Forensic Analysis of a Contact Lens in a Murder Case

Contact lenses have had rare relevance in trials and/or investigations. After 5 years of burial, orbital remnants were retrieved from an exhumed body and subsequently identified as a key piece of material evidence in a murder trial. The exhumed case materials were evaluated under laboratory conditions and were determined to be contact lens remnants. Contact lens fracture and burial simulation studies were performed to provide additional corroboration of the physical findings of the exhumed contact lens remnants. This material evidence was instrumental in providing factual proof refuting the defendant's testimony in the murder trial. A brief history of contact lens composition and use is provided for understanding the methods and observational results. This forensic case study represents the first published documentation of a contact lens from an exhumed body being used in a murder investigation and establishes an operational procedure for future forensic contact lens examinations.     

Child abduction murder: the impact of forensic evidence on solvability

This study examined 733 child abduction murders (CAMs) occurring from 1968 to 2002 to explore the influence of forensic evidence on case solvability in CAM investigations. It was hypothesized that the presence of forensic evidence connecting the offender to the crime would enhance case solvability in murder investigations of abducted children. This study examined the impact of CAM of different types of forensic evidence and the impact of the summed total of forensic evidence items on case solvability by controlling for victim age, victim race, victim gender, and victim-offender relationship. Time and distance theoretical predictors were also included. Binomial logistic regression models were used to determine whether forensic evidence was a critical solvability factor in murder investigations of abducted children. This research indicated that, while forensic evidence increased case solvability, the impact of forensic evidence on solvability was not as important as other solvability factors examined.     

Filicide, attempted filicide, and psychotic disorders

The objective of the study was to describe and discuss the cases of two women who faced criminal charges, one for attempting to murder her three children and the other for killing her 1-year-old boy. After a forensic psychiatric assessment of their level of criminal responsibility, these patients were considered not guilty by reason of insanity and were committed to forensic mental hospitals. These two patients received a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, according to the DSM-IV-TR criteria. In both cases, psychotic symptoms were present before the manifestation of violent behavior, in the form of persecutory delusions, auditory hallucinations, and pathological impulsivity. The investigation into cases of filicide may contribute powerfully to expand our understanding of motivational factors underlying this phenomenon and enhance the odds for effective prevention.     

Implications of Pseudologia Fantastica in Criminal Forensic Evaluations: A Review and Case Report

Pseudologia fantastica, a psychological phenomenon that has been described in the literature for at least a century, is an understudied and poorly understood entity. Sometimes referred to as pathological lying, pseudologia fantastica involves disproportionate fabrication that may be present for many years or a lifetime. In a forensic context, it can significantly complicate the evaluation of capacity to stand trial and, in certain jurisdictions, criminal responsibility. We review the current literature regarding pseudologia fantastica and present a case to highlight the clinical and forensic challenges it may create. We specifically discuss the complications that pseudologia fantastica may have on the assessment of a defendant's rational ability to consult with an attorney, a required element of capacity to stand trial. In addition, we discuss the implications of pseudologia fantastica in the evaluation of criminal responsibility.     

The Testimony of Forensic Identification Science: What Expert Witnesses Say and What Factfinders Hear

This research examined how variations in the presentation of forensic science information affect factfinders’ judgments in a trial. Participants read a summary of a murder case, the critical testimony being the results of a microscopic hair comparison given by a forensic expert. Across two experiments we manipulated how the expert expressed his results, whether he gave an explicit conclusion concerning identity of the hair, and whether the limitations of forensic science were expressed during trial. Qualitative testimony was more damaging to the defense than quantitative testimony, conclusion testimony increased the defendant’s culpability ratings when findings were presented quantitatively, and expressing limitations of forensic science had no appreciable effect. Results are discussed in terms of factfinders’ interpretation of forensic identification evidence.     

丽蝇科蝇类的生物学特性及其法医学应用

双翅目（Diptera）丽蝇科（Calliphoridae）蝇类是最早出现在腐败尸体、尸块上的主要蝇类。在法医昆虫学领域,根据丽蝇科的生活特性,可以较准确地推断出凶杀案或无名尸案的死亡时间（postmorteminter．val,PMI）,为案件侦破提供有利线索。本文介绍了丽蝇科蝇类的生物学、形态学特征,并对其在法医昆虫学与分子生物学、数学形态学、法医毒理学方面的联合应用进行了综述。     

The presence of low IQ and mental retardation among murder defendants referred for pretrial evaluation

After an overview of definitions of mental retardation and recent case law regarding mental retardation and the death penalty, this paper presents a study of factors associated with a mental retardation (MR) diagnosis among murder defendants. Subjects with a full-scale IQ< or =70 (n=42) were compared with other pretrial murder defendants (n=228) referred for forensic evaluation over a 5-year period. Subjects with an IQ< or =70 who were diagnosed with MR were compared with subjects with an IQ< or =70 who did not receive this diagnosis. Female murder defendants were more likely to receive a diagnosis of MR (p=0.03). MR was also more commonly diagnosed in subjects with an Axis I cognitive disorder (p=0.018). Having an IQ< or =70 was more common in subjects with a psychotic and substance use disorder (p=0.03) and did not necessarily lead to a diagnosis of MR in this subgroup. Implications for diagnosing MR among murder defendants are discussed.     

