Tag Archives: médecine-légale

Two divers recovered after 30 years on the Mediterranean seabed

19 October 2026Newsmédecine-légaleadmin

Lost in the same diving accident in December 1993, two men were recovered 30 years later at a depth of more than 100 metres, just 13 metres apart. Yet after an identical period of immersion in the same sea, the two bodies were not in the same state of preservation. In publishing the case in the International Journal of Legal Medicine, the forensic medicine team at Nice University Hospital reminds practitioners that in an underwater environment, the appearance of a body is not necessarily a reliable guide to how long it has been in the water [1].

The facts

The two divers disappeared together during an accident in the Mediterranean in December 1993. Their remains were not located until 30 years later, lying at depths of 103 and 113 metres, 13 metres from one another [1]. Taken into the care of the forensic medicine department at Nice University Hospital, both bodies underwent whole-body post-mortem computed tomography, external examination, autopsy, toxicological analysis and genetic identification [1]. Identification was achieved for both men, from muscle tissue in the first and from femoral bone in the second. Toxicological analyses were negative [1].

Two bodies, two taphonomic trajectories

Both bodies showed changes of the same kind, namely advanced skeletonisation affecting mainly the upper body, together with the persistence of adipocere-like tissue in the pelvic region and lower limbs [1]. On CT, these tissues showed attenuation values of between −100 and −40 Hounsfield units, consistent with adipocere [1]. The difference lay in the quality of what remained. In the first diver, the residual tissues were largely disorganised and reduced to yellowish-to-brown aggregates. In the second, the skin, hair and still recognisable muscle masses of the lower limbs had been preserved [1]. Adipocere, a waxy substance formed from body fat in moist, oxygen-poor conditions, is known to slow the breakdown of the tissues it permeates for long periods.

The diving equipment offers one line of explanation.

The first diver wore a two-piece semi-dry wetsuit, the second a full dry suit [1]. The authors relate these differences to the characteristics of the equipment and to the conditions of the immediate micro-environment surrounding each body [1]. A dry suit limits exchange with seawater and access by scavenging fauna, which may have favoured the formation of adipocere and then its preservation over 30 years.

What this means for expert practice

The authors draw a warning that applies to forensic pathologists and investigators alike. The visible state of decomposition does not, on its own, allow a reliable estimate of the postmortem submersion interval (PMSI) [1]. Two bodies immersed at the same time and in the same place may, 30 years on, display different post-mortem features, enough to seriously distort an estimate based on morphological criteria alone.

The case also illustrates the weight of individual factors in underwater taphonomy, a field still far less documented than its terrestrial counterpart. Diving equipment, clothing, body build or the immediate micro-environment can profoundly alter the evolution of a submerged body. Finally, it confirms that genetic identification remains possible after 30 years of deep immersion, including from soft tissue where it has been preserved, a valuable finding for investigations into long-standing disappearances in aquatic settings [1].

This finding bears directly on the concerns of the LETHE project (Localisation des épaves, traitement hydrographique et enquête, or wreck location, hydrographic processing and investigation), launched by the French Gendarmerie nationale in the summer of 2025 and led from Conflans-Sainte-Honorine by the detachment of the Pôle national de gendarmerie nautique [2]. The project grew out of the discovery, in October 2023, of skeletal remains inside a car that had lain for some 40 years in the Seille, a small river in Côte-d’Or. Its aim is to map every vehicle resting on the bed of the rivers, lakes and ponds of mainland France, in order to search for possible victims and to resolve cases that have remained unanswered [2]. By February 2026, three bodies had already been discovered, and the scheme is of close interest to the Gendarmerie’s cold case division, the Division des affaires non élucidées (DIANE), and to the serial and unsolved crimes unit of the Nanterre judicial court [2]. A public appeal has since been launched inviting anglers equipped with sonar, divers and archaeologists to report any wrecks they locate [3]. When such wrecks yield human remains, those remains have often spent several decades under water. The Nice case shows that their identification remains feasible, and that any estimate of how long they have been in the water will call for the greatest caution.

Sources

[1] Bernardi C., Amoretti N., Isaac A., Nogueira L., Temma J., Leccia C. et Alunni V. (2026), Two divers submerged in the Mediterranean Sea for 30 years, persistence of adipocere and implications for postmortem submersion interval estimation, International Journal of Legal Medicine, publié en ligne le 9 octobre 2026, DOI 10.1007/s00414-026-04038-y.

