A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. / Death certification of ‘‘suicide by cop’’ is controversial among some medical examiners and coroners. We present five such deaths that were certified as suicides and discuss the medico-legal issues involved with these certifications. To certify such a death as a suicide, certain criteria should be met. Suicide by cop is a circumstance that involves competing intentional acts that may result in dichotomous determinations of the manner of death. Despite the absence of direct self-infliction, there is overwhelming evidence that these five individuals intended to end their own lives. Their use of an unusual method to accomplish this goal may inappropriately result in a reflexive certification of homicide. All of the decedents possessed weapons or a facsimile of a weapon. We present five instances of suicide by cop and contend that these types of deaths are best certified as suicides.
KEYWORDS: forensic science, forensic pathology, suicide, police, gunshot wounds, manner of death
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/281777 |
| Date | 03 1900 |
| Creators | Neitzel, Amber Rae |
| Contributors | The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix, Gill, James R., M.D. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the College of Medicine - Phoenix, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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