对邱兴华杀人案的司法鉴定学反思

关于邱兴华杀人案（下称邱案）的各种学术讨论和争论似乎已经不少，但查阅文献发现，有关邱案的文章，分别是从刑事诉讼法学、刑事证据学、刑事心理学、精神医学角度，法制新闻学以及从人权保护，法治进步等角度对该案进行解读。然而既然这是一个涉及司法鉴定的个案（虽然实际上并没有进行任何实质性鉴定活动），那么从司法鉴定学的角度对与该案有关的几个最基本的问题进行理论阐述，或许能有些许不同的作用。这几个问题包括：精神病概念的辨析，是否患病与是否需要接受刑事处罚之间是什么关系，何时需要启动司法精神医学鉴定？应如何配置我国刑事诉讼中的司法精神医学鉴定启动模式？     

Validation of the factor structure and predictive validity of the Forensic Evidence Evaluation Bias Scale for robbery and sexual assault trial scenarios

In order to investigate the role of pre-trial attitudes about forensic science in juror decision-making, a previous study demonstrated the predictive validity of the Forensic Evidence Evaluation Bias Scale (FEEBS), using a murder trial scenario, which featured ambiguous prosecution DNA evidence. The current study validates the FEEBS using two new crime types and the conditions include a manipulation of the presence of DNA evidence in the trial scenario. The FEEBS successfully predicted mock jurors' perceptions of the probative value of DNA evidence for both robbery and sexual assault trials. The two subscales of the FEEBS were demonstrated to have different predictive ability depending on the presence or absence of DNA evidence. A confirmatory factor analytic technique was used to validate the underlying two-factor structure of the FEEBS, as previously proposed. These results are discussed with reference to the CSI Effect literature, and the potential for improvement to less empirically supported voir dire questioning techniques.     

Attempted Serial Neonaticides: Case Report and a Brief Review of the Literature

Neonaticide is an infant murder occurring on the day of birth. The case reports found in the literature are often focused on the mother as the agent in the context of pregnancy denial, dissociative symptoms, or psychosis. However, this report describes a rare case of attempted serial neonaticides, in which the acts were committed by a nurse at the nursery of a referral hospital in Brazil. The authors describe a forensic psychiatric evaluation for criminal responsibility and correlate the information from this particular case with relevant forensic themes, namely neonaticide, Munchausen by proxy syndrome, and serial healthcare killers.     

Transnational organized crime and gun violence. A case for firearm forensic intelligence sharing

A threat to the safety of citizens in any country, the criminal misuse of firearms presents a wider danger to a nation's security, peace, stability and development. Firearms and their related evidence know no borders. It is not uncommon to find the murder weapon from a shooting in one city ending up in another city, country, or continent. No country remains unaffected by firearm violence. This paper describes how transnational organized crime and gun violence are interrelated, and makes the case for the international sharing of firearm forensic intelligence through Interpol's IBIN Program as an integral component of an intelligence-led policing strategy to combat cross-border gun related crime. With such a strategy in place, internationally mobile criminals who use firearms to further their illicit activities can no longer escape detection.     

“杀亲案件”135例法医学回顾分析

目的通过总结我省135例杀亲案件的案件资料,研究杀亲案件的特点,分析杀亲案件的侦办要点。方法收集2011~2013年间我国中部某省区域内发生的135例杀亲案件,对数据资料进行分析。结果杀亲案件主要发生在夫妻之间及父母子女,好发于农村,青壮年多见。一般无明显杀人动机,作案工具多为就地取材,死亡原因以机械性损伤和机械性窒息为主。结论杀亲案件在嫌疑人社会学特点、致伤工具、死亡原因、案发时间等方面反映出一定共性,但案件证据的收集是案件的侦办难点。     

The First Successful Use of a Low Stringency Familial Match in a French Criminal Investigation

We describe how a very simple application of familial searching resolved a decade‐old, high‐profile rape/murder in France. This was the first use of familial searching in a criminal case using the French STR DNA database, which contains approximately 1,800,000 profiles. When an unknown forensic profile (18 loci) was searched against the French arrestee/offender database using CODIS configured for a low stringency search, a single low stringency match was identified. This profile was attributed to the father of the man suspected to be the source of the semen recovered from the murder victim Elodie Kulik. The identification was confirmed using Y‐chromosome DNA from the putative father, an STR profile from the mother, and finally a tissue sample from the exhumed body of the man who left the semen. Because of this identification, the investigators are now pursuing possible co‐conspirators.     