[2] Faure A. (2026), LETHE, un outil cartographique pour recenser les épaves immergées, Gendinfo, Gendarmerie nationale, 20 février 2026.

[3] Gendarmerie nationale (2026), Épaves immergées, le projet LETHE lance un appel à contribution citoyenne, Gendinfo, août 2026.

Alcohol after death, when post-mortem fermentation misleads toxicology

7 October 2026Newsavancés scientifiques, médecine-légaleadmin

After death, some micro-organisms produce ethanol of their own, so an alcohol concentration measured in a body does not always prove that the person had been drinking [1, 2]. That figure nonetheless weighs heavily on how the circumstances of a death are understood, particularly after a road traffic collision [2]. A review published in September 2026 in the International Journal of Legal Medicine takes stock of the specimens, markers and storage conditions that help separate genuine consumption from post-mortem production [1]. Its recommendations echo those set out by Olds and Jones in 2024 in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology, which add orders of magnitude useful to anyone who has to read a toxicology report [2].

Ethanol made by microbes after death

Within hours of death, gut bacteria spread into the vascular system and then to the organs [2]. Some of them, along with several yeasts, ferment whatever glucose remains and produce ethanol, much as in a wine vat [1, 2]. This post-mortem neoformation depends chiefly on the time elapsed before autopsy, the ambient temperature and the degree of putrefaction [2]. It is considered negligible when the autopsy takes place within 24 hours on a body showing no sign of decomposition, and in bodies recovered frozen [2]. It is more pronounced in heavily traumatised bodies, where open vessels expose blood to environmental microbes, and more so still after immersion in water or burning [2]. Road traffic victims, who often have multiple injuries, are therefore among those most exposed to this artefact, in cases where much hangs on the blood alcohol result [2].

The amount of available glucose also matters, which explains the attention paid to people with diabetes. Often hyperglycaemic at the time of death, they offer more substrate for fermentation, and neoformation may set in sooner [1, 2].

Usually low concentrations, occasionally high ones

The concentrations generated after death usually fall between 0.1 and 0.5 g/L of blood (0.01 to 0.05 g/100 mL), but values of 0.6 to 2 g/L have been reported [2]. A theoretical calculation gives a sense of scale, since a blood glucose of 1 g/L fermented in full would yield about 0.5 g/L of ethanol [2]. These orders of magnitude overlap the statutory drink-driving limits, which range from 0.2 to 0.8 g/L depending on the country [2]. In France, driving with 0.5 g/L of alcohol in the blood or more is a minor offence, and with 0.8 g/L or more a criminal one [6].

A high blood alcohol concentration in a putrefied body is not necessarily an artefact, however. In an autopsy series cited by Olds and Jones it mostly reflected genuine drinking, to which neoformation may have added 0.1 to 0.6 g/L [2]. These authors suggest, without claiming the force of a standard, raising the cut-off above which a post-mortem result is reported as positive from 0.1 to 0.2 g/L [2]. Where the body is obviously decomposed, they also propose subtracting 0.5 g/L from the mean result, a correction they acknowledge to be arbitrary and which massive trauma or high blood glucose may render insufficient [2].

Comparing blood with alternative specimens

Allane Patricia Santos da Paz and colleagues at the Federal University of Pará reviewed 10 years of literature, from 2014 to 2024 [1]. Of 414 articles identified in Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed, 54 studies were retained and used to draw up recommendations on collection, storage and interpretation [1]. Like earlier reviews, this one urges that a blood concentration should never be interpreted in isolation when the circumstances make production after death plausible [1, 2, 3]. Peripheral blood, drawn from the femoral vein before evisceration, remains the specimen of choice [1, 2]. Cardiac blood is more vulnerable, because ethanol still in the stomach at the time of death diffuses towards the heart, liver and lungs [2].

Vitreous humour, the fluid inside the eye, is the most useful complement. Remote from the gut and hard for bacteria to reach, it remains usable in a body that is already putrefied [1, 2].

It has its limits, notably after prolonged immersion or in a severely dehydrated body, from which it sometimes cannot be collected at all [1, 2]. Urine provides similar information, because it contains almost no glucose in healthy individuals and the intact bladder delays the arrival of bacteria [2]. That protection is lost in people with diabetes or a urinary tract infection, when yeasts such as Candida albicans find in the urine the sugar they need to ferment [1]. For badly degraded bodies, the review also mentions cerebrospinal fluid, preferably taken from the spinal canal, and matrices that are still exploratory, such as costal cartilage or the larvae of necrophagous insects [1]. Studies do not all agree on which matrix to favour in putrefaction, and some rank urine ahead of vitreous humour [1].

