CHAPTER VII

SPECIAL DEATHS
JUDICIAL DEATH
 Medieval days
o Garroting
o Decapitation by means of the guillotine
o Drowning
 Art.III , Sec. I, Par. I of the Philippine
Constitution
o “cruel and unusual punishment shall not be
inflicted.”
METHODS OF JUDICIAL DEATH
 Death by Electrocution
 Death by Hanging
 Death by Musketry
 Death by Gas Chamber
EUTHANASIA

 Deliberate and painless acceleration of death

of a person usually suffering from an incurable
and distressing disease

 In the Philippines…
o “no person has the right to end his own life, much
less can he delegate such right to another”
TYPES OF EUTHANASIA

 Active Euthanasia
o Intentional or deliberate application of the means to
shorten the life of a person

 Passive Euthanasia
o Absence of the application of the means to
accelerate death but the natural course of the
disease is allowed to have its way to extinguish the
life of a person
WAYS OF PERFORMING EUTHANASIA

1. Administration of a lethal dose of poison

2. Overdosage of sedatives, hypnotics or other pain
relieving drugs
3. Injection of air into the bloodstream
4. Application of strong electric currents
5. Failure to institute the necessary management
procedure which is essential to preserve the life of the
patient
WHO MAY PERFORM EUTHANASIA

 The patient himself

 Thephysician with or without the knowledge

and consent of the patient
o Art 253, Revised Penal Code – Giving assistance to
suicide
o Murder
SUICIDE
 Usually the unfortunate consequence of mental illness
and social disorganization

TYPES OF SUICIDE
1. First Degree
2. Second Degree
3. Third Degree
4. Suicide under circumstances which suggest a lack of capacity
for intention
5. Self-destruction due to self-negligence
6. Justifiable Suicide
COMMON METHODS OF COMMITTING
SUICIDE
 Drugs and poisons
 Hanging
 Firearm
 Jumping from a height
 Drowning
 Cutting and stabbing
 Suffocation by plastic bag
 Electrocution
EVIDENCES THAT WILL INFER DEATH IS
SUICIDAL

 History of depression, unresolved personal problem, or

mental disease
 Previous attempt of self-destruction
 If committed by infliction of physical injuries, the
wounds are located in areas accessible to the hand,
vital parts of the body and usually solitary
EVIDENCES THAT WILL INFER DEATH IS
SUICIDAL
 The effects of the act of self-destruction may be found
in the body of the victim
 Presence of suicide note
 Suicide scene in a place not susceptible to public view;
and
 Evidences that will rule out homicide, murder, parricide
and other manner of violent death
DEATH FROM STARVATION
 Deprivation of a regular and constant supply of food and
water which is necessary to normal health of a person

TYPES OF STARVATION
1. Acute Starvation
 Necessary food has been suddenly and completely withheld
from a person
2. Chronic Starvation
 There is a gradual or deficient supply of food
CAUSES OF STARVATION

 Suicidal
o People go in a hunger strike to create sympathy
o Mistaken belief that people can live without food for
a prolonged period
o Excessive desire to lose weight
o Lunatics during depressive state
o As an expression of political dissent
CAUSES OF STARVATION
 Homicidal
o Deliberate deprival of food for helpless illegitimate
children, feeble-minded and old persons
o Punishment or act of revenge
 Accidental
o Scarcity of food or water during famines or draught
o Shipwreck, entombment of miners caused by
landslides, marooned sailors or fall in a pit
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE LENGTHS
OF SURVIVAL
 Age
o Children suffer earlier from the effects of starvation
than old aged people

 Condition of the body

o A healthy person with more fat deposit can resist
more deprival of food
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE LENGTHS
OF SURVIVAL
 Sex
o Women can withstand starvation longer than men

 Environment
o Exposure to higher temperature will accelerate
death