I did this series a few years ago and I think it’s time to do a little refresher. For the next few months I’ll post “5 things criminal attorneys should know about …” and highlight some areas of medicine that often cross into the criminal fields. This is not meant to be an in-depth review, but rather just bullet pointed facts. If you have any subject requests let me know!
For this month we’re going to highlight Gunshot wounds
- Most MD’s get entrance/exit wrong about 50% of the time, per research – don’t go off of medical charts. Most doctors still go off of size of the wound, which is inaccurate.
- Soot indicates the gun was fired within 0-6 inches; Tattooing indicates a range of less than 48”
- Black Powder burns do not occur from modern day guns
- Size of the exit wound is determined by the transfer of energy (could be bigger from passing through bone); the bullet’s form after any damage or separation; and swelling of the underlying tissue.
- Penetrating= bullet entered but did not exit; perforating= bullet entered and exited.
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