SUMMARY OF THE REPORT

CHAPTER III
ASPECTS OF IDENTIFICATION
1st Part
(Prepared by: Marianelyn G. Garcia)

Identification is the determination of the individuality of a person or thing.

Importance of Identification of Person

1. In the prosecution of the criminal offense, the identity of the offender and that of the victim
must be established, otherwise it will be a ground for the dismissal of the charge or acquittal of
the accused.
2. The identification of a person missing or presumed dead will facilitate settlement of the estate,
retirement, insurance and other social benefits.
3. Identification resolves the anxiety of the next-of-kin, other relatives and friends as to the
whereabouts of a missing person or victim of calamity or criminal act.
4. Identification may be needed in some transactions.

Rules in Personal Identification:

1. Law of Multiplicity of Evidence in Identification
The greater the number of points of similarities and dissimilarities of two persons compared, the
greater is the probability for the conclusion to be correct.
2. The value of the different points of identification varies in the formulation of conclusion.
3. The longer the interval between the death and the examination of the remains for purposes of
identification, the greater is the need for experts in establishing identity.
4. Inasmuch as the object to be identified is highly perishable, it is necessary for the team to act in
the shortest possible time specially in cases of mass disaster.
5. There is no rigid rule to be observed in the procedure of identification of persons.

Methods of Identification:
1. By comparison
2. By exclusion

ORDINARY METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION

Points of Identification Applicable to the Living Person Only:
1. Characteristics which may easily be changed:
a. Growth of hair, beard or mustache
b. Clothing
c. Frequent place of visit
d. Grade of Profession
e. Body Ornamentations
Points of Identification Applicable to the Living Person Only:
2. Characteristics that may not easily be changed:
a. Mental Memory
b. Speech
c. Gait — A person, on account of disease or some inborn traits, may show a characteristic
manner of walking.
(1) Ataxic gait
(2) Cerebellar gait
(3) Cow's gait
(4) Paretic gait
 (5) Spastic gait
(6) Festinating gait
(7) Frog gait
(8) Waddling gait

Gait Patterns:
Gait pattern is the series of foot marks by a person walking or running. Examination
of the gait includes the direction line, gait line, foot angle, principal angle and the length
and breadth of the steps.

d. Mannerism — Stereotype movement or habit peculiar to an individual. It may be:

– (1) Way of sitting.
– (2) Movement of the hand.
– (3) Movement of the body.
– (4) Movement of the facial muscles.
– (5) Expression of the mouth while articulating.
– (6) Manner of leaning.

e. Hands and feet — Size, shape and abnormalities of the hands and feet may be the
bases of identification.
Foot or hand marks found in the investigation of the crime scene may be:
(1) Foot or hand impression (2) Footprint or handprint.

f. Complexion — Complexion can be determined when the whole body is exposed

preferably to ordinary sunlight.

g. Changes in the eyes — A person identified because he is earsighted, far-sighted, color

blind, astigmatic, or crosseyed.

h. Facies — There are different kinds of facial expressions brought about by disease or racial
influence.
(1) Hippocratic facies (2) Mongolian facies
(3) Facies Leonine (4) Myxedemic facies

i. Left or right-handedness
j. Degree of nutrition — The determination must be in relation to the height and age. A
person may be thin, normal or stout.

Points of Identification Applicable to Both Living and Dead before onset of Decomposition:
1) Occupational Marks
2) Race (color of the skin, feature of the face, shape of the skull, wearing apparel)
3) Stature
4) Tattoo marks
5) Weight
6) Deformities
7) Birth Marks
8) Moles
9) Scars
10) Tribal Marks
11) Sexual Organ
12) Blood Examination
ANTHROPOMETRY (Bertillon System)
Alphonse Bertillon, a French criminologist, devised a scheme utilizing anthropometrical
measurement of the human body as the basis of identification.
Basis of the Bertillon System of Identification:
1. The human skeleton is unchangeable after the twentieth year.
2. It is impossible to find two human beings having bones exactly like.
3. The necessary measurement can easily be taken with the aid of a simple instrument.

Information Included in the System:

1. Descriptive data
2. Body marks
3. Anthropometical measurements:
a. Body measurements
b. Measurement of the head

PORTRAIT PARLE - (spoken picture) is a verbal, accurate and pictures-que description of the person
identified. If available, the investigator may look at what is commonly called rougue's galary or
photographic files of wanted or missing persons for comparison with the cartographic sketch.

EXTRINSIC FACTORS IN IDENTIFICATION

1. Ornamentations
2. Personal belongings
3. Wearing apparel
4. Foreign bodies
5. Identification by close friends and relatives
6. Identification records on file at the police department, immigration bureau, hospitals, etc.
7. Identification photograph

LIGHT AS A FACTOR IN IDENTIFICATION

Clearest moonlight or starlight: Experiments have shown that the best known person cannot be
recognized by the clearest moonlight at a distance greater than 16 to 17 yards and by starlight any further
than 10 to 13 yards.
a. Broad daylight b. Flash of firearm:
(1) Usually the assailant is hidden.
(2) The assault is unexpected and the attention of the person or
witness is at its minimum.
c. The flash of lighting produces sufficient light for the identification of an individual provided that the
person's eye is focused towards the individual he wishes to identify during the flash.
d. In case of artificial light, the identity is relative to the kind and intensity of the light. Experiments
may be made for every particular artificial light concerned.

