williamorange1
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I think this is very important in term of determining who caused and when the needle bruises or puncture wounds happened : Murray most likely might blame the paramedics for them because it is very difficult to determine who caused what that day .
7. Antemortem and postmortem bruise-
It is at times advantageous to the defence to determine whether a bruise is antemortem or postmortem in origin. It is not unusual to find that the injury reports may have a mention of less number of bruises than that of the postmortem report of the same case particularly when the person dies after a transit from one place to another. It is difficult to account for this and sometimes the accompanying injuries which may be responsible for the death of the person may have been mentioned as" postmortem" in origin by the medical officer. In such cases the proof of the nature of bruises will of help to the defence to corelate the the defence theory. It is specially to be noted that the bruise which is produced by an injury or a fall immediately
after death, closely resembles the one that is produced during life. This fact is of great importance.
In antemortem bruise, there will be certain amount of swelling and it will show colour changes if the person survives for sometime after recieving the injury. These signs are absent in case of bruise produced after death, though discolouration may be seen.
Additional information of value for the defence:-
The defence lawyers should also make use of the following:-
1. The dates given in respect of the colour changes and the determination of the age of a bruise,is mostly derived
2. A bruise is likely to be disfigured by putrefication.
3. It is extremely difficult to distinguish between an antemortem bruise and a bruise that is produced immediately
after death.Sir Robert Christison has proved by experiments that it was difficult to distinguish between an antemortem bruise
and a bruise that is produced within 3-4 hours after death using great force (Modi).
4. Postmortem staining resembles a bruise and a medical officer may make a mistake in identifying a bruise from a patch of postmortem staining at postmortem examination. The postmortem staining is found on the dependent parts of the body on
the position in which the body was lying after death. It does not show colour changes as are found in case of a bruise.
5. Prinston and Goddon of South Africa have drawn attention to the fact that an artefact which simulates a bruise in tissues on the neck can be produced when removing the part at autopsy and this can certainly occur from the ruprture of the Pharyngo-oesophageal plexus (Gradwhol Page 279).
6. A bruise may not appear at the site of injury but appear at a place remote from the place of injury due to gravity shifting of the extravasated blood (Gradwhol-page 278). Taylor's Medical Jurisprudence also mentions "Bruises are spreading and moving things".
7. In the presence of good muscle tone, as in boxers and trained atheletes, bruising is undoubtedly reduced in severity (Camps and Purchase - page 353).