ABSTRACT
The necropsy report of a forensic case is different from a standard necropsy. A major difference between an ordinary necropsy of wildlife disease diagnostic laboratory and a forensic necropsy relates to the completeness of records that are kept about the procedures, observations and the results obtained. Most forensic cases reach court long time (months) after the necropsy was completed and several years may elapse before the time the pathologist is required to testify. The pathologist who appears in court long time after performing postmortem examination, may not remember the details of an individual necropsy. Negative and positive findings should be recorded. The abnormalities and lesions should be described in absolute units rather than in relative terms like enlarged, smaller than normal. The pathologist should review the documents thoroughly and be familiar with the case before attending the court. The pathologist must be able to differentiate between the observations made and the inferences drawn from the observations in the case.
