Circuito RL sin fuente

These are described in terms of distance between fire-arm and victim (Tables 13.4 and 13.5) as already done with rifled fire-arm weapons:

1. Contact Wounds: The characters already described in rifled fire-arm weapons may be seen. In close contact with skin where

underlying bone is present, there is a limited area of dissipation of discharge. So, extreme mutilation may be seen due to an explosive effect. Burning, tattooing is less seen at the site as the discharge enters the track and causes blackening and burning along the track.

In situations where the close contact is there but no underlying bony resistance is seen, the blackening and tattooing may be seen around the wound. Most of the discharge passes into the fire-arm track causing soiling, burning of tissues along the track.

2. Close Range: Close range is defined as when distance between muzzle and the body is within a few inches. In these cases, Table 13.4 Fire-arm discharge effects in relation to distance travelled in cases of shot gun

Distance Effects

1. Contact and close shot Gaseous effect. Blow back effect. Cherry red discolouration around the wound of entry.

2. 15 cm Gun flame effect. Heat combustion effect on clothes, singeing of hair seen.

3. 30 cm Blackening due to soot particles 4. 60 cm Coarse particles causing tattooing. 5. 1.25–2 metres Cards/wads causing minor injuries.

6. Effects of lead shots Wound of entry and exit seen in above cases.

Table 13.5 Features of entry wound in relation to the distance of the fire-arm from the body in cases of shotgun

1. Contact shot Single shot, Largest size, irregular shape, edges scorched or contused. Blackening, tattooing and singeing present.

2. Up to 15 cm Single shot, smaller size, circular shape, edges well defined and inverted. Blackening, tattooing and singeing present.

3. 90 cm Single entry wound, size 2.5– 4 cm, irregular lacerated margins, Blackening, tattooing present. Singeing absent.

4. 2 m Entry wounds may be multiple, spread is 5–7 cm. Central big wound with smaller wounds around. No blackening, tattooing or singeing seen. 5. 4 m Entry wounds multiple, spread area 10–14 cm, and shape wider. No

blackening, tattooing and singeing seen.

6. 20 m Entry wounds multiple, spread area more than 14 cm. Spread is not measurable. No blackening, tattooing or singeing seen.

88 Concise Textbook of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology burning of skin and singeing of hair is seen. Soot particle deposition is seen. Powder tattooing is also seen. Rest of the features seen are those of a contact wound.

3. Short Range to Medium Range: Depen- ding on the distance, the following effects are seen:

(a) Flame/burning/scorching/singeing: May be seen from 30 cm to one metre. (b) Smoke/powder marks: May be seen up

to one metre.

(c) Tattooing: May be seen from 1 to 3 metre.

Spread of Pellets

As the distance increases, the spread of pellets may be seen on the body. It is roughly estimated that spread in feet may correspond to distance in yards between the muzzle and the body.

Depending upon the distance, the pellets may enter the body according to the momentum they have. If the distance increases more than the useful range, pellets may not enter the body.

Shotgun Exit Wounds

Shotgun exit wounds are rare, except in close contact wound. The exit wound may show the same feature as that in the rifled fire-arm weapon except that there may be many exit wounds due to multiple pellets.

UNUSUAL PHENOMENON

The following are the unusual phenomenon commonly seen:

1. Ricochet Bullet: A bullet when entered into the body may get deviated due to hitting with hard object like bone and may follow another path. In such circumstances, the exit wound may be found at different places. The dissection of track from the entrance wound may reveal ricochetting of the bullet. 2. Tandem Bullet: Word ‘tandem’ means one

after another. It is also called ‘piggy’ bullet. Sometimes, due to some defect in firing

mechanism or obstruction in the tunnel, the bullet does not come out after firing. When the next bullet is fired, both bullets come out one after another. In such cases, two entry wounds or exit wounds may be seen due to the two bullets.

3. Bullet Embolism: A bullet may enter blood vessels and thus enter circulation and may lodge at different places causing bullet embolism. Common sites through which a bullet can enter circulation are heart and aorta.

4. Retained Bullets: Sometimes, a bullet is retained in the body for a long time. It may be because it was not removed as it was not causing much harm or it was located in an area from where its retrieval could cause more damage to the body. A bullet may remain in the body, especially spine, for years to come without causing any harm. Lead toxicity as a rule is not seen in cases of retained bullets.

5. Dum-Dum Bullets: In these bullets tip of the jacket is cut off. As a result, they are expanding in nature. They are very destructive and produce large wounds. 6. Blank Cartridge: It is just like an ordinary

cartridge except that it has no lead shot or bullet inside. It contains ultrafast burning powder which detonates rather than burns. It is used mainly in riot control or on stage shows. It does not produce injuries but if shot in a very close range, the wad may produce laceration on the body.

7. Rayalaseema Phenomenon: In this phenomenon, the person is killed by stab injury and then a bullet is planted inside the stab injury to mislead the investigating officer. Such cases were initially reported from Rayalaseema district of Andhra Pradesh, hence the name. Sometimes unfired or fired bullets are recovered from bodies during post-mortem examinations.

Fire-arm Injuries 89

8. Kennedy Phenomenon: It is also called ‘Magic Bullet phenomenon or Souvenir Bullet’. It is an artefact. In this, sometimes, the doctor who conducts post-mortem may open entry wound of the fire-arm directly and features of the entry wound may be lost. It was done in the case of body of late US President John F. Kennedy who was shot, and the doctor who conducted the post- mortem directly opened the entry wound to remove the bullet.

DETECTION OF GUN POWDER RESIDUE