Legal Medicine Review Questions 2009

Dr. Raquel Fortun

51. Objectives of a death investigation system, except:
A. determination of cause and manner of death
B. determination of fact of death
C. identification of the deceased
D. no exception
52. When investigating a death, the following is useful
A. witness accounts
B. past medical history
C. circumstances of the death
D. all of the above
53. Which of the following is mandated by law in most places, with consent unnecessary?
A. Hospital/clinical autopsy
B. Forensic/medico-legal autopsy
C. Both
D. Neither
54. Deaths which require further investigation include the following except
A. all vehicular accidents
B. all deaths of inmates, incarcerated or institutionalized individuals
C. all deaths within 24 hours of hospital stay
D. all deaths occurring in the work-place
55. Examination of a dead body at the scene includes the following except
A. fingerprinting
B. preliminary assessment of the wounds if any
C. observations regarding algor, rigor and livor mortis
D. documentation of the bodys position
56. Personal property found on or with a dead body
A. must be turned over to the police as evidence
B. must be described and inventoried
C. must be buried or cremated with the body
D. all of the above
57. An 85-year old male was found dead in bed one morning. Relatives said he was well although noted
to be getting less mobile, sleeping more and eating less because of old age. The cause of death is
A. Cardiorespiratory arrest
B. Old age as underlying cause
C. Senility as underlying cause
D. Unknown natural causes as underlying cause
58. If a surgeon testifies in court regarding some purely factual evidence regarding his surgical procedure
he/she is
A. a medical witness
B. an ordinary witness
C. an expert witness
D. a professional witness
59. A patient in the emergency room dies of injuries and the attending physician orders postmortem
care. Which of the following is acceptable?
A. undressing and washing the body
B. removal of tubes, IV lines
C. tying the jaw, wrists and ankles, and taping the lids
D. none of the above
60. A patient operated on for an elective procedure suffers from cardiorespiratory arrest intraoperatively
and does not recover. Investigation includes

A. a peer review of the surgical and anesthetic procedures

B. examination of the oxygen tank and tube, syringes and drug vials
C. a forensic autopsy
D. all of the above
61. Cause of death statements on the death certificate are most useful for
A. census purposes
B. public health studies
C. criminal investigation
D. settlement of insurance benefits
62. If despite a thorough, objective investigation a definite manner of death cannot be arrived at, the
death is classified as
A. unknown
B. undetermined
C. unresolved
D. unnatural
63. A criminalist
A. is a criminologist
B. is a crime investigator
C. studies criminals and their behavior
D. is a criminal profiler
64. Wet blood stains are best preserved by
A. freezing
B. drying
C. irradiating
D. all of the above
65. In packaging crime scene evidence, wet evidence should be
A. dried at the scene and packaged in plastic
B. dried at the scene and packaged in paper
C. dried at the lab and packaged in plastic
D. dried at the lab and packaged in paper
66. A screwdriver used to pick a lock is scratched and leaves pieces of metal behind. This is an example
of
A. pattern evidence
B. toolmark evidence
C. Locards Exchange Principle
D. All of the above
67. A special type of microscope that allows two separate objects to be viewed simultaneously in the
same ocular is known as
A. Compound microscope
B. Dissecting microscope
C. Comparison microscope
D. Scanning electron microscope
68. This type of microscope (No. 17 above) is used in the forensic analysis of
A. toolmarks
B. hair samples
C. fired cartridge casings
D. All of the above
69. When estimating postmortem interval, which of the following is least useful?
A. gastric contents
B. insect colonies
C. rectal temperature
D. postmortem hypostasis
70. Estimation of age can be done through

A. fingerprints
B. tattoos
C. dentition
D. DNA analysis
71. Individualization of a person can best be achieved by
A. fingerprinting
B. hair analysis
C. both A and B
D. none of the above
72. The measurement of physical features for individualization is known as
A. sociology
B. anthropology
C. profiling
D. bertillonage
73. When charred bone fragments were subjected to DNA analysis the lab report indicated that no
human DNA was detected. This means that
A. the bone fragments are not human
B. the test is inconclusive
C. it is impossible to determine if the bones are of human origin or not
D. none of the above
74. Marking injuries on a reference anatomic diagram best illustrates
A. the position of the assailant during the assault
B. the position of the victim during the assault
C. intent of the assailant to maim or kill
D. the distribution of the injuries on the body
75. Close examination of wounds is important because they could give information as to
A. the sex of the assailant
B. whether the assailant is right- or lefthanded
C. the type of weapon used
D. the motive for the attack
76. If a scalp wound shows intact hair follicles, crushed margins, and intact tissue strands across the
wound, it must be
A. an incised wound
B. a laceration
C. a superficial cut
D. a projectile injury
77. The dimension of a stab wound most useful to characterize the nature of the weapon used to injure a
victim is
A. depth
B. width measured with the stab wound gaping
C. length measured with the wound edges pushed together
D. all are true
78. The caliber of the bullet can be determined from
A. the dimensions of the entrance wound
B. the dimensions of the exit wound
C. the abrasion collar
D. none of the above
79. The trajectory of a bullet wound determined from an autopsy of the body indicates
A. the position of the victim when the gunshot wound was sustained
B. the position of the shooter
C. whether the shot was intentional or accidental
D. the bullets path inside the body in the reference anatomic position
80. A self-inflicted intentional gunshot wound of the right temple implies

