ABSTRACT
An important goal of medicolegal death investigation is the determination of the cause and manner of death. The utilization and application of standard operating procedures, protocols, and scientific analyses not only facilitates this goal but also aids outside investigators such as law enforcement in the reconstruction of the death circumstances. After a death is reported to the coroner (C)/medical examiner ME, and that death has been determined to meet the criteria for a C/ME case, the death investigation begins or, more precisely, continues, sometimes with a visit to the death scene by medicolegal death investigator and/or pathologist, especially in water-related deaths. Forensic science is the application of science to criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies working in the criminal justice system. The forensic scientist is the key individual trained and skilled in utilizing technologies that allow the application of the principles of the physical and natural sciences to the analysis of evidence.
