Turf wars: authority and responsibility for the investigation of mass graves

Mass graves are complex products of large-scale crimes. Such scenes pose four conceptual challenges to investigators and forensic experts: the individual victim, the crime, the setting, and the statistical. Exhumation and post-mortem examination of mortal remains with associated personal and forensic evidence require integrated management of core forensic personnel including investigators, archaeologists, anthropologists, odontologists and pathologists, among whom there is overlapping expertise. The key to avoiding competition and ill-will among experts is to recognize that all such experts should be enabled to make known how their expertise matches with the temporal and spatial boundaries of victim, crime and setting. In turn, they should be apprised of where they fit into the overall judicial process and their limits within the investigation. Consequently, each expert requires access to the factual background of the case, to the site and its contents throughout the investigation. Each forensic team member has a responsibility to influence the investigation--throughout its course when possible--to make findings within their areas of expertise, and to make these available to the rest of the team so as to contribute most meaningfully to the aims of the investigation, both forensic and humanitarian. The on-site crime scene manager has an overarching role to enable integrated access to the complete scene and its contents by each forensic expert team member. In other words, the forensic scientist is given access and the ability to influence the investigation while control of evidence from the site as to identity and criminal activity are maintained by the crime scene manager. This contribution is directed at both the crime scene manager and each forensic expert; it describes the essential spatial and temporal parameters of an expert's opinion so as to encourage cooperation, and discourage conflict, within the forensic team.     

Assessing the investigative needs of rural law enforcement

Although the topic of rural crime has received relatively little attention in traditional criminal justice research, the more specialized subtopic of rural criminal investigation has received even less. As criminological research and public attention begin to focus upon rural crime due to its rapid growth, rural police agencies will need to assess their investigative attitudes and resources in an effort to reduce accelerating crime rates. This paper surveyed the attitudes of 52 rural sheriffs in an effort to gather information necessary to assess needs and attitudes unique to the rural investigation.     

Fatalities due to intoxicated arrestees jumping out of moving police vehicles

Fatalities resulting from emergency vehicle crashes are relatively rare. Mortality, particularly in the case of unbelted occupants, is relatively high. Data on drunken (handcuffed) arrestees jumping out of a moving police vehicle or the circumstances of such events have not been published. Two cases of such fatalities are described in this paper. Since these cases should be considered as "death in custody," may give rise to significant covering and speculation in the media, and may raise liability questions, they require an in-depth medicolegal investigation, including investigation of the crime scene, complete medicolegal autopsy/toxicology, and reconstruction of the event in the presence of an experienced forensic pathologist. From the 2 cases described in this paper, it appears that mechanical malfunctioning of the locking device of the door of the police vehicle and lack of controlling the actual lock-tied closing of the vehicle door (instead just assuming that it happened) may precipitate such cases. Auditory control by the police officers of the arrestee tampering with or manipulating the car door may be hampered by the background noise of the police vehicle, the on-board radio, and the use of a siren. Regular visual control and adequate control of the actual locking of the vehicle door are of paramount importance to prevent such mishaps. Reconstruction of the event in the presence of the forensic experts is mandatory to test the different hypotheses of the fatal event.     

The forensic entomologist in the context of the forensic pathologist's role.

An adequate death investigation requires the combined efforts and cooperation of experts in different disciplines: crime scene technicians, death investigators, forensic pathologists, anthropologists, entomologists, other medical and non-medical professionals. These front-line experts play a crucial role in every death investigation process. The forensic pathologist normally has the legal authority to take charge of the dead body at a death scene and his primary functions are the exterior and interior examination of the cadaver by analyzing the extent of antemortem injuries and the postmortem changes and the recovery of physical evidence. He is responsible for determining how, when and why of any death which is the result of violence, suspicious or unexplained circumstances or a death which is sudden or unattended, defending and explaining the reasons for making these diagnoses in a courtroom. The forensic entomologist can provide invaluable aid in death cases where human remains are colonized by insects and in the overall investigation. His principal role is to identify the arthropods associated with such cases and to analyze entomological data for interpreting insect evidence. He is responsible for determining the period of insect activity according to all the variables affecting insect invasion of remains and their development. The major goal of medico-criminal entomology is to contribute to the determination of the time, cause, manner and place of the investigated death (especially on badly decomposed corpses or skeletonized human remains) with the support of all the elements which can be inferred from the study of insects found on the cadaver or nearby. The application of techniques devised recently in forensic entomology can allow experts in the field to collect strong entomological evidence and provide useful information not only in a death investigation including movement or storage of the remains following death, time of dismemberment, postmortem artifacts on the body but also at the scene, and even more in child neglect, sexual molestation and identification of suspects. As the role of the forensic entomologist at the death scene, at the autopsy and in the laboratory is defined and well known, this paper focuses on the difficulties that could arise if forensic pathologists and entomologists are uncertain about the procedures that they have to follow, do not realize the value of objective findings or fail to evaluate them. Although every forensic case presents a slightly different set of circumstances and has to be tackled individually, the forensic pathologist should work with the forensic entomologist from the visual observations of the cadaver on the scene, through the collection of arthropods and temperature data at the death scene and at the autopsy, up to the final report with the interpretation of entomological and other biological evidence.     