A. right hand dominance

B. left hand dominance
C. no relation to the individuals dexterity
D. probable accidental fire
81. The presence of multiple gunshot wounds from a handgun
A. is possible in suicide
B. is always homicide
C. is consistent with accidental fire
D. is never self-inflicted
82. Lifting of gunpowder residues with paraffin wax and testing for nitrates using diphenylamine
A. is a quantitative test
B. is obsolete
C. reliably determines if an alleged shooter fired a gun or not
D. can be done as long as the test is performed within 24 hours after the shooting incident
83. Close range of fire in gunshot wounds is best indicated by
A. collar of abrasion around the entrance wound
B. stippling or tattooing
C. soot deposits in the entrance wound
D. the shooters actual confession
84. If a projectile injury of the cranium shows an outer table defect smaller than that of the inner table
(internal beveling), this is
A. an entrance wound
B. an exit wound
C. contact fire
D. caused by a handgun
85. The appearance of handgun wounds is affected by the following except
A. hot gases
B. smoke
C. unburnt propellant
D. wad
86. Defense gunshot wounds are recognized as such mainly because of their
A. location
B. range of fire
C. number
D. all of the above
87. Physical evidence in a shooting incident includes
A. the skin around an entrance wound removed during surgical debridement
B. the bullet or bullet fragments recovered from the body
C. clothing worn by the victim
D. all are true
88. Which of the following is true about hymenal findings?
A. They can corroborate allegation of penetration in children
B. They have limited use in confirming sexual assault in adult women
C. They are difficult to interpret due to anatomic variations and the inexperience of the examining
physician
D. All are true
89. Signs of recent injury to the hymen except
A. edema
B. redness
C. lacerations
D. dilatation
90. Genital features useful in assessing a womans sexual history
A. hymenal diameter

B. the prominence of the rugosities of the vaginal mucosa

C. whether the hymen is intact or not
D. none of the above
91. Absence of genital injuries after sexual assault could be due to
A. a non-resisting victim
B. a non-aggressive assailant
C. limitations of the forensic examination
D. all of the above
92. The best time to perform a forensic sexual assault examination is
A. right after the incident
B. within 24 hours of the incident
C. not more than 72 hours after the incident
D. anytime; post-injury interval does not matter
93. The following are seen in badly burned bodies except
A. heat fractures
B. pugilistic attitude
C. skin splitting
D. no exception
94. A man was found with a horizontal ligature furrow around his neck. The ligature was not recovered.
This is most consistent with
A. homicidal ligature strangulation
B. suicidal manual strangulation
C. suicidal hanging by ligature
D. accidental autoerotic asphyxia
95. Ejection of vehicle occupants onto the road is due to the following except
A. non-restraint from non-use of seat belts
B. open or absent windows and doors
C. doors bursting open upon impact
D. no exception
96. Motorcycles are inherently dangerous because
A. Head injuries also occur despite the use of a helmet.
B.
This type of vehicle is unstable because it is 2-wheeled.
C. They are frequently driven at high speed.
D. All are true.
97. Useful reference planes or landmarks when describing the location of wounds include the following
except
A. top of the head or vertex
B. the umbilicus in the abdomen
C. the anterior or posterior midline
D. no exception
98. Reconstructing the events leading to the injuries sustained by a victim requires the following except
A. examination of the clothing worn by the victim
B. scene investigation
C. testimonial accounts
D. no exception
99. An adult pedestrian hit by a large vehicle such as a bus or truck
A. will likely be "scooped up"
B. will likely have bumper injuries and have his feet knocked from under him
C. will likely have injuries positioned higher in the chest, arms or head
D. none of the above
100. The telltale signs of child abuse are most typically seen in the
A. skin and bones
B. bones and internal organs

C. eyes and skin

D. mouth and genitalia