is necessary to manipulate the body during the examination, such manipulation is adequately recorded.
Pathologists must record full details of the scene and the body, and must document both their own actions and those of others that may be significant to the pathologist's examination.
5.2 Code of practice
5.2.1 Scene management
With advances in resuscitation, bodies are often immediately and quite properly removed from the scene of discovery and transferred to a local hospital. When a body is still in situ, however, careful consideration must be given to the need for the forensic pathologist to attend the scene. Even when a body has been removed, examination of the scene may provide useful evidence, even though the autopsy may already have been carried out.
The police 'murder manual' documentation on homicide investigation instructs that the pathologist should be informed without delay in cases of sudden or suspicious death. On receiving notification of a suspicious death, the pathologist should develop a plan for scene management, in consultation with the Procurator Fiscal, the SIO and/or the CSM. This will often but not invariably involve the attendance at the scene by the forensic pathologist. It is recognised that with advances in forensic scientific examination at scenes, there may be competing aspects of scene examination. Nevertheless, forensic pathologists still have a potential role in the management of most scenes, even where they do not actually attend. When a scene has not been attended, photographs, video recordings and other imaging techniques should be made available in the subsequent briefing of the forensic pathologist.
5.2.2 Action at the scene
Prior to or on arrival at the scene, the pathologist should be briefed by the Procurator Fiscal, the SIO or a senior deputy, ideally with other appropriate experts present. Pathologists should record the facts given to them at this briefing. Reference should be made to the notes on 'The briefing' given in section 4.
The scene will be under the control of the crime scene manager and the pathologist's approach to the body and the examination of other aspects of the scene should be undertaken only after consultation with this officer and other scenes-of-crime experts who may be present. Such discussions must include routes of access to the scene and the prevention of contamination.
Where there has been no briefing before the scene visit, all of the issues described in section 4, 'The briefing', will need to be considered before entering the scene. Attendance at the scene itself may require reconsideration of decisions made at the briefing.
5.2.3 Importance of notes
Pathologists should always record their actions and observations at the scene.
5.2.4 Photography
The pathologist should advise that adequate photographs of the body are taken. If this has already happened, consideration should be given to the need for any additional photographs.
5.2.5 Position of the body
The position of the body and that of each of the limbs and of the head should be recorded, together with the relationship of the body to adjacent objects such as furniture and other articles. The state of the clothing should also be noted.
5.2.6 Assessment of the time of death
Except where the body has been exposed to fire or is decomposed or skeletal, recording of the ambient temperature and, if possible (given the position of the body), the deep temperature of the body should be considered. However, it is recognised that the latter is invasive and may interfere with the proper collection of other, potentially more important forensic evidence at the scene. The pathologist must be able to justify the lack of taking of a body temperature if the scene was attended.
The genitalia and anus should be examined and swabs taken before a thermometer or thermo-couple is introduced. If, for some reason, it is not practical to measure the body temperature at the scene, it may be recorded as soon as practicable upon arrival of the body at the mortuary. The degree, location and fixation of rigor mortis and hypostasis should be noted.
5.2.7 Other aspects of scene examination
Detailed examination of the scene of discovery of the body is usually undertaken by forensic scientists and Scene of Crime Officers ( SOCOs). However, the forensic pathologist may be required to inspect other aspects of the location and note any findings. This requirement is clearly a matter for discussion with the CSM, SIO and the Procurator Fiscal.
It may be appropriate for the pathologist and a forensic scientist to jointly examine the scene, including features such as the distribution and appearance of any bloodstains. Although the forensic scientist's report will contain detailed comment on such matters, it is the pathologist who should be directly responsible for giving an opinion upon the nature and possible cause of wounds that may be the source of the blood. The distribution of blood from any injuries may need to be taken into account by the pathologist in reconstructing the way in which injuries were likely to have been inflicted.
5.2.8 Involvement of other specialists
Occasionally, it may be appropriate to seek advice from other specialists, such as forensic entomologists or anthropologists. The pathologist should consider whether the circumstances of the incident indicate the need for other specialist advice and must make the SIO aware of that. The decision to instruct other specialist advice is for the Procurator Fiscal.