Interpretation then rests on whether the results are consistent. After genuine consumption, vitreous humour, which contains more water than blood, holds slightly more ethanol, with a mean ratio of 1.10 to 1.20 [2]. A positive blood result alongside negative urine or vitreous humour points instead to post-mortem production within the vascular compartment [2]. The 1989 explosion aboard the battleship USS Iowa illustrates the point, since of the 47 servicemen killed, 23 had a positive blood alcohol concentration, one of them at 1.9 g/L although neither his urine nor his bile contained measurable ethanol [2]. It would be unwise, on the other hand, to back-calculate a blood alcohol concentration from a vitreous or urine result, because the scatter between individuals is too wide [1, 2].

Looking for evidence of drinking before death

The second approach is to look for metabolites that glucose fermentation does not produce. Ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and ethyl sulphate (EtS) are formed in trace amounts when the body metabolises ingested alcohol, and their presence in blood, urine or vitreous humour is evidence of consumption before death [1, 2, 4].

EtG is the more sensitive of the two, but it can be degraded during putrefaction and disappear from badly decomposed blood, with a risk of false negatives [1]. EtS is more robust, including to heat, and less prone to being formed after sampling in infected urine [1, 2]. The Brazilian review regards it as the more reliable marker when the two disagree [1]. In a putrefied body, EtG is better measured in vitreous humour than in blood [1]. These markers call for two caveats. Their detection window, in urine especially, far exceeds that of ethanol, so a positive result establishes recent drinking without in itself establishing a blood alcohol concentration at the time of death [1]. Nor do they reveal how much of the measured concentration came from drinking and how much formed after death, since the two can add up in the same individual [2].

The laboratory also has indicators of microbial activity. The alcohols 1-propanol and 1-butanol, which micro-organisms produce alongside ethanol, cast doubt on the result when they appear on the chromatogram [2, 3, 5]. For that reason 1-propanol, the usual internal standard when blood from living subjects is analysed, is replaced by tert-butanol for autopsy specimens [2]. Acetaldehyde is harder to interpret, as it arises both from fermentation and from the oxidation of ethanol in a poorly preserved sample [1]. Only abnormally high concentrations, found together with higher alcohols, suggest neoformation, and some groups question the reliability of 1-propanol itself [1]. In urine, a raised ratio between two serotonin metabolites, 5-HTOL and 5-HIAA, likewise indicates drinking before death [2, 3].

Securing specimens from autopsy to analysis

Neoformation can continue in the tube after sampling, during transport and storage [1, 2]. Adding sodium or potassium fluoride at 1 to 2%, a higher concentration than in routine clinical tubes, inhibits glycolysis and curbs microbial activity [1, 2]. It should go into every specimen, vitreous humour and urine included [2]. Fluoride does not undo what happened in the body before autopsy, and it is less effective against yeasts such as Candida albicans [2]. Temperature matters just as much. Refrigeration at 4 °C is a minimum, and freezing becomes preferable beyond 48 hours of storage, at −20 °C in routine practice and down to −80 °C for long-term storage [1, 2].

The ethanol present in a sample can also fall over time, notably through oxidation to acetaldehyde, and all the more so when the tube is underfilled or has already been opened [1]. In fluoride-preserved autopsy blood frozen at −20 °C for 6 to 15 months, the mean decrease is of the order of 8 to 10% [2]. The stability studies compiled in the Brazilian review report losses of up to 15 or 16%, but several were carried out on blood from living subjects, whose stability is not necessarily that of autopsy blood [1, 2]. The authors accordingly recommend duplicate samples, in airtight tubes filled at least halfway, so that a never-opened specimen remains available for reanalysis [1]. These precautions are a matter of laboratory technique, yet they directly determine how much confidence can later be placed in the result.

The difficulty is that a result can be perfectly accurate analytically and still be hard to interpret in medico-legal terms.

