Crime scene staging and its detection

Crime scene staging is a recognized phenomenon within the criminal justice field. This article defines the occurrence for staging, identifies the motives for staging, and identifies the act that precipitated the staging. It reports the results of an exploratory survey of 20 well-versed and highly trained law enforcement officers' experience with staging in fatal and nonfatal incidents, and it reports the most commonly observed forms of crime scene staging. Investigative strategies and indicators of staging are also presented.     

青少年骨发育X线分级方法

目的 利用青少年骨关节x线影像变化规律制定青少年骨发育X线分级标准.方法 参照国内外权威学者关于不同部位关节骨骼发育分级的研究成果,以骺软骨发育组织学分层(区)为理论支撑、以骨发育X线影像特征为基础的分级原理.横向和纵向观察我国河南、海南、浙江三个省份300名11～20周岁男、女性青少年双侧锁骨胸骨端及左侧肩、肘、腕、髋、膝、踝关节骨发育X线影像特征,选取与年龄变化关系密切的24项骨骼发育指标.结果 根据不同部位关节骨骺生长变化规律,将24项骨骼发育指标分为2级至8级不等.研究显示,各单一关节组成诸骨发育指标的分级基本相同或接近.单一关节内不同的骨骺发育变化具有同步性.结论 本分级标准涉及骨骼发育指标广、适用年龄范围宽、可操作性强,为我国法医学活体骨骼年龄推断建立了良好的基础平台.     

Staging and the Imaginary Institution of the Judge

According to the classical paradigm of the judicial act, the courthouse is a temple and the hearing is a ceremony. Even when secularized, justice rests upon a ritual and a ceremonial which confer on it both its sacredness and its authority. The origins of this staging are rooted in myth, religion and cosmogony which stem from the mediation of symbols. Through this ornamentation, the paternal figure is made present and guarantees, in a kind of irrational way, the authority of the institution. Since the mid nineties, the judicial institution has been emancipated from its staging. The modern goals of functionality and transparency of public services have progressively led to the abandoning of the sacredness of the judicial act, thus threatening its symbolic function. The purpose of this contribution is to highlight, through a semiotic approach, the dialectic opposing modernity and the authority of the judicial institution.     

Crime Scene Staging in Homicide

A nonrandom national U.S. sample of 946 homicide crime scenes--supplied by the FBI Behavioral Science Unit for purposes of research--was studied to delineate the prevalence, types, levels, and motives for staging in domestic, nonserial sexual, serial sexual, and general felony homicides. Stagers were found to be a relatively small group who employ a variety of methods to alter the crime scene in an attempt to redirect the investigation away from themselves as logical suspects. Results also suggest that different types of homicides have different staging rates based primarily on the relationship (or connection) between offender and victim. Implications for investigations and understanding this type of crime scene behavior are discussed.     

Spousal homicide and the subsequent staging of a sexual homicide at a distant location

The case of a 63-year-old man who killed his 52-year-old wife and then staged a sexual homicide at a distant location is reported. A review of all evidence, a forensic psychological interview, and psychological testing indicated that the murder was the result of a narcissistic rage reaction during which the subject beat his wife to death with a paint can, a clothing iron, and a rock. He then drove her body to a field 87.3 miles away, and positioned it in a manner that exposed her breasts and her underwear. He turned himself into the police two days later. There is no controlled empirical research on staging, although this single case supports the criminal investigative theory that staging exists, and is done to deliberately mislead homicide investigations (Douglas et al., 1992).     

