Forensic Radiology and the Testimony of Shadows
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6451737 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Marc Trabsky (0000-0002-7123-8062, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia, corresponding author), Averyl Gaylor (La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 695-713 |
| Publication date | 2024-10-07 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social & Legal Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0964-6639 • E-ISSN: 1461-7390 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/09646639241287009 |
| OpenAlex | W4403203083 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 20 |
This article examines how radiological images became accepted by courts as visual evidence of death in the 20th century. Initially conceived as a speciality of photography, X-rays confounded courts, eliciting a range of judicial responses, from outright refusal to consider the images as any kind of evidence, to mocking them as cheap parlour tricks for an unwitting public, to recognising them as more reliable than the testimony of the expert witness. The article contends that courts moved towards recognising X-rays as proof of death only by both affirming forensic radiology's promise of ‘mechanical objectivity’ while acknowledging its reliance on the fallibility of ‘human subjectivity’. We suggest that this history has broader implications in socio-legal studies for comprehending how the invention of novel optical techniques continues to problematise legal epistemologies of death in the 21st century
Radiology · Autopsy Techniques and Outcomes · Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills · Medicine · Radiology practices and education
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |