In search of identity: The field of forensic anthropology in Brazil—Profession and practice

The existing divergencies in the development of forensic anthropology (FA) around the world justify an analysis of its situation in each country/region. Our objective is to report information gathered directly from professionals acting in the field of forensic anthropology in Brazil, with the aim of highlighting the challenges of the discipline and contributing to its advancement. The research consisted of personal visits in Medico‐Legal Institutes (IMLs) in nine states of the country and semi‐structured interviews with 16 professionals. Detailed analysis of the Results suggests the field of forensic anthropology, despite the engagement and dedication of its professionals, cannot yet be considered a well‐structured discipline across the country. The academic background of professionals is highly heterogenous. The applied methods vary, and common protocol is not always followed. The demand highly exceeds the available human resources. The lack of comparative material Results in high percentage of cases remaining unsolved. Important divergences exist in terms of infrastructure and professional resources between the states. The limited cooperation between different IMLs and between different sections of the same IML—together with a general disbelief in the usefulness of anthropological examination in forensic cases—hampers FA’s development. There is a great openness for scientific collaboration and an abundance of material for research. Our research demonstrated structural, political, and academic limitations that affect the FA field in Brazil. However, the expertise and dedication of professionals point to human potential as the chief strength of this discipline that supports and enables research, providing high‐quality services in a challenging context.     

Establishing Tobacco Origin from Pollen Identification: An Approach to Resolving the Debate

Previous research into pollen content of tobacco resulted in a debate. We address this debate and determine that pollen analysis may be able to assist with identifying geographical origin of tobacco. However, the value of any results should be assessed on a case‐by‐case regional basis until sufficient database information is available for an objective interpretation to be undertaken on a global basis. As a first step toward developing comparative data for South America, we analyzed a tobacco sample from Brazil in an effort to identify signature taxa from the state of Minas Gerais. We also assessed the role of honey additives to tobacco to assess this issue. Comparing the data to previously published data, we conclude that pollen signatures can distinguish broad geographic areas. We conclude that this forensic interpretation framework needs to be developed in context of the National Academy of Sciences recommendations for tightening methods in forensic science.     

Digital forensics research: The next 10 years

Today’s Golden Age of computer forensics is quickly coming to an end. Without a clear strategy for enabling research efforts that build upon one another, forensic research will fall behind the market, tools will become increasingly obsolete, and law enforcement, military and other users of computer forensics products will be unable to rely on the results of forensic analysis. This article summarizes current forensic research directions and argues that to move forward the community needs to adopt standardized, modular approaches for data representation and forensic processing.     

A fresh scientific look at transfer and persistence: From a materials science and tribology perspective

Knowledge of the mechanisms governing transfer, persistence, and recovery of trace evidence, together with background prevalence in the population of interest, and other task relevant information, is key for the forensic interpretation and reconstruction of what happened at the activity level. Up to now, this informational “toolkit” has largely been developed through empirical forensic studies on specific trace materials such as glass, textile fibers, and soil. Combined with the identified systemic siloing between disciplines, while valuable, such research tends to be very material-dependent, introducing specific parameters and interpretations that may have actually impeded the recognition of underlying foundational factors applicable to most material types. In Australia, there has been a renewed interest in developing a discipline-independent framework for the interpretation and/or reconstruction of trace evidence to interpret specific circumstances in casework. In this paper, we present a discipline agnostic “way of thinking” that has been anchored in foundational science underpinning the trace evidence discipline. Physical and mechanical material properties such as material geometry and surface topography, strength, stiffness, and hardness collectively influence contact interactions through underlying friction, wear, and lubrication cause and effect mechanisms. We discuss how these fundamental factors and parameters stemming from materials science and tribology may be adopted and adapted by forensic practitioners and researchers to contribute to a better understanding of transfer, persistence, and recovery mechanisms irrespective of evidence discipline and material type. Examples are provided to demonstrate the practical significance to real-life casework and academic research.     

Forensic science and criminal justice: An analysis of curricular models

The multi-disciplinary field of forensic science frequently finds its academic home within criminal justice programs. After examining the reasons for this academic linkage, an analysis of criminal justice curricular models and courses was undertaken to assess their applicability to forensic science education and careers. The authors concluded that the relationship between criminal justice and forensic science can be mutually beneficial; however, most criminal justice programs do not provide adequate preparation for meaningful careers in forensic science.     

