Postmortem Re-examination

POSTMORTEM RE-EXAMINATION, repeated autopsy. An autopsy is performed either by a hospital physician in a hospital setting (pathological-anatomical autopsy) or by a forensic medical expert (forensic-medical autopsy). Postmortem re-examination, however, always has a forensic-medical character and is performed only at the request of investigative authorities. Reasons for postmortem re-examination may include various circumstances: 1. Non-compliance with legal formalities during the autopsy. According to existing rules, a sub-medical autopsy is performed by order and in the presence of a representative of the investigation authorities and two witnesses (paragraph 2 of the rules for forensic-medical examination of a corpse). The absence of such witnesses during the autopsy or performing the autopsy without the knowledge of the investigation authorities may serve as a formal reason for postmortem re-examination of the corpse. This should also include cases where during a pathological-anatomical autopsy in a hospital setting, signs of violent death are discovered, and the physician performing the autopsy does not follow the established rules for such cases (paragraph 5), i.e., does not notify through the administration of the institution the police or does not invite the chief physician or their deputy and two witnesses to the autopsy. 2. The autopsy was performed incompletely, for example, the prosector does not open, as required by the rules, the three cavities: cranial, thoracic with organs of the neck, and abdominal, but limits the autopsy to two or even one cavity. An autopsy should also be considered incomplete in cases where the vertebral canal and other parts of the body are not opened if they are damaged or there is reason to suspect possible damage or pathological changes in them. Circumstances characterizing the incompleteness of the autopsy may include cases where the description of the data found during the autopsy itself is too brief and unclear, thus not providing a proper understanding of the actual condition of the organs and the changes present in them. This category can include cases where there are unexplainable contradictions between the primary examination of the corpse and the data noted during the autopsy, for example, in the act of the primary examination of the corpse, bruises, abrasions, or other injuries are described, while in the autopsy act they are either not mentioned at all or it is not indicated that the changes found during the primary examination of the corpse were not discovered during the autopsy or that they were incorrectly characterized: for example, bruises were described during the primary examination, but during the autopsy they turned out to be postmortem stains, when there is suspicion of poisoning and it is necessary to take material (parts of organs, blood, etc.) from the corpse for forensic-chemical, spectral, and bacteriological examination, when there is doubt about the competence of the person who performed the autopsy. There are currently no special, legally established rules for postmortem re-examination, but in the Criminal Procedure Code there is article 174, which by analogy can be applied to cases requiring postmortem re-examination: 'In cases where the investigator considers the examination insufficiently clear or incomplete, the investigator has the right, on his own initiative or at the request of the accused, to order a new examination based on his reasoned resolution, and for the performance of a medical examination, the requirement for new experts is sent to the relevant (local) organs of the NKZdr.' Postmortem re-examination is performed under the same rules as any forensic-medical autopsy, by one or several physicians, depending on the nature and complexity of the case, at the discretion of the investigator and the regional forensic medical expert. The physician who performed the first autopsy may be summoned to the postmortem re-examination with the permission of the representatives of the investigative authorities to give explanations, if this proves necessary. Experts performing the postmortem re-examination familiarize themselves with the circumstances of the case and the act of the first autopsy. During the re-examination, an act is drawn up, where the data obtained during the examination are recorded. The organs and parts of the body that were found to be opened or unopened are also noted. The act is drawn up according to the general rules for forensic-medical examination of a corpse (see Autopsy). The possibility of postmortem re-examination strongly requires that after every autopsy, the sewing of the corpse be performed together with all the organs of the deceased and without mixing organs from other corpses.