民事证明妨碍推定的法理及适用条件

证明妨碍推定作为证明妨碍的制裁措施之一是恢复被证明妨碍行为破坏了的当事人之间的平衡，理解证明妨碍推定的法理基础必须有证明妨碍行为构成与证明妨碍法效果选择之阶段化视野，并结合证明妨碍制度的制度目标。同时应当以阶段化视野以及多元化制裁措施观理解证明妨碍推定的适用条件：证明妨碍推定的适用条件包括一般证明妨碍行为的构成条件和适用证明妨碍推定的特殊的措施条件。     

Age assessment by magnetic resonance imaging of the knee: a preliminary study

The authors developed an original magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) staging system for epiphyseal fusion of growth plate maturation of the knee and evaluated its reliability and validity for age assessment of living individuals. A total of 290 MRI scans of the knee were reviewed retrospectively in patients aged from 10 to 30 years old (138 males, 152 females). Five original MRI stages were defined to assess the degree of maturation of the distal femoral and proximal tibial epiphyses. Intra-observer variability was excellent and inter-observer variability was good, demonstrating the reliability and the validity of this original MRI staging system. In both sexes, the changes of growth plates (proximal tibial or distal femoral) were associated with age (p<0.001). Our results agreed with classic data on skeletal maturation of the knee, with globally earlier maturation in females than in males, and also earlier maturation of the proximal tibial epiphysis than of the distal femoral epiphysis. MRI of the knee is an efficient non-invasive method of age assessment, without the disadvantage of X-ray exposure. Further studies with larger groups are needed to support our results.     

Asphyxia Homicides in Finland, 1983–2012

Finland has one of the highest homicide rates in Western Europe, and almost every tenth homicide is caused by asphyxiation. Reliable statistics, a strict legislation, and an exceptionally high medico-legal autopsy rate formed a base for a nationwide analysis of asphyxia homicides (n = 383) during 30 years. The cases were identified through multiple records, and all the forensic pathology case files were studied in detail. In more than one out of five cases, there were indications of staging, and the homicide was revealed first at autopsy in close to one in ten cases. The vast majority of the homicides took place in private locations and involved persons known to each other. Every third victim was an intimate partner, and every tenth a child. Almost half of the victims died from manual strangulation, one in three from ligature strangulation. Smothering, choking, neck compression with a firm object, and thoracic compression were more rare methods. Drownings were excluded from this study material. Of all the victims, 7% had no observable external injuries. Petechiae were recorded in approximately in 61%, laryngohyoid fractures in 47%, and vocal cord hemorrhages in 16% of the cases. Every tenth female victim had genital injuries. Toxicological analyses were performed in close to all of the cases, and almost three out of four victims tested positive for blood alcohol. The various aspects of the demographics and autopsy findings covered in this study contribute reliable and accurate data to further strengthen the spectrum of observable medico-legal characteristics of asphyxia homicides.     

Fatal (F)laws: Law, Literature and Writing

In this article, we develop an account of judgment as writing which displaces and contests the conventional staging of the signifiers ‘law’ and ‘literature’. If judgment is understood as writing, then it is opened out onto the contexts which structure it, but which it must disavow or repress. To investigate this process, we read the judicial judgment of a killing of a gay man. In this text, the context that is simultaneously cited and repressed is that of literature - and specifically, Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. Literature functions not as law's other in this judgment, but as a legal concept. Its chief performative effect is the concealment of a corpse: literature enables law to forget the wounds of the murdered man, and to bury his corpse within the grammar of fate. Our reading is an attempt to illuminate the scene of this crime. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The rarity of "unusual" [corrected] dispositions of victim bodies: staging and posing

The act of leaving a victim's body in an unusual position is a conscious criminal action by an offender to thwart an investigation, shock the finder and investigators of the crime scene, or give perverted pleasure to the killer. The unusual position concepts of posing and staging a murder victim have been documented thoroughly and have been accepted by the courts as a definable phenomenon. One staging case and one posing case are outlined and reveal characteristics of those homicides. From the Washington State Attorney General's Homicide Investigation and Tracking System's database on murder covering the years 1981-2000 (a total of 5,224 cases), the relative frequency of unusual body dispositions is revealed as a very rare occurrence. Only 1.3% of victims are left in an unusual position, with 0.3% being posed and 0.1% being staged. The characteristics of these types of murders also set them apart: compared to all other murders, in staged murders the victims and killers are, on average, older. All victims and offenders in the staged murders are white, with victims being disproportionately white in murders with any kind of unusual body disposition. Likewise, females stand out as victims when the body is posed, staged, or left in other unusual positions. Whereas posed bodies are more likely to include sexual assault, often in serial murders, there is no evidence of either in the staged cases. Lastly, when a body is left in an unusual position, binding is more likely, as well as the use of more "hands on" means of killing the victim, such as stabbing or cutting weapons, bludgeons, ligatures, or hands and feet.     

