§ 102870 Dental Identification Of Remains

This law lets a coroner or medical examiner ask a dentist to look at a dead person's teeth when they can't tell who the person is, and then sends those dental records to the Justice Department to compare with other databases and help identify the person.

Key Takeaways

•Coroners can have a dentist examine teeth when other ID methods fail.
•The dental report is sent to the Justice Department on a special form.
•The Justice Department stores the reports, compares them with existing records, and sends back the most likely matches.

Example

A body is found after a house fire and the face is badly burned, so the coroner can't tell who it is by looking at it, fingerprints, or DNA.

The coroner asks a qualified dentist to examine the teeth and write a report. The report is sent to the Department of Justice, which checks the dental info against its records and tells the coroner which possible identity matches best.

(a) In deaths investigated by the coroner or medical examiner where he or she is unable to establish the identity of the body or human remains by visual means, fingerprints, or other identifying data, the coroner or medical examiner may have a qualified dentist, as determined by the coroner or medical examiner, carry out a dental examination of the body or human remains. If the coroner or medical examiner with the aid of the dental examination and other identifying findings is still unable to establish the identity of the body or human remains, he or she shall prepare and forward the dental examination records to the Department of Justice on forms supplied by the Department of Justice for that purpose. (b) The Department of Justice shall act as a repository or computer center, or both, with respect to dental examination records and the final report of investigation specified in Section 27521 of the Government Code. The Department of Justice shall compare the dental examination records and the final report of investigation, if applicable, to records filed with the Violent Crime Information Center (Title 12 (commencing with Section 14200) of Part 4 of the Penal Code), shall determine which scoring probabilities are the highest for purposes of identification, and shall submit the information to the coroner or medical examiner who submitted the dental examination records and the final report of investigation, if applicable. (Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 284, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2001.)

Key Takeaways

•Coroners can have a dentist examine teeth when other ID methods fail.
•The dental report is sent to the Justice Department on a special form.
•The Justice Department stores the reports, compares them with existing records, and sends back the most likely matches.

Example

A body is found after a house fire and the face is badly burned, so the coroner can't tell who it is by looking at it, fingerprints, or DNA.

Key Takeaways

Example

Key Terms

References

§ 102870 Dental Identification Of Remains

Key Takeaways

Example

Key Terms

References

Key Takeaways

Example

Key Terms

Related Statutes

References

Key Takeaways

Example

Key Terms

Related Statutes

References