Height Estimate Living Individuals through Criminal Expert Images – Simulated Case Study

Abstract

This study aims to carry out a comparative analysis of two scientific methods used, in criminal expertise, to estimate the height of an individual through images, aiming to point out the technique that most closely approximates the known real height, in a closed environment, in a controlled situation, that is, free movement of individuals. For that, the real height of the individual, 44 years old, female, was measured. Images of the individual were captured by simulating a video surveillance system. The exams were performed through these images, analyzed in microcomputers, using free software, captured by a digital camera, in a closed and controlled environment, obtaining results by descriptive statistics. The images obtained were analyzed by three trained and calibrated examiners, without any knowledge among them about the results and the actual height of the individual analyzed in the sample. In the Template Overlap Technique, the three examiners obtained the same median value (163 cm), estimated in the range between 162 cm and 165 cm. For the Adapted Photo, the values were estimated in the range between 160 cm and 165 cm. It is concluded that the two techniques proposed for estimating height in living individuals through images, as a complement in the process of human identification, in the criminal forensic scope, proved to be reliable and valid, with no statistical difference in the three observations of each examiner. It is important to consider that the research images had good quality and minimal distortion, providing adequate visualization of the individual on the scene, which in fact is not always a reality in the forensic routine.