A figure that has to be read in context

On 28 February 1975, a London Underground train failed to slow as it approached Moorgate station and ran on into a closed-off, unused section of track, killing 43 people including its driver [2]. His body was not recovered for 4 days, from a tunnel where the temperature had risen to 49 °C [2]. Blood taken from several sites gave concentrations of 0.2 to 0.8 g/L, and the figures reached the press before they had been interpreted, with no alternative specimen available to corroborate them [2]. The coroner’s jury returned a verdict of accidental death, and the crushing of the body, the heat, the delay and the fourfold difference between sampling sites all point to post-mortem production [2].

An overestimated post-mortem blood alcohol concentration can lead to a dead driver being wrongly held responsible and can deprive the next of kin of an insurance payout [2]. Conversely, genuine drinking can be underestimated if the sample deteriorated before analysis [1, 2]. Olds and Jones also point out that statutory driving limits were framed for blood drawn under sterile conditions from the living, and that an autopsy result should not be set against them without care [2]. The difficulty is that a result can be perfectly accurate analytically and still be hard to interpret in medico-legal terms. The laboratory determines precisely how much ethanol is present in the sample it receives. That does not answer another question, one that matters more to the investigation, namely where that ethanol came from.

When a post-mortem blood alcohol concentration is central to a case, judges, prosecutors and investigators therefore do well to look beyond the number. They need to know where the blood was drawn, what condition the body was in, whether vitreous humour or urine was analysed, how the tubes were stored, and whether EtG, EtS or putrefaction alcohols were looked for. For decomposed bodies, Olds and Jones suggest that the analytical report should itself state that some or all of the measured ethanol may have formed after death [2].

Références :

[1] da Paz A.P.S., Nunez L.B.B. Jr, de Mello V.J. Biological matrices for determining the origin of post-mortem ethanol, recommendations for collection and storage. International Journal of Legal Medicine, 2026, publié en ligne le 1er septembre 2026. DOI 10.1007/s00414-026-03994-9
[2] Olds M.L., Jones A.W. Preanalytical factors influencing the results of ethanol analysis in postmortem specimens. Journal of Analytical Toxicology, 2024, 48(1), 9-26. DOI 10.1093/jat/bkad078
[3] Lin Z., Wang H., Jones A.W., Wang F., Zhang Y., Rao Y. Evaluation and review of ways to differentiate sources of ethanol in postmortem blood. International Journal of Legal Medicine, 2020, 134(6), 2081-2093.
[4] Thierauf A., Kempf J., Perdekamp M.G., Auwärter V., Gnann H., Wohlfarth A., Weinmann W. Ethyl sulphate and ethyl glucuronide in vitreous humor as postmortem evidence marker for ethanol consumption prior to death. Forensic Science International, 2011, 210(1-3), 63-68. DOI 10.1016/j.forsciint.2011.01.036
[5] Vezzoli S., Bernini M., De Ferrari F. Ethyl glucuronide in vitreous humor and blood postmortem specimens, analysis by liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry and interpreting results of neo-formation of ethanol. Annali dell’Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 2015, 51(1), 19-27. DOI 10.4415/ANN_15_01_05
[6] Direction de l’information légale et administrative. Alcool au volant. Service-Public.fr, fiche vérifiée le 11 juillet 2025.

Towards a revolution in post-mortem forensic imaging

26 October 2025Forensic medecine, Newsavancés scientifiques, innovations technologiques, médecine-légaleadmin

How can an internal lesion go unnoticed during autopsy yet may have potentially caused death? In forensic medicine, understanding internal trauma is essential to reconstructing the sequence of a violent event. Among such injuries, those involving the vertebral artery present a major challenge. Subtle and often concealed by bone structures, they frequently escape traditional examination methods. A recent technological breakthrough in forensic imaging offers a promising approach: combining fluoroscopy and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) to analyze post-mortem vascular injuries with unprecedented precision.

Key artery, difficult access

The vertebral artery supplies vital regions of the nervous system, including the brainstem, cerebellum, and posterior areas of the brain. Even a minor injury can trigger a stroke, a rapid neurological collapse, or sudden death. Its anatomical pathway, deeply embedded within the cervical spine, makes it particularly difficult to explore. In a forensic context, a lesion affecting this artery represents a critical clue when analyzing a penetrating neck wound, often revealing a potentially lethal intent.

Forensic imaging to observe real-time blood flow

Micro-CT: diving into the heart of the lesion

To overcome this limitation, researchers have turned to micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), a very high-resolution imaging technique. The sample is rotated during the acquisition of thousands of radiographic images, which are then reconstructed into a digital 3D model. This process reveals otherwise invisible details such as arterial wall tears, thrombi, dissections, or partial ruptures. These reconstructions allow for virtual dissections from multiple angles without altering the body, ensuring a high level of reproducibility, an invaluable feature in forensic investigations.