SCIENTIFIC METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION

Aspects of Identification Requiring Scientific Knowledge:
• Fingerprinting
• Dental Identification
• Handwriting
• Identification of Skeleton
• Determination of Sex
• Determination of Age
• Identification of Blood and Blood Stains
• Identification of Hair and Fibers
A. FINGERPRINTING
Fingerprinting is considered to be the most valuable method of identification. It is universally used
because:
1. There are no two identical fingerprints.
2. Fingerprints are not changeable.

Practical Uses of Fingerprints:

1. Help establish identity in cases of dead bodies and unknown or missing persons.
2. Prints recovered from the crime scene associate person or weapon.
3. Prints on file are useful for comparative purposes and for the knowledge of previous criminal
records.

Dactylography is the art and study of recording fingerprints as a means of identification.

Poroscopy is the study of the pores found on the pappillary or friction ridges of the skin for purposes of
identification.

Advantages of Using Fingerprinting as a Means of Identification:

1. Not much training is necessary for a person to take, classify and compare fingerprints.
2. No expensive instrument is required in the operation.
3. The fingerprint itself is easy to classify.
4. Actual prints for comparative purposes are always available and suspected errors can easily be
checked
Methods of Producing Impressions:
1. Plain method
2. Rolled method

Kinds of Impressions:
1. Real impression
2. Chance impression
a. Visible print
b. Plastic print
c. Latent print

Types of Fingerprint Patterns:

Poroscopy (Locard's method of identification): as a means of identification, is applied when only a part
of the fingerprint is available for proper means of identification.

• Can fingerprints be effaced?

As long as the dermis of the bulbs of the finger is not completely destroyed, the fingerprints will always
remain unchanged and indestructible.

• Can fingerprints be forged?

There is no case on record known or have been written that forgery of fingerprints has been a complete
success.

B. Dental Identification
Importance:
1. The possibility of two persons to have the same dentition is quite remote.
2. The enamel of the teeth is the hardest substance of the human body.
3. After death, the greater the degree of tissue destruction, the greater is the importance of dental
characteristics as a means of identification.
4. The more recent the ante-mortem records of the person to be identified, the more reliable is the
comparative or exclusionary mode of identification that can be done.

In order to make an accurate dental record available for purposes of comparison with that of the
person to be identified, Presidential Decree No. 1575 was promulgated, requiring practitioners of dentistry
to keep records of their patients.

C. Handwriting
Sec. 23, Rule 132, Rules of Court - The handwriting of a person may be proved by any witness who
believes it to be the handwriting of such person, and has seen the person write, or has seen writing
purporting to be his upon which the witness has acted or been charged, and has thus acquired knowledge
of the handwriting of such person.

The genuiness of any disputed writing may be proven by any of the following ways:
1. Acknowledgement of the alleged writer that he wrote it; Statement of witness who saw the writing
made and is able to identify it as such; By the opinion of persons who are familiar with the
handwriting of the alleged writer, or
2. By the opinion of an expert who compares the questioned writing with that of other writings which
are admitted or treated to be genuine by the party against whom the evidence is offered.

C. Handwriting
Sec. 44, Rule 130, Rules of Court — Opinion of ordinary witnesses:
• The opinion of a witness regarding the identity of handwriting of a person, when he has knowledge
of the person or handwriting; the opinion of a subscribing witness to a writing; the validity of which
is in dispute, respecting the mental sanity of the signer; and the opinion of an intimate acquaintance
respecting the mental sanity of a person, the reason for the opinion being given, may be received
as evidence.
• In order for an ordinary witness to be qualified to express his opinion, it must be shown that he
has some familiarity with the handwriting of the person in a way recognized by law.

Some Practical Uses of Handwriting Examination:

1. Financial crimes (bogus checks, credit card fraud, embezzlement).
2. Death investigation (suicide notes, hotel registration cards)
3. Robberies (pawnshop notes, cashing of stolen checks)
 4. Kidnapping with ransom (demand note, threatening letter).
5. Anonymous threatening letters.
6. Falsification of documents (deeds of conveyance, receipts).

A Bibliotics is the science of handwriting analysis. It is the study of documents and writing
materials to determine its genuineness or authorship.

A Graphology is the study of handwriting for the purpose of determining the writer's personality,
character and aptitude.

Classification of Signature Forgery:

• a. Traced forgery
• b. Simulated forgery
• c. Spurious forgery
• The principle of identification of handwriting is also applicable to handprinting and handnumbering.

Instruments Necessary in Questioned Document Examination:

1. Photographic instruments
2. Magnifying lens and stereoscopic binocular microscope
3. Ultraviolet lamp and infra-red radiaton
4. Measuring caliper,
5. Good lighting facilities.

Purpose of Handwriting Examination:

1. Whether the document was written by the suspect.
2. Whether the document was written by the person whose signature it bears.
3. Whether the writing contains additions or deletions.
4. Whether the document such as bills, receipts, suicide notes or checks are genuine or a forgery.