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Crime/forensics/DNA/body exhumation



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Sun Jan 18, 2009 2:31 am
Mars says...



Basically, my character is investigating a death, and at one point in the story she wants to have a body exhumed. She is not police or private eye (no official or legal standing).
How would she go about requesting this? Would she be able to get it done, seeing as she is not the police? How long would basic DNA testing take? What would the process be like?
I have no knowledge of this sort of thing, so any info is great. I'll be googling some things, but it's hard to find. :) Thank you!
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Sun Jan 18, 2009 3:29 am
Ducati says...



I'm not sure she would. Certainly she would have to get the Director of Public Prosecutions or District Attourney or High Standing Judge to sign off on it. I don't think they would let her because Exhumation can be offensive and traumatic for the victims family. The family of the victim would have to agree and she would have to show probable cause that evidence from the victims body would help to find the killer. Would she be performing the autopsy herself, or getting a medical or training university to do it? Or requesting help from the police? It's a highly unlikely situation, I'm afraid to say.
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Sun Jan 18, 2009 2:42 pm
Rosendorn says...



I would suggest looking up the Howdunit series of books by Writer's Digest. The one that would probably be the most helpful to you is Forensics, but you might also like Police Procedure and Investigation. They're really well written and are worth it if you're doing any sort of crime investigation.

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