A standardized method serving both justice and medicine

The protocol developed by Secco and colleagues relies on ex situ imaging, meaning that the examination is performed on an artery extracted from the body. This approach overcomes several obstacles, such as advanced decomposition, previous surgery, complex trauma, or movement artifacts. With the injection of a contrast agent, the vascular network becomes clearly visualized, allowing for precise and stable documentation. These high-quality images serve as robust evidence admissible in court and represent a valuable resource for medical teams involved in planning neurosurgical or trauma-related procedures.

An educational and scientific tool

Beyond their diagnostic value, 3D reconstructions and fluoroscopic videos serve as outstanding educational tools. They allow for a strikingly realistic visualization of injury mechanisms and a deeper understanding of the biomechanics of penetrating trauma. This refined comprehension of the forces at play helps not only researchers characterize vascular lesions, but also engineers design more effective protective equipment and forensic experts accurately reconstruct the circumstances surrounding a violent act.

Towards a new standard in forensic medicine

Born from close collaboration between radiologists, pathologists, engineers, and chemists, this imaging protocol represents a major step forward in forensic practice. The growing accessibility of micro-CT equipment suggests its forthcoming integration into routine autopsies. With the continuous improvement of imaging technologies in terms of resolution, speed, and multi-contrast capacity, the prospect of non-invasive post-mortem vascular examinations is becoming increasingly realistic. In the long term, this method could be extended to other arterial regions (carotid, subclavian, intracranial), thereby deepening our overall understanding of vascular trauma.

Conclusion

At the crossroads of technology and forensic science, this approach combines precision, rigor, and innovation. By providing a three-dimensional and reproducible reading of internal injuries, it transforms the way stab wounds involving the vertebral artery are analyzed. This is a major advancement, serving both judicial truth and scientific knowledge, and it paves the way for a new generation of autopsies that are finer, more reliable, and better documented.

References :

Bioengineer.org. (2024). Detecting Vertebral Artery Stab Wounds with Imaging. Read here.

Secco, L., Franchetti, G., Viel, G. et al. Ex-situ identification of vertebral artery injuries from stab wounds through contrast-enhanced fluoroscopy and micro-CT. Int J Legal Med (2025). Read here.

Medscape. (2024). Vertebral Artery Anatomy. Read here.

Uncovering the meaning of suspicious injuries in cases of child abuse

21 July 2025Articles, Forensic medecine, Newsavancés scientifiques, investigation, médecine-légaleadmin

There is a certain difficulty in objectively identifying a cigarette burn in a forensic context, particularly when the victim cannot testify. Such lesions are of particular relevance in cases of suspected child abuse. Until now, diagnoses have relied mainly on the morphological appearance of the injuries, with no standardized tool to support a conclusion based on material evidence.

A striking clinical case of child abuse

A team from the Laboratory of Histological Pathology and Forensic Microbiology at the University of Milan investigated a suspected case of child abuse that resulted in the death of a child. Three circular lesions suggestive of cigarette burns were found on the body. A cigarette butt collected nearby further supported the suspicion of an intentional act. The challenge was to determine whether these marks were the result of deliberate harm. However, visual inspection and even conventional histology cannot always confirm the exact origin of such lesions. Hence the value of turning to a more refined and objective method.

The SEM–EDX method: a microscopic zoom on the lesion

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) allows the morphology of the injured skin to be observed with extreme precision, while energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) identifies the chemical elements present on the surface of the lesions. This analysis relied on internal calibration, applied both to samples of injured skin and to cigarette fragments collected at the scene.

Elemental signatures of an intentional act

The results revealed a circular lesion with a reddish base, consistent with intense thermal contact. The chemical composition detected by EDX contained elements typically associated with tobacco combustion, in particular sulfur trioxide and phosphorus oxides, confirming combustion rather than mere environmental residues. Combined with the histological findings, this analysis demonstrated that the injury had occurred prior to death, providing an objective element supporting the likelihood of abuse.

A tool to strengthen forensic expertise

The study demonstrates that SEM–EDX analysis, combined with histology, represents a significant advancement in the characterization of suspicious lesions in the context of child abuse. It moves beyond visual assessment to provide objective and reproducible data, essential in judicial proceedings. By overcoming the limitations of visual inspection, this approach delivers results based on reproducible physico-chemical evidence, thereby reinforcing the robustness of forensic conclusions in light of judicial requirements.

