Editing Autopsy (section)

=== Forensic autopsy ===
[[File:2010-07-23-rechtsmedizin-berlin-8.jpg|thumb|Autopsy room of the [[Charité|Charité Berlin]], Germany, 2010]]
A forensic autopsy is used to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death.

[[Forensic science]] involves the application of the sciences to answer questions of interest to the legal system.

Medical examiners attempt to determine the time of death, the exact cause of death, and what, if anything, preceded the death, such as a struggle.  A forensic autopsy may include obtaining biological specimens from the deceased for toxicological testing, including stomach contents.  [[Toxicology]] tests may reveal the presence of one or more chemical "poisons" (all chemicals, in [[the dose makes the poison|sufficient quantities]], can be classified as a poison) and their quantity. Because post-mortem deterioration of the body, together with the gravitational pooling of bodily fluids, will necessarily alter the bodily environment, toxicology tests may overestimate, rather than underestimate, the quantity of the suspected chemical.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.relentlessdefense.com/forensics/autopsy/|title=Autopsy &#124; Mahoney Criminal Defense Group|website=Mahoney|accessdate=27 May 2025}}</ref>

Following an in-depth examination of all the [[evidence]], a medical examiner or [[coroner]] will assign a [[manner of death]] from the choices proscribed by the fact-finder's jurisdiction and will detail the evidence on the mechanism of the death.