Citation

Kremer C, Sauvageau A. J. Forensic Sci. 2009; 54(4): 923-926.

Affiliation

Laboratoire de sciences judiciaires et de medecine legale, Edifice Wilfrid-Derome, 1701, rue Parthenais, 12 etage, Montreal, QC H2K 3S7, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1556-4029.2009.01072.x

PMID

19486249

Abstract

The discrimination of falls from homicidal blows in blunt head injuries is a common but difficult problem in both forensic anthropology and pathology. Three criteria have been previously proposed for this distinction: the hat brim line rule, side lateralization of fractures, and number of lacerations. The aim of the present study was to achieve a better distinction rate by combining those criteria and assess the predictability of these combined criteria tools. Over a 6-year period, a total of 114 cases (92 males and 22 females) were studied: 21 cases of downstairs falls, 29 cases of falls from one's own height, and 64 cases of head trauma by a blunt weapon. The results revealed predictability rates varying from 62.5 to 83.3% for criteria pointing towards a fall. As for combined criteria in favor of a blow, the assumption was accurate in all cases (100%).

Language: en