Equivocal Death Investigations

Equivocal Death Investigations (EDI) are death investigations designed to determine the facts and circumstances that surround a given death that are used in determining the proper manner of death (natural, accident, suicide, homicide, or undetermined) when the manner and/or circumstances of death are questioned.
In the EDI the investigation examines the historical aspects of the death and the events that led to the death. In addition, the EDI examines the cause and manner of death by way of examination of all related medical records, law enforcement event records and/or in some case psychological factors that may have had an impact in the events preceding the death.

Lastly, an EDI also seeks to identify the factors of causation, which lead to the death and attempts to determine if those factors could be altered in the future in order to prevent a similar death and/or event.
In an equivocal death analysis one has to use care to not only look for the "little things" but to also identify the potential responses to questions that may be raised in order to mitigate and/or justify the outcome and the events that superseded the death subject to investigation - in some cases years later. Most EDI's are used toward either criminal or civil prosecution, if warranted, and as such it is very important to identify potential exculpatory evidence that may defeat any efforts to seek a prosecution (especially from an outside entity), which would also have some effect on any potential civil action taken as well. Other cases may involve a situation where in a family member may wish to seek an amended and/or change to the death certificate related to the manner of death for varied reasons to include the ability to access certain insurance death benefits which may be limited by the initial finding as documented on a death certificate.