Gunshot wounds (GSW) clinical case of forensic expert Claude Jacques Chambriard, of the regional technical-scientific police precinct of Niterói, state of Rio of January – May 2021

doi:10.15406/frcij.2024.12.00389

eISSN: 2469-2794

Forensic Research & Criminology International Journal

Case Report Volume 12 Issue 1

Gunshot wounds (GSW) clinical case of forensic expert Claude Jacques Chambriard, of the regional technical-scientific police precinct of Niterói, state of Rio of January – May 2021

Claude Jacques Chambriard,¹

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Sérgio Augusto Lopes de Souza²

¹Forensic Expert of the Civil Police of the State of Rio de Janeiro (PCERJ), Brazil
²Guidance Counsellor

Correspondence: Claude Jacques Chambriard, Assistant Professor of the Traumatology and Orthopedics Department of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Forensic Expert of the Civil Police of the State of Rio de Janeiro (PCERJ), Coordinator of the Work Accident Analysis Group (GAAT), Master in Orthopedics and Traumatology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Specialist in Surgery of the Hand, Microsurgery, Bone Tumors, Occupational Physician, Lawyer, post-graduate in Criminal Law and Criminal Procedural Law, Brazil

Received: December 01, 2023 | Published: January 8, 2024

Citation: Chambriard CJ, de Souza SAL. Gunshot wounds (GSW) clinical case of forensic expert Claude Jacques Chambriard, of the regional technicalscientific police precinct of Niterói, state of Rio of January – May 2021. Forensic Res Criminol Int J. 2024;12(1):1-2. DOI: 10.15406/frcij.2024.12.00389

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Abstract

The Author presents a rare case of a person who died of GSW, in which the projectile lodged in the large intestine.

The case outlines the difficulties of locating the projectile and the importance of using an X-Ray machine during the necropsy.

Keywords: criminal experts, necropsy, victim, X-ray, gunshot wounds

Introduction

An extremely important, and increasingly common, topic in our profession is the study of the wounds produced by gunshot projectiles, in which Forensic and Criminal Experts have the opportunity to obtain details to attempt to establish the possible dynamics of the event, such as the distance travelled by the shot, the incident, the estimated – and extremely variable – position of the attacker and of the victim, if the latter survived. In essence, it is a highly challenging and fascinating theme.

In the internal examination of the victim, when it is possible to locate the projectile responsible for the injuries, it can sometimes lead to the weapon that fired it and, occasionally, even to the person who fired the weapon. The Technical and Scientific Police of Rio de Janeiro is now equipped with an X-Ray machine that swiftly permits the identification and location of the gunshot projectiles, as well as other foreign bodies, inside the corpse. In the photograph to the right, taken at the Regional Technical and Scientific Police Precinct (PRPTC) of Niterói, we demonstrate the use of the X-ray apparatus during the search for gunshot projectiles in the corpse. Note that there is an image in which the Forensic Expert examines the body to select the spot selected to conduct the X-Ray test.

In the photograph on the right, taken at the Regional Technical and Scientific Police Precinct (PRPTC) of Niterói, we demonstrate the use of the X-Ray apparatus during the search for gunshot projectiles in the corpse.

Note that the photograph presents an image of the entrance point of the camera where the corpse is positioned for conducting the exam.

Material and methods

A rare case of necropsy is presented, in which it was necessary to use an X-Ray machine to locate the projectile, which had lodged inside the large intestine. Considerations are raised regarding the difficulties encountered in locating a projectile inside the human body, and on the need for X-Ray machines in the autopsy services of the Judiciary Police.

Case presentation

As an example of the importance of the X-Ray apparatus in the Necropsy exam, we present a clinical case, researched and drafted by the forensic expert Claude Jacques Chambriard, in which the projectile was lodged inside a segment of the Colon, the location of its position only being possible with the aid of the X- Ray device.

In the photograph to the right, taken at the Regional Technical-Scientific Police Precinct (PRPTC) in Niterói, we demonstrate the use of the X-Ray machine during the search for a projectile in the corpse, which is subsequently identified inside the large intestine.

The presence of the scalpel in the image is due to the fact that it is used as a scale of reference for the location of the projectile.

If it weren't for the existence of the X-Ray device, this projectile would be difficult to locate in the corpse. In the photograph to the right, the image that the Forensic Expert obtains during the autopsy examination is demonstrated. It is extremely difficult to search for the projectile amid the viscera of the corpse.

It is only with the aid of the X-Ray apparatus that it was possible to locate the projectile and extract it from inside the colon (circled in green in the photograph to the right).^1–11

Conclusion

The importance of presenting this case arose from the mistaken perception that locating projectiles inside the human body is one of the easiest things in the necroscopic examination; on the contrary, with the presence of blood and other secretions, in addition to the amount of viscera, the finding of gunshot projectiles is, in fact, one of the most difficult features of the exam in reference. Faced with this difficulty, it can be seen that the existence of an X-Ray machine in all autopsy services of the Judiciary Police is a mandatory item.