Issue: Vojnosanit Pregl 2017; Vol. 74 (No. 4)
Medicolegal characteristics of defense injuries in cases of homicides
Authors:
Nemanja Rančić, Gordana Djurović, Filip Pilipović, Slobodan Savić
Background/Aim. During the homicidal act, a victim usuallytries to defend himself/herself, and due to these attempts
he/she could sustain so-called defense injuries, mostly localized
on the arms. The aim of this research was to analyze important
medicolegal characteristics of defense injuries, particularly regarding
their importance in forensic expertise of homicides.
Methods. We analyzed autopsies of all homicidal cases with
defense injuries in Belgrade during a three-year period.
Results. Defensive injuries were registered in 71 victims of
murder. The majority (67.61%) of victims with defense injuries
were males. About 25% of victims were aged from 21 to 30
years. The majority (60) of victims were not under influence of
alcohol. Homicides were mostly (90.14%) performed by mechanical
weapons. The highest frequency of defense injuries
was noticed in the victims with multiple homicidal injuries localized
on the front side of the body. In a half (50.7%) of the
cases they were present on both arms of the victim, mostly on
the dorsal side of hands and forearms. Bruises were the most
frequent form of defense injuries (36.61% out of 71 cases),
while incisions, abrasions, gunshot injuries and stab wounds
were less common. Conclusion. Determination of defense injuries
and their medicolegal characteristics enables collecting of
facts that are important for legal estimation of homicide, as
well as for adequate sentence at the end of the court procedure.