Forensic identification of a rapist using unusual evidence.

This case report demonstrates a rape case, where no semen, hair, or fingerprints were left by the perpetrator at the crime scene, but rather uncharacteristic biological and physical evidence in the form of a lollipop and a pair of glasses. Three separate forensic laboratories collaborated using conventional forensic methods of PCR DNA typing, photography, and toolmark comparisons to provide investigators with scientific evidence which in turn was instrumental in bringing a violent criminal to justice. The importance of evaluating each item of evidence and realizing its forensic value is stressed in this case report.     

An elliptical incised wound of the breast misinterpreted as a bite injury

Bite injuries upon homicide victims are most often initially identified by the forensic pathologist during the course of the autopsy examination. Following such recognition, the injury or photographs of the traumatized site are then referred to a forensic odontologist for his or her examination, further characterization, and subsequent comparison with any suspect's dentition. However, if the pathologist misidentifies an injury caused by another mechanism as a human bite, this mistake can potentially be perpetuated by the dental consultant, since relatively few dentists regularly examine traumatic injuries other than those arising from bites. To illustrate such an event, a case is presented involving an incised wound of the breast, which was originally identified as an avulsive bite wound. Detailed examination by two odontologic consultants confirmed the wound as having been caused by human teeth, and further, they related the "bite injury" to a specific individual. The bite injury interpretation represented the only scientific evidence implicating the suspect at a subsequent trial for capital murder. Later examination of the tissues and photographs by a forensic pathologist and another dental consultant revealed that the injury was not due to human dentition, but rather resulted from a sharp-edged instrument. These consultants conducted a unique experiment to reduplicate the injury and prove its causation. This information was presented to the jury during the suspect's trial and resulted in his acquittal on all charges.     

Why teach crime scene management to forensic university students?

Despite enhanced forensic collaborations between law enforcement agencies and universities, crime scene management remains a domain seen more as technical than scientific, largely carried out by sworn police officers qualified as scene of crime officers (SOCOs), confining forensic graduates to specialized expertise fields. Under such circumstances, we must ask ourselves why and how do we provide a generalised dedicated course to academic pupils who are not primarily intended to join such teams, excepting sometimes to assist them on a specialized field (explosion, arson, etc.)?Currently in Quebec, forensic graduates cannot join crime scene units attached to police forces, mainly because of unions, which argue about the need to be an experienced police officer before qualifying for a crime scene course.Based on the operational experience of the author, who created the foundational graduate forensic programme in Quebec, Canada, this paper will explain why such an academic course is still of high importance, its rationale within an academic curriculum, its goal and its implementation. Challenges are still to be considered, but selected feedback from students who understood that the aim of this course is distinct from their formal support disciplines, encourage such an approach.     

Policing on prime-time: A comparison of television and real-world policing

This paper provides an investigation of presentations of police and policing activities in two purposively selected contemporary prime-time entertainment justice shows and one reality-based justice show. With the exception of being portrayed as overly successful, television police were portrayed closely to real-life police in terms of their gender, racial composition, organization, tasks, role, and response to crime. As such, prime-time television may aid viewers in better understanding the role of police in American society by providing a basic orientation to police and police work through its mediated presentations. Further research is needed involving a more encompassing sample of prime-time justice shows for more generalizable conclusions to be asserted.     

THE DELIVERY OF POLICE SERVICES: An Experiment in Team Policing

This article considers team policing as a method of deploying police manpower and examines the impact of an experiment in one neighborhood in a medium-sized American city. The first section reviews team policing in light of earlier police reforms and sets forth the basic tenets and expectations of team policing as a deployment strategy. Next the design of the quasi-experiment is discussed. The program is evaluated in terms of its impact upon a number of criteria, including attitudes toward the police, the evaluation of police services, clearance rates, and crime rates. While no reduction in crime rates was detected, a favorable impact was made in most other areas.     