The Empirical Limits of Forensic Mental Health Assessment

This article introduces a special issue of Law and Human Behavior, including five articles describing the limits of forensic mental health assessments of (a) risk of violence in female adolescents, (b) sexually violent predators, (c) dangerousness in capital murder cases, (d) child sexual abuse, and (e) PTSD litigants. Knowing the limits of forensic mental health assessment methods is essential in order to recognize their strengths, increase the credibility of forensic mental health assessment, and drive research that will enhance the value of assessments for the courts.     

肋骨骨折影像学在法医鉴定中的应用及相关问题

肋骨骨折法医学的诊断主要依靠医学影像学检查结果,影像学的误诊或漏诊将直接影响鉴定意见的准确性,从而可能导致刑事或民事案件的审判错误。本文详尽地总结和分析了肋骨骨折各种影像学检查技术的优缺点、漏误诊原因、法医学鉴定现状及法医鉴定时需考虑的因素,以提高法医学鉴定的准确性。     

Public beliefs about the accuracy and importance of forensic evidence in the United States

Recent advances in forensic science, especially the use of DNA technology, have revealed that faulty forensic analyses may have contributed to miscarriages of justice. In this study we build on recent research on the general public’s perceptions of the accuracy of 10 forensic science techniques and of each stage in the investigation process. We find that individuals in the United States hold a pessimistic view of the forensic science investigation process, believing that an error can occur about half of the time at each stage of the process. We find that respondents believe that forensics are far from perfect, with accuracy rates ranging from a low of 55% for voice analysis to a high of 83% for DNA analysis, with most techniques being considered between 65% and 75% accurate. Nevertheless, respondents still believe that forensic evidence is a key part of a criminal case, with nearly 30% of respondents believing that the absence of forensic evidence is sufficient for a prosecutor to drop the case and nearly 40% believing that the presence of forensic evidence – even if other forms of evidence suggest that the defendant is not guilty – is enough to convict the defendant.     

常州市武进区5年94例已破命案的回顾性研究

目的本课题收集真实案例进行回顾性研究、比对,寻找常州市武进区命案特征,总结命案现场的法医学检案重点、难点和相关实践经验。方法收集江苏省常州市武进区2006～2010年94例已破命案资料,应用Microsoft Excel软件进行一般描述性统计分析。结果 2009年、2010年案件数量略有上升,而每年的第一、三季度为命案高发季度。受害人及嫌疑人多为流动人口,男性显著多于女性,以青壮年为主。嫌疑人均学历较低,多从事打工、务农,或无业,多由纠纷升级为命案。以锐器伤及钝器伤多见,死因基本为机械性损伤和机械性窒息。结论命案发生与人口数量呈正相关。受害人及犯罪嫌疑人基本情况、作案动机、致伤工具、损伤分布、死因等均反映出了命案现场法医工作的基本内容、工作重要性及未来的研究发展方向。     

Dismemberment and Mutilation: A Data-Driven Exploration of Patterns,Motives, and Styles

Classification of violent behavior, including dismemberment and mutilation, has become increasingly more significant. This study uses a data-driven classification system based upon knowledge drawn from the pertinent literature, and examination of cases of offenders who have dismembered or mutilated their victims. The latter were extracted from the Serial Killer Database, as well as media sources, and assessed for characteristics of the perpetrators and victim(s). An informational form was developed and used to establish quantitative parameters and objectively extract pertinent information that could be used for comparison and pattern analysis. Motives and styles, as well as the organized/disorganized dichotomy for murder and dismemberment/mutilation, were examined for each case. The majority of cases demonstrated defensive styles (60%), with the second most common being offensive styles (26%), which differs from previous studies that do not exclude older cases. Additionally, 68% of cases reflected organized patterns for both murder and the acts of dismemberment or mutilation. The results support a data-driven classification system that may serve as a foundational model for the investigation of specific motives of this type of deviant behavior in future research.     

知识产权案件司法鉴定程序之探讨

在知识产权案件的审理中,知识产权司法鉴定扮演着越来越重要的角色,特别是涉及争议知识产权事项的鉴定已成为案件定性的关键性证据。鉴定启动程序应当从司法鉴定特性出发,对鉴定实施中的法律与事实事项作出初步界分,以程序公正来架构＂鉴定人、专家陪审员和专家辅助人＂的审判程式,同时可以附之知识产权技术顾问,以此来维护和保障司法的实体公正。