Rupture of a cardiac diverticulum resulting in sudden death

Cardiac diverticula have been documented in approximately 80 patients. In over 70% of cases, this lesion is associated with midline thoracoabdominal defects or other congenital malformations of the heart. The diverticulum is thought to occur early in embryogenesis from an outpouching of the endomyocardium through a weak region in the left ventricular wall, but its exact etiology is uncertain. The case of a 6-year-old white boy who died suddenly while playing is presented. Autopsy revealed a ruptured diverticulum of the left ventricular apex with massive hemopericardium and cardiac tamponade. No other abnormalities were found. The pertinent literature is reviewed.     

Toxicological findings in a death resulting from the ingestion of trimipramine

A fatality following ingestion of the tricyclic antidepressant trimipramine is presented. Whole blood concentrations of trimipramine and its metabolite N-desmethyltrimipramine were measured by gas-liquid chromatography and found to be 400 and 1130 ng/mL, respectively. These findings are compared to those of previous unpublished trimipramine fatalities and fatalities caused by other tricyclic antidepressants.     

美国法人犯罪的归责

美国联邦法院依据雇主责任原则对法人犯罪归责.在不同的州,法人犯罪的归责原则有所不同.法人犯罪的归责条件包括代理人的行为发生在职务范围内、代理人的目的是为了法人的利益,以及代理人的认识和行为归责于法人等.法人是否应当负刑事责任以及法人犯罪归责的根据是什么,在理论上仍存有争议.近年来,美国法人犯罪的归责理论得到了新的发展,深化了法人犯罪的理论研究.     

US: hospital negligent for failing to warn prior patient of risk of HIV infection by transfusion

The Supreme Court of Tennessee has ruled that a university hospital was negligent for not contacting patients who had received blood transfusions in the early 1980s to advise them of the risk of HIV infection. In Amos v Vanderbilt University, it awarded US$4.3 million in damages to the estate and family of a woman who died eight years after receiving HIV-tainted blood during surgery.     

Criminal identification comparison: aural versus visual identifications resulting from a simulated crime

This research was undertaken to investigate and contrast visual and aural/perceptual identifications of a previously unknown individual from a set of photographic and tape-recorded exemplars following a simulated crime. All participants were volunteers for the "criminal," the victim of an "assault," and all suspects drawn from a Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) class; the "witnesses" were 61 students in a law class. The student/witnesses were divided into four groups. Group A made three identifications (serially) one day, one week, and two weeks after the crime took place. Group B saw the photographs and heard the tapes only once a week after the incident, and Group C only after two weeks had elapsed. Witnesses in a fourth group (D) followed the same schedule as did Group A; however, they were presented with foils similar in appearance and speech to the criminal. Group D was presented both the foil and criminal in the photographic lineup at the final judging session. The results demonstrated that visual identification can be quite accurate although not consistently or predictably so. By contrast, aural/perceptual identifications were relatively poor. No strong trends for latencies were observed, either for repeated trials or for procedures involving different initiation latencies; nor did confidence levels appear to be related to accuracy of judgment. Finally, when a similar looking foil was included in the identification task, there was a weak trend for the foil to be chosen more often in subsequent trials. These results support the position that eyewitness--and especially earwitness--testimony should be viewed by judges and juries with greater caution than has been the case in the past; by appropriate instructions, juries should be given assistance in interpreting and in assigning appropriate weight to this kind of testimony.     

港口作业人身损害赔偿纠纷案评析

劳动者因工伤事故遭受人身损害,如果该工伤事故是因用人单位以外的第三人侵权造成的,该劳动者既是工伤事故中的受伤职工,又是侵权行为的受害人,有权同时获得工伤保险赔偿和人身侵权赔偿;用人单位和侵权人均应当依法承担各自所负的赔偿责任,即使劳动者已从其中一方先行获得赔偿,亦不能免除或减轻另一方的赔偿责任。     

In the wake of a negligent release law suit

Several staff members at a state psychiatric hospital were found negligent in a jury trial for having released a psychiatric patient who subsequently killed a member of the plaintiff's family. This study explored the impact of the law suit on the hospital staff members as individuals and on the functioning of the institution. Self-report measures revealed that both named defendants and nondefendant staff experienced symptoms of emotional disturbance associated with the litigation. Self-report measures suggest that the law suit was not instructive in any meaningful way regarding improved procedures for subsequent release decision making. Archival data indicate that the staff did release significantly fewer patients during the trial and follow-up period than prior to the litigation. Results are discussed in the context of Wexler's concept of therapeutic jurisprudence.This study was supported by a grant from the Research Grants Committee of the University of Alabama. The results are the opinions of the authors and do not reflect the opinions of the Research Grants Committee or the University of Alabama. We are indebted to Saleem Shah for his suggestions regarding methodology and particularly the need to investigate positive and instructive aspects of law suits.     

Criminal process and legal autopsy for insurance purposes following death in a foreign country

Circumstances of death and results of four autopsies after death abroad and return of the bodies to the Federal Republic are discussed. In two cases an exhumation was necessary since the bodies had been buried without any further formalities. The demand for an official second examination of the bodies after death abroad is strengthened.     

Sudden death resulting from epidermoid cyst of the brain

Epidermoid cysts of the brain are rare tumor-like lesions, most often of maldevelopmental origin. They are benign in nature, causing symptoms depending on their localization. Surgical resection leads to excellent results. A case is reported of a 68-year-old-man who died suddenly and unexpectedly. Postmortem examination revealed signs of central dysregulation and a bifrontal epidermoid cyst. To the authors' knowledge, death resulting from epidermoid cyst of the brain has not been reported so far.