Effect of Lower Third Molar Segmentations on Automated Tooth Development Staging using a Convolutional Neural Network

Staging third molar development is commonly used for age estimation in subadults. Automated developmental stage allocation to the mandibular left third molar in panoramic radiographs has been examined in a pilot study. This method used an AlexNet Deep Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) approach to stage lower left third molars, which had been selected by manually drawn bounding boxes around them. This method (bounding box AlexNet = BA) still contained parts of surrounding structures which may have affected the automated stage allocation performance. We hypothesize that segmenting only the third molar could further improve the automated stage allocation performance. Therefore, the current study aimed to determine and validate the effect of lower third molar segmentations on automated tooth development staging. Retrospectively, 400 panoramic radiographs were collected, processed and segmented in three ways: bounding box (BB), rough (RS), and full (FS) tooth segmentation. A DenseNet201 CNN was used for automated stage allocation. Automated staging results were compared with reference stages – allocated by human observers – overall and per stage. FS rendered the best results with a stage allocation accuracy of 0.61, a mean absolute difference of 0.53 stages and a Cohen's linear κ of 0.84. Misallocated stages were mostly neighboring stages, and DenseNet201 rendered better results than AlexNet by increasing the percentage of correctly allocated stages by 3% (BA compared to BB). FS increased the percentage of correctly allocated stages by 7% compared to BB. In conclusion, full tooth segmentation and a DenseNet CNN optimize automated dental stage allocation for age estimation.     

“Do We Have LIFT-Off?” Social Media Marketing and Digital Performance at a British Arts Festival

ABSTRACT

Arts festivals have been explored through many lenses, but social media marketing and digital performance are less studied. The potential of social media networks in digital performance is exemplified by the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT), which repositions social media technology as an enabler for audiences to co-produce digitally oriented performance. This article argues that the relationship between social media marketing and performance is more hybridized than often assumed, with performances forming a creative development loop from producer to audience through performative social media. Harnessing the creative potential of social media platforms via “digital staging” encourages audience insight into process as well as product.     

Differential Identification of Three Young Housefire Victims: Methods when Age Assessment Fails

Multiple fatality incidents involving more than one child of statistically same age (including twins) can be challenging from an identification standpoint. This case details an urban fire, in which four children perished. Age assessment on three of the victims utilizing maturity staging described by Moorrees, Fanning, and Hunt yielded insignificant results. However, a plot of the MFH data shows the difference between two identical twins and a third child. The twins share a similar growth pattern, whereas the other was different. Based on this graphical interpretation, the nontwin victim was positively identified through exclusion. These results were verified through statistical testing. This case demonstrates a method to repurpose age assessment data to graphically distinguish between child victims. Further, it is shown that radiographic and clinical presentation in childhood identical twins can elicit genetic versus acquired similarities and differences, which can be used for identification of individuals and exclusion of others.     

Trying Something Old: The Impact of Shame Sanctioning on Drunk Driving and Alcohol‐Related Traffic Safety

Largely absent from US criminal sentencing since the early 1800s, shame penalties have been staging a comeback. This revival has been met by a number of debates among legal scholars, one of which centers on the potential for such penalties to reduce crime. This study addresses this debate by investigating the impact of formal shaming on drunk driving and alcohol‐related traffic safety in Ohio. In accordance with the Traffic Law Reform Act of 2004, judges have since been mandated to issue “restricted plates” to certain first‐time and all repeat DUI offenders with limited driving privileges. Results indicate a curvilinear association between punishment levels and drunk driving. Increases in the certainty and visibility of plates are associated with decreases in suspension rates, but there is a point at which increasing the punishment level no longer retains its intended impact. In addition, levels of punishment are unrelated to alcohol‐related traffic safety.     

