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The Role of Forensic Dentistry for Identification of a Criminal Sexual Assault: A Casework Report
Cristiana Palmela Pereira1,3,4* and Jorge Costa Santos2,31Auxiliary Professor from Faculty from University of Lisbon, Scientific Consultant of Forensic Dentistry, South Branch of Portuguese National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, PhD in Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Portugal
2Auxiliary Professor from Medical Faculty from University of Lisbon, Director of the Forensic Pathology and Forensic Clinical Departments from the South Branch at the ortuguese National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, PhD in Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Portugal
3Investigators from CENCIFOR, Centre of Forensic Studies, Portugal
4Integrate Research from the Research Centre of Statistics and Applications of the University of Lisbon (CEAUL) Portugal
- *Corresponding Author:
- Cristiana Palmela Pereira
Auxiliary Professor from Faculty from University of Lisbon, Portugal
Tel: 351217967624
E-mail: cristiana.pereira@fmd.ul.pt.
Received Date: November 07, 2014; Accepted Date: December 30, 2014; Published Date: January 10, 2015
Citation: Pereira CP, Santos JC (2015) The Role of Forensic Dentistry for Identification of a Criminal Sexual Assault: A Casework Report. J Civil Legal Sci 4:138. doi:10.4172/2169-0170.1000138
Copyright: © 2015 Pereira CP, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
The identification of an individual from dental traces collected at the crime scene is one of the objectives of the criminal investigation. When, at the crime scene, objects are found with tooth marks, the intervention of Forensic Dentistry may represent the only way to obtain positive identification of the author’s bite mark. The forensic analysis of a bite mark consists of detection, recognition, description and comparison of bite marks on either individuals or inanimate objects. In this medico-legal casework, a sexual assault, the victim of the crime presented to the forensic examination had a mark on her left arm consistent with a bite mark, probably from the aggressor during the crime perpetration. The protocol followed in this medico-legal casework study is a scientific analysis of the facts which when presented in the court will be defendable under ruthless cross-examination. The pattern association of dental features in this sexual abuse case demonstrated a degree of concordance present between the tooth marks in the victim’s body and the suspect´s dentition.
