Methods of Personal Identication
Angi M. Christensen, BRUCE E. ANDERSON · Forensic Anthropology · 2012
Con rmation of personal identi cation is usually the responsibility of the medicolegal authority (usually a forensic pathologist or coroner) or law enforcement oªcer. While other law enforcement oªcials, professionals, and scientists may assist in the investigative process, it is ultimately their responsibility to determine identi cation and issue a death certi cate. Frequently, however, the actual task of identi cation falls upon a forensic scientist (forensic anthropologist, forensic odontologist, ngerprint examiner, etc.). Valid methods of personal identi cation (also called individuation) are based on two established and previously known facts-the identity of that individual, and a record of his or her own Introduction 397 Current Techniques and Practices 400 Comparative Radiography 400 Nonimaged Records Comparison 405 Craniofacial Superimposition 408 DNA and Forensic Anthropology 409 Additional Considerations 410 Admissibility of Evidence 410 Facial Approximation 412 Summary 414 Questions 414 References 415 Suggested Readings 420 particular uniqueness(es). Identi cation is then the process of verifying that the individual concerned is the same as the one that is known. A personal identi cation can be made on the basis of a single unique identi er and/or the presence of multiple consistent features. Forensic experts in identi cation oen use a variety of methods and lines of evidence in order to assess identity as accurately as possible. Because all identi cation methods require the comparison of antemortem and postmortem data, the identi cation method(s) used is dictated by the postmortem condition of the body as well as the availability, quantity, and quality of antemortem information about the deceased. e reliability of individual methods varies, but corroboration of several methods can increase the probability of a correct identi cation.