A Case of Accidental Fatal Aluminum Phosphide Poisoning Involving Humans and Dogs

Aluminum phosphide is one of the commonest poisons encountered in agricultural areas, and manner of death in the victims is often suicidal and rarely homicidal or accidental. This paper presents an unusual case, where two humans (owner and housemaid) and eight dogs were found dead in the morning hours inside a room of a house, used as shelter for stray dogs. There was allegation by the son of the owner that his father had been killed. Crime scene visit by forensic pathologists helped to collect vital evidence. Autopsies of both the human victims and the dogs were conducted. Toxicological analysis of viscera, vomitus, leftover food, and chemical container at the crime scene tested positive for aluminum phosphide. The cause of death in both humans and dogs was aluminum phosphide poisoning. Investigation by police and the forensic approach to the case helped in ascertaining the manner of death, which was accidental.     

The contribution of forensic science to crime analysis and investigation: forensic intelligence

The debate in forensic science concentrates on issues such as standardisation, accreditation and de-contextualisation, in a legal and economical context, in order to ensure the scientific objectivity and efficiency that must guide the process of collecting, analysing, interpreting and reporting forensic evidence. At the same time, it is recognised that forensic case data is still poorly integrated into the investigation and the crime analysis process, despite evidence of its great potential in various situations and studies. A change of attitude is needed in order to accept an extended role for forensic science that goes beyond the production of evidence for the court. To stimulate and guide this development, a long-term intensive modelling activity of the investigative and crime analysis process that crosses the boundaries of different disciplines has been initiated. A framework that fully integrates forensic case data shows through examples the capital accumulated that may be put to use systematically.     

The Criminal Justice System Creates Incentives for False Convictions

Abstract

The American criminal justice system creates incentives for false conviction. For example, many public crime labs are funded in part per conviction. We show that the number of false convictions per year in the American criminal justice system should be considered “high.” We examine the incentives of police, forensic scientists, prosecutors, and public defenders in the U.S. Police, prosecutors, and forensic scientists often have an incentive to garner convictions with little incentive to convict the right person. These incentives create what economists call a “multitask problem” that seems to be resulting in a needlessly high rate of false convictions. Public defenders lack the resources and incentives needed to provide a vigorous defense for their clients. Corrective measures are discussed, along with a call for more research.     

Cadaver mix-up--an avoidable problem?

Depending on local conditions it may happen from time to time that no officer involved in the previous investigation is present during the forensic autopsy. In this case, the post mortem examiner often has to rely solely on written documentation concerning the identity of the deceased. The authors report a case where the body had already been mixed up with another body by the undertaker prior to the inspection by the police. In spite of clear distinguishing characteristics in the written documentation, this led to the wrong body being autopsied. For the post mortem examiner, the only safe way to identify a body seems to be the presence of persons who had known the deceased or of police officers as acknowledging witnesses. If these conditions are not given, other means of safe information on the identity are called for, for example a "police body card" similar to an evidence card.     

The perils of investigating and certifying deaths in police custody.

Procedures leading to the proper investigation and certification of deaths occurring in police custody are discussed. The importance of training and experience, of interchange of information between investigator and forensic pathologist, and of common sense in the pursuit of fairness toward this end is emphasized.     

Effective use of forensic science in volume crime investigations: Identifying recurring themes in the literature

New scientific, technological and legal developments, particularly the introduction of national databases for DNA and fingerprints, have led to increased use of forensic science in the investigation of crime. There is an assumption, and in some instances specific assertions, that such developments bring improvements either in broad criminal justice terms or more narrowly in terms of economic or practical efficiencies. The underlying presumption is that the new technological opportunities will be understood and effectively implemented. This research investigates whether such increases in activity have also been accompanied by improvements in the effective use of forensic science. A systematic review of thirty-six reports published (predominantly in England and Wales) since the 1980s, which have considered the use of forensic science in the investigation of volume crimes, was carried out. These reports have identified a number of recurrent themes that influenced how effectively forensic science was used in investigations. The themes identified included forensic knowledge and training of investigators, communication and information exchange between specialists and investigators, timeliness of forensic results, interagency relationships and deployment of crime scene examiner resources. The research findings suggest that these factors continue to hinder the effective use of forensic science despite technological advances and this paper considers their potential causes.     