The Triborder–terrorism nexus

The Triborder region of South America, where the borders of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay intersect, comprises a population of approximately 700,000 inhabitants, among them 15,000–20,000 are Arabs, mostly of Lebanese descent. The region has gained a reputation as a hub of illegal activities, ranging from sales of pirated electronic goods and software to trafficking in drugs, weapons and illegal migrants. Also, the Triborder's relatively unregulated financial sector launders tens of billions of dollars of criminal funds and causes flight of capital annually. Reports that the region is a terrorist haven and staging area seem exaggerated; yet Arabs' extensive participation in the Triborder underground economy is believed to generate funds on behalf of Islamic extremists in the Middle East, especially Hezbollah and Hamas. Efforts to crack down on pirate businesses and alleged terrorist financiers have been constrained by government apathy, widespread police and judicial corruption and a lack of effective anti-terrorist legislation. Also, the dependence of many of the Triborder's inhabitants on the underground economy represents an effective constraint on enforcement action.     

四川汉族青少年肘关节数字X线影像骨龄特征研究

目的观测四川地区青少年肘关节数字X影像的骨发育特征规律,建立肘关节推断年龄的回归方程。方法拍摄608例8～18岁青少年进行肘关节数字X线片,按性别及年龄分组,选取肘关节6个骨化中心作为观测指标,对发育特征进行分级、赋值。采用SPSS 15.0统计软件对各观测值进行描述性统计学分析,建立推算年龄的回归方程。结果得出男女性青少年肘关节继发骨化中心出现、闭合的年龄范围、平均年龄以及95%置信区间等数据。一元回归方程的复相关系数(R)范围:男性0.874～0.914,女性0.883～0.954;年龄估计值标准误(SE)范围:男性0.934～1.101岁,女性0.561～0.883岁;多元回归方程R值及SE值:男性为0.946、0.750岁,女性为0.964、0.500岁。所有方程均经统计学检验与诊断,具有较好的适用性。结论本文选择的肘关节指标发育特征与年龄有相关性,其中肱骨内上髁、桡骨小头及肱骨小头骨骺均呈高度显著相关,建立的回归方程可用于相关人群年龄推断,且多元回归方程准确性更高。     

Church,State, and Society in the East

The articles in this issue of Russian Politics and Law examine the role of religion in state-society relations in Russia, with a specific focus on the Russian Orthodox Church. They highlight the role of the Church in modern Russian society and its relationship with the state, showing that as the relationship between Church and state has become closer, hopes that Patriarch Kirill would rejuvenate the Church have proved largely unfounded.     

Church,State, and Society in the East

This issue of Russian Politics and Law concludes our series reviewing the role of religion in state-society relations in the former Soviet Union. This issue examines the role of the Church in Belarus and provides several analytical perspectives on the series' findings. The analytical findings highlight the distinction between the extent of popular identification with Orthodoxy and levels of active practice and belief among the population.     

Church,State, and Society in the East

The articles in this issue of Russian Politics and Law review the role of religion in state-society relations in the former Soviet Union. They examine the role of the Church in several former Soviet republics and show that the Orthodox Churches in former Soviet states share many commonalities.     

Third Molar Development: Evaluation of Nine Tooth Development Registration Techniques for Age Estimations

Multiple third molar development registration techniques exist. Therefore the aim of this study was to detect which third molar development registration technique was most promising to use as a tool for subadult age estimation. On a collection of 1199 panoramic radiographs the development of all present third molars was registered following nine different registration techniques [Gleiser, Hunt (GH); Haavikko (HV); Demirjian (DM); Raungpaka (RA); Gustafson, Koch (GK); Harris, Nortje (HN); Kullman (KU); Moorrees (MO); Cameriere (CA)]. Regression models with age as response and the third molar registration as predictor were developed for each registration technique separately. The MO technique disclosed highest R² (F 51%, M 45%) and lowest root mean squared error (F 3.42 years; M 3.67 years) values, but differences with other techniques were small in magnitude. The amount of stages utilized in the explored staging techniques slightly influenced the age predictions.