Abstract & Overview
Photography in forensic autopsies of violent death is intended to document the material evidence of the offense and guide decisions in the courts of law. In this paper, we tested the hypothesis that the current photographs, presented in the forensic reports of the Dr. José Adelino da Silva Legal Medical Institute, in Porto Velho, located in the capital of the State of Rondônia, in Brazil, would be inappropriate for not meeting the criteria that must contribute to the final quality of forensic photography. Through a retrospective analysis, we evaluated the quality of the photographs incorporated in the reports of the forensic autopsies related to violent death. We concluded that more than half of the incorporated photographs (52.6%) were not technically feasible and, regarding this criterion, they should not have been used in the reports. Considering the limitations found, it is suggested strategies to be adopted at the Institute to correct them, being essential the elaboration of a protocol with the harmonized procedures for the photographic record of the forensic autopsies with a view to improving the forensic expert reports.