Model LegislationInitial draft recommendation on model legislation for forensic death investigation systems (presented at NCFS Meeting #11 – 12-13 September 2016)Summary of case law for the Recommendation on Model Legislation for Forensic Death Investigation SystemsFinal draft recommendation on model legislation for inquest systems for inquests of deathRecommendation on Model Laws for Inquest Systems on Deaths (adopted on NCFS Session #12 – January 9, 2017) The American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMI) offers registry-level certification or council certification for forensic death investigators. Registry-level certification is entry-level certification, while council certification for forensic death investigators is for experienced professionals. Certification is an industry standard and may be required for employment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has no data on forensic investigators of deaths. Forensic technicians, a related occupation, earn an average of $63,170 per year with the following percentiles: Medical death investigators are classified as forensic technicians by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS 2020). On average, forensic technicians earn $63,170 per year. This career has a lot of growth potential, with an estimated 14% increase in jobs in the field between 2019 and 2029. This increase is mainly due to the increase in forensic technologies and techniques that require trained professionals. Read on to learn more about this unique career, including various degree programs, job assignments, and even related careers. Patients and their families who rely on our medical knowledge and clinical advice not only to understand the death of their loved one, but also to improve and maintain their own health and that of their family. Eligibility criteria for forensic death investigator programs vary widely. Associate degrees, which can be a starting point for careers, typically have very few or no admission requirements other than a minimum age.
Bachelor`s degree programs often require a GED or high school diploma as well as a minimum GPA and SAT score. Graduate certificates and master`s programs require applicants to have already earned a bachelor`s degree, and many sometimes require work experience in the field. Today, 11 states have coroner-only systems, where every county in the state is served by a coroner. Another 22 states have medical investigator systems, most of which are nationwide and administered by state agencies. And 18 states have mixed systems: some counties are served by coroners, others by coroners, and still others by a hybrid system known as a referral system, in which a coroner refers cases to a coroner for autopsy (Hanzlick & Combs, 1998). About half of the U.S. population is served by coroners and the other half by coroners. Regardless of who runs the system, most death investigations are conducted at the county level. Approximately 2185 death investigation courts are located in the 3137 counties of the country. All members of the public can report a death to the coroner if they believe it should be or can be reported. However, physicians and police have a special duty to report reportable deaths.
Death investigations have broad societal implications for criminal justice and public health. Death investigations provide evidence to convict the guilty and protect the innocent, whether they are accused of murder, child abuse, neglect or other crimes. Death investigations support civil litigation, such as malpractice, bodily injury or life insurance claims. Screening for deaths is essential to many aspects of public health practice and research, including surveillance, epidemiology and prevention programs, most commonly in injury prevention and control, but also in the prevention of suicide, violence or substance abuse. And death investigations are proving essential in assessing the quality of health care and the country`s response to bioterrorism. Our current legal system has two problems. The first is its antagonistic character: experts can be pressured or selected to adopt unilateral positions. The courtroom can turn into a battle of experts, which is very confusing for a jury. How can the system be structured to provide objective evidence that such battles are not occurring? Several senior coroners have created positions as forensic epidemiologists in the field of research or surveillance.
For example, New Mexico recently hired an epidemiologist to work on a bioterrorist mortality surveillance project. The Maryland Coroner`s Office has an epidemiologist to investigate firefighter deaths and an epidemiologist at the Armed Forces Medical Examiner`s Office that is developing a military mortality database. (Kurt Nolte). The Virginia Forensic Epidemiologist monitors child deaths and domestic violence (Marcella Fierro); The surveillance function grew out of the awareness that 29 children in the state witnessed the murders of their mothers, and surveillance data was crucial in drawing attention to a hidden public health issue and the importance of protection orders and harassment laws (Marcella Fierro). In the United States, the profession of forensic death investigator generally consists of three broad categories of personnel: forensic death investigators, coroners and coroners. The Forensic Death Investigation Subcommittee explored ways to improve services for this range of practitioners and developed solutions that ensure our country receives the highest quality services related to the determination of cause and method of death. One particular issue where the quality of death reviews needs to be significantly improved is infant mortality due to shaken baby syndrome. This syndrome is an extremely severe form of severe head injury associated with high morbidity and mortality (Duhaime et al., 1998). It occurs after a child is subjected to acceleration, deceleration and rotation forces that cause a cluster of intracranial, intraocular and cervicospinal injuries. Shaken baby syndrome has been difficult to study with autopsy, in part because the syndrome encompasses many specialties, including pediatrics, neuropathology, and biomechanics.
There is still disagreement about the nature and nature of the effects needed to produce the syndrome. An assessment by the National Academy of Science could help defuse the scientific controversy. There may still be scientific disagreements over causality, but several people have been wrongly charged or convicted based on incompetent investigations into deaths. There is a crisis in this country with respect to the quality of death reviews. Many mistakes lead to the condemnation of innocent people. The Innocence Project was founded in 1992 as a non-profit legal clinic representing inmates with legitimate claims to innocence. The project conducts DNA testing on samples from each case after sentencing. If it does not find a match with the DNA of the crime scene, the project works voluntarily to obtain the release of prison convicts. Since 1992, the project has relieved 125 people who have been unjustly imprisoned.
The project uncovered substandard practices, even in accredited crime labs. The term «forensic death detection system» is somewhat misleading.