The legal impact of forensic medical life-threatening danger assessment conclusions in cases of violent offense

Highlights

• The police requests forensic examinations of victims of assaults.

• A life-threatening danger assessment is part of the forensic examination of victims.

• Forensic life-threatening danger assessments are associated with the legal outcome.

• The proportion of cases with formal charges increased with the assessments’ severity.

• The proportion of cases with a conviction increased with the assessments’ severity.

Abstract

Objective

The aim of this study was to examine the association between the legal outcome for suspected perpetrators and the forensic life-threatening danger assessments conducted as part of the clinical forensic medical examinations of victims with penetrating injuries.

Method

From the Danish Central Crime Register, we retrieved the legal outcomes for suspected perpetrators linked to victims with penetrating injuries in a six-year period and compared the proportional distribution of forensic life-threatening danger assessment conclusions – no life-threatening danger (NLD), could have been in life-threatening danger (CLD), and life-threatening danger (LD) – with the legal outcomes.

Results

326 victims were related to at least one identified suspected perpetrator with a legal outcome. When the forensic life-threatening danger assessments were more severe, an increased proportion of cases resulted in formal charges and, subsequently, conviction, than when the forensic life-threatening danger assessments were less severe. The percentage point differences between NLD, CLD, and LD were almost equal.

Conclusion

Our results indicate that the forensic life-threatening danger assessments are associated with the legal outcome, as both the proportion of cases with formal charges and the proportion of cases with a conviction increased with the severity of the forensic life-threatening danger assessment conclusions.