Simulation of homicide to hide child's suicide

A case of pretending a homicide to conceal a child suicide is reported in which characteristic findings of the postmortem examination and conclusions from the analysis of forensic autopsy series provided substantial support for the police investigation. In the late night hours of a spring day the police authorities were informed that a 10-year-old girl had been found dead on a playground near its parents' house. As injuries of the neck were recognized by the police officers a homicide investigation was initiated. The post mortem examination showed a furrow symmetrically slanting from the front to the nape of the neck, discrete punctate haemorrhages of the skin of the face and numerous 'tram-line' bruises of the back, buttocks and extremities. These findings indicated as cause and manner of death suicidal hanging following corporal punishment. Confronted with these conclusions the mother immediately made a corresponding confession.     

Murders for profit. The case of John Donald Merrett

Forensic cases may be of historical interest because of their rarity, unique characteristics and conclusions, and potential for educating forensic scientists. The case of John Donald Merrett, who committed multiple murders for profit in Great Britain in 1926 and in 1954, is a notable example of a case in which both police and forensic scientists made serious errors, these errors leading to Merrett's acquittal when he was tried in 1927 for the shooting death of his mother. Imprisoned for forgery, Merrett was released only to resume a life of crime culminating in 1954 in the brutal murders of his wife and mother-in-law. Pursued by the police, he committed suicide. The Merrett case was of great benefit to forensic medicine in emphasizing the necessity for close teamwork among police and forensic scientists and in furthering the development of forensic ballistics.     

Luke May of Seattle--"America's Sherlock Holmes".

This paper provides a brief biography of Luke S. May (1886-1965), whose pioneering work in forensic science in the United States has not received full recognition. May began as a private detective in Salt Lake City, Utah, shortly after the turn of the century and later established his own agency, the Revelare International Secret Service, which he moved to Seattle, Washington, in 1919. Although basically self-taught in scientific matters, May built a solid reputation among police agencies and attorneys in the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada as a serious and effective scientific investigator in the era before public crime laboratories. This reputation as "America's Sherlock Holmes" also led to his being consulted on the establishment of the first American crime laboratory at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, and on a laboratory for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at Regina, in Saskatchewan, Canada. He contributed to a landmark case of court acceptance of toolmark identification, invented specialized instruments, and founded an institute to teach scientific criminal investigation to police officers. His earliest associates were John L. Harris and J. Clark Sellers, both of whom became recognized document examiners on the West Coast and were followed by a second and a third generation of practitioners.     

The forensic examination of structural fires in Victoria,Australia: Decision-making processes and impact on judicial outcomes

There is a body of published research that has evaluated the contribution of forensic science to the criminal justice system, but many disciplines of forensic science remain unexplored in this regard. The aim of this study was to examine the contribution that forensic fire examination services provide to criminal investigations and court processes in arson cases. Forensic fire examination services differ in a number of ways to the disciplines covered in previous research on the impact of forensic evidence on justice outcomes. Forensic fire examinations involve a combination of scene examination and laboratory analyses, and the results can provide critical evidence of whether an incident that has occurred is a criminal offence (i.e. whether a fire has occurred as the result of an act of arson). Forensic fire examination is also a discipline that has faced challenges and undergone development in recent decades regarding its scientific basis and the issue of contextual bias. In this study, data were collated for 273 structural fires that were examined by the forensic fire services in Victoria, Australia. In this jurisdiction, scene and laboratory forensic services are delivered within short time frames with a focus on providing impartial scientific and investigative services to assist criminal investigations conducted by police. The current dataset was highly skewed in terms of criminal justice outcomes and was not suitable for conducting the planned statistical analyses. Nonetheless, the pattern of findings obtained suggested that the inclusion of forensic evidence which supported the prosecution of arson may be associated with an increased likelihood of suspects being charged and defendants found guilty. Examination of the decision-making process of the forensic fire examiners has provided insight into the variety of evidence that is considered by forensic experts in reaching the important conclusion about the origin and cause of structural fires.     

Measuring the impact of forensic science in detecting burglary and autocrime offences

As UK investment in forensic science has increased, the government has taken a fresh interest in how far this has led to dividends in terms of the detection of crime and its reduction. The Home Office funded 'Pathfinder Project' sought to monitor and document the complex relationships between the collection and use of forensic material (looking at a range of forensic science techniques) and its impact on crime detection. The project specifically targeted the 'volume' crimes of burglary and vehicle crime. Detailed data was gathered on all stages of the process between the collection and use of forensic material and crime detection. The model falls into two conceptual phases--scene attendance to suspect identification and identification to detection. From the analysis it was found that approximately one third of burglary and autocrime scenes are visited by SOCOs. While scientific identifications are only made in a minority of burglary and autocrime offences overall, it belies their importance. About one in ten of burglary and autocrime cases are cleared up by the police and it is estimated that fingerprints and SGMPlus were a contributory factor in achieving one third of these clear ups.