NCJ Number
77658
Date Published
1967
Length
0 pages
Annotation
Part of a series of training demonstrations by practicing trial lawyers and law enforcement officers of a criminal prosecution, this film demonstrates the qualifications, examination, and cross-examination of medical and laboratory experts.
Abstract
The film focuses on the opening day of the trial in a case involving a 23-year-old defendant who is charged with robbery and murder. The prosecuting attorney presents the testimony of the medical examiner after establishing his professional qualifications through questioning. The medical examiner, who certified the death of the proprietor of the Big Ten Party Store and Beverage House at which the robbery took place, describes the condition of the body and the signs of asphyxiation including cyanosis. During his testimony, the examiner identifies a picture of the body that is entered as one of the State's exhibits, describes the results of the autopsy that was conducted on the proprietor, and declares that the cause of the proprietor's death was asphyxiation. The cross-examination by the defending attorney centers on whether the conditions of atherosclerosis and pulmonary emphysema, found at the time of the autopsy, might not have caused the proprietor's death. The film also shows the testimony by a chemist in the crime detection division of the Michigan Department of Public Health concerning the matching of hairs and a blood sample found on the revolver that was used during the robbery with the hair and blood samples of the stock clerk who was in the Big Ten Party Store at the time of the robbery. For other films in this series, see NCJ 77644-47 and NCJ 77659.