Conclusion

This study paves the way for broader integration of analytical microscopy into forensic practices. By combining scientific rigor with judicial investigation, it offers a robust method for clarifying the nature of lesions whose origin often remains uncertain. The approach could also be applied to other types of injuries, such as those caused by heat sources or chemical agents. This progress deserves to be extended and validated on a larger number of cases in order to refine its reliability.

Références :

Tambuzzi S. et al. (2024). Pilot Application of SEM/EDX Analysis on Suspected Cigarette Burns in a Forensic Autopsy Case of Child Abuse. American Journal of Forensic Medicine & Pathology, 45(2), 135‑143. Read here.
Faller-Marquardt M., Pollak S., Schmidt U. (2008). Cigarette Burns in Forensic Medicine. Forensic Sci. Int., 176(2–3), 200–208
Maghin F. et al. (2018). Characterization With SEM/EDX of Microtraces From Ligature in Hanging. Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol., 39(1), 1–7, read here.

Bite marks: reliable evidence?

26 October 2022Newsforenseek, médecine-légale, morsures, police scientifiqueadmin

While dental analysis has become an established technique in forensic identification, the reliability of bite mark analysis is now under scrutinity due to the lack of sufficient scientific grounding.

Like DNA or fingerprints, teeth and jaws constitute a unique “identity card” for each individual. This observation gave rise to a distinct branch of forensic medicine—forensic odontology—which found one of its earliest applications in 1897, during the Bazar de la Charité fire in Paris. Faced with completely charred and unrecognizable bodies, the authorities decided to call upon the victims’ dentists.

When teeth leave their marks

Since then, this method of identification has been systematically employed whenever human remains must be identified, whether individually or in mass disaster situations, regardless of the circumstances of death. Dental structures are highly resistant to nearly all destructive factors, including burial, cremation, immersion, and even physico-chemical assaults.

In the absence of other data, a forensic odontologist’s examination of teeth—considering pathologies and tooth wear patterns in particular—can provide valuable information on sex, age, ethnicity, and dietary habits. By comparison with ante-mortem dental records, such analyses can formally establish an individual’s identity.

Another area of forensic odontology involves the interpretation of bite marks found on victims—whether living or deceased—as well as on perpetrators or even on certain objects. Today, experts conduct these analyses using digital technologies such as 3D laser scanning, which may lead either to the identification or, conversely, to the exclusion of a potential assailant. However, since there is no standardized or automated methodology and interpretation must take into account numerous factors beyond dental patterns, some specialists argue that this forensic technique lacks sufficient scientific grounding and cannot be considered conclusive evidence.

Reliability under scrutiny

The controversy, which began in the United States in 2009 with a study published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, has recently resurfaced following a draft report issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), questioning the scientific rigor of such analyses.

According to NIST, the interpretation of bite marks relies on two fundamental assumptions: first, that dental impressions are unique; second, that bite marks remain perfectly preserved regardless of the medium. In reality, they often involve only part of the dentition (primarily the anterior teeth). Moreover, human skin—the most common substrate for such marks—is by nature a pliable tissue, subject to distortion depending on its elasticity, the victim’s movements, the development of bruising, and the degree of healing at the site. All these factors, experts argue, undermine the reliability of bite mark comparison as a means of incriminating a suspect.Although this federal agency’s report is still in draft form, its preliminary findings are already stirring significant debate within the scientific community and among advocacy organizations working to prove the innocence of individuals wrongfully convicted. One such organization, the Innocence Project, based in the United States, has highlighted that 26 people were wrongfully convicted on the basis of bite mark evidence—an alarming fact that foreshadows numerous legal battles to come

Sources

https://www.scientifique-en-chef.gouv.qc.ca/impacts/ddr-medecine-legale-les-marques-de-dents-une-science-exacte/

https://reason.com/2022/10/19/federal-report-adds-to-the-evidence-that-bitemark-analysis-is-nonsense/

https://www.gendarmerie.interieur.gouv.fr/pjgn/ircgn/l-expertise-decodee/identification/les-dents-aussi-discriminantes-que-l-adn

https://hal.univ-lorraine.fr/hal-01947165

https://innocenceproject.org/what-is-bite-mark-evidence-forensic-science/