5.2.9 Prevention of contamination at the scene
Only the minimum number of personnel required for efficient and safe examination of the scene should enter that scene. Where it is likely that minute traces of evidence may be important, e.g. in the use of low copy number DNA, consideration should be given as to whether the forensic pathologist has a role at all in terms of actually entering the scene prior to the taking of samples for such trace evidence. Appropriate protective clothing, as determined by the CSM, should be worn. Changes of gloves may be necessary during the investigation, particularly if productions are taken during the examination.
5.2.10 Taking of specimens at the scene
It is essential that no specimens be taken from the body until there has been consultation between the pathologist and the CSM. SOCOs and forensic scientists, if present, may also need to be consulted. Where the taking of certain samples is not considered necessary, these should be omitted only after discussion with the above parties and confirmed by the SIO and the Procurator Fiscal.
Tapings will often be taken from exposed surfaces of the body and possibly from the clothing, this normally being done by forensic scientists. If, for some reason, no tapings have been taken at the scene, consideration should be given to them being taken in the mortuary when the body is first unwrapped.
On occasions, it may be advisable to remove some or all of the clothing at the scene, again in consultation with the CSM and scientists. The reasons for the removal of the clothing should be recorded in that part of the report dealing with the examination of the deceased at the scene.
All specimens should be taken using appropriate equipment. If clothing is to be cut, sterile instruments should be used.
When deciding what material will be relevant in any particular case, discussion with the Procurator Fiscal, the forensic scientist(s), SOCO and CSM should decide what is appropriate and where and by whom the samples should be taken. The taking of samples from the following areas should be considered:
a) tapings from exposed body surfaces and uppermost surfaces of clothing (where that clothing is such that it is considered likely that trace evidence will be shed on manipulation). If clothing is not to be cut away, the manipulation of the body required to remove clothing may dislodge or contaminate trace evidence
b) combings of head hair, beard and moustache hair and pubic hair
c) plucked hairs from the above sites, each sample being representative of the range of hairs present at those sites
d) where objective evidence of chronic drug use is relevant to the case, a pencil thickness of head hair, plucked from the occipital scalp
e) a swab or swabs from the mouth and teeth
f) tapings from the hands where any foreign material is recognised; tapings must be taken before fingernail scrapings or cuttings
g) scrapings from underneath the fingernails of each hand, or fingernail cuttings or nail swabs. Sampling from hair and hands where the death may be related to firearms or explosives must be made using only a 'Gunshot residues and explosives sampling kit' approved by the relevant forensic science laboratory
h) swabs from any moist areas on the body surface where the possibility exists that such moist stains have arisen from a person other than the body. Where there is a possibility of sex-related crime, swabs will be taken from those areas considered most likely to be productive of semen or saliva (face, neck, nipples, and hands)
i) a swab or swabs from the perianal skin, taken before a swab or swabs from the anus
j) a swab or swabs from vulva and high and low vagina, taking care to avoid contamination of the latter from the initial swabbing of the former. These swabs must be taken after swabbing of the perianal skin and anus (to avoid leakage during the course of the vulval swabbing)
k) a swab or swabs of injuries that may have resulted from contact with another individual where the skin from that individual may have been shed, e.g. swabbing of the skin of the neck in postulated manual strangulation.
In each instance, appropriate control swabs must be taken. Multiple swabs from a single area must be numbered in the order of their taking.
5.2.11 Removal of the body
When a scene has been assessed, the pathologist will often supervise the packaging and subsequent removal of the body. If trace evidence has not been collected at the scene, the hands may be placed in bags before the body is removed. If the head is to be similarly placed in a bag, it must be remembered that any open head wound is likely to shed blood into the bag during transit. This may obscure details such as the direction of dried bloodstains and render difficult the collection of trace evidence. It is often advisable to examine the head for such material at the scene.
On arrival at the autopsy room, the body should remain undisturbed, still in its wrapping or body bag, until the pathologist arrives to undertake the examination, unless any different action has previously been agreed with the Procurator Fiscal and SIO or designate for some specific purpose.
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