法学语体研究——基于法学期刊编辑学的视角

经过20多年的发展,作为边缘法学的法律语言学的学科地位在事实上得以确立,法言法语渐被纳入学科研究对象。此外,作为现代语言学的分支,语体学已相对成熟,但法学语体问题却少有人问津。这也许与修辞学泰斗王德春教授主张语体种类之一的科学语体"不再细分"有关,也与自古以来"文术多门,各适所好"、"明者弗授,学者弗师"有关。然而,法学语体具有科学语体与政论语体甚至公文语体交叉的特点,可以视为语言分化的结果。法学语体研究滞后对我国法学研究与报刊编辑出版中的语言质量已造成消极影响。法学语体逐渐形成一些典型的语言手段及表达方式,如:词汇上庄重、严谨、文雅;句式完整,但具扩展性;语篇上具连贯性、充分性。我们应当恰当使用带语体色彩的词汇体现法学气派,并且合理使用长句、复合句反映法学风格。灵活运用的多种修辞表达方式充分体现了学术语境的科学理性与思维美感。法学语篇不妨在行文上流光溢彩,活泼多姿。与此同时,要防止不当话语修辞对交际和传播带来的负面影响。     

法庭科学的真谛——重温林几教授《二十年来法医学之进步》

《二十年来法医学之进步》一文,是林几对法庭科学史、法庭科学内涵、范围、管理、教育、学术、立法及法庭科学人文、人格等的研究成果,是林几的教育思想及学术思想的集中体现.文章揭示了法庭科学的真谛,对今天仍有十分重要的历史和现实意义.     

回顾与展望:我国司法鉴定制度变迁与实践

《关于司法鉴定管理问题的决定》出台至今司法鉴定制度建设可大致划分为制度建立、细化管理、严格监管三个阶段。15年以来,鉴定制度建设成效显著,鉴定活动及管理日趋规范,鉴定数量和规模大幅增长,鉴定研究成果丰硕。但仍有一些问题有待进一步解决,更高层次的统一立法尚未突破,存在标准化与科学化的技术瓶颈,鉴定资源与司法需求仍的矛盾,行业自治和认证认可有待完善,鉴定研究手段和成果发表也存在局限。应进一步加强司法鉴定立法,关注司法鉴定实践,注重引导电子化时代司法鉴定的发展。     

Criteria for the interpretation of cocaine levels in human biological samples and their relation to the cause of death

The determination that cocaine is directly responsible for the immediate cause of death should be considered only when there is a reasonably complete understanding of the circumstances or facts surrounding the death. Another, more obvious and immediate cause of death must be absent, or, at least cocaine must be shown to be a significant contributing factor in the chain of medical findings that lead directly to the immediate cause of death. Not all death investigation requires the sequential steps described in this paper, but these steps must be considered early on in the investigation whenever there is scene, investigational, medical or a historical basis to believe that cocaine is directly related to the cause of death. A relatively high profile death when cocaine is known to be involved, or a death involving unusual behavior on the part of the deceased with police involvement are examples where these considerations may well apply. Information needs to be obtained as soon as possible to have the highest chance of successfully documenting the toxicologic basis for the diagnosis. These facts would include, but would not necessarily be limited to, a scene investigation (whenever possible), a careful review of the investigative reports from all involved agencies, the initial core temperature of the body as well as that of the environment at the time of the collapse or death, the past medical history of the individual, and the results of a complete forensic autopsy and toxicologic studies. Knowledge of and an understanding of the current relevant forensic literature on this subject should be available to the reviewer prior to any interpretation of the significance of cocaine upon a specific death.     

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.     

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.     

刑事司法鉴定中的程序正义——邱兴华案对中国刑事司法鉴定制度的启示

邱兴华一案给我们的启示是:赋予当事人直接启动司法鉴定的权利,允许控辩双方的专家在法庭上对鉴定意见进行自由、公开的辩论,建立统一的司法鉴定标准,是在中国刑事司法鉴定领域实现程序正义的基本要求。     

Control systems/SCADA forensics,what's the difference?

Immature IT security, increasing network connectivity and unwavering media attention is causing an increase in the number of control system cyber security incidents. For forensic examinations in these environments, knowledge and skills are needed in the field of hardware, networks and data analysis. For forensic examiners, this paper is meant to be a crash course on control systems and their forensic opportunities, focussing on the differences compared to regular IT systems. Assistance from experienced field engineers during forensic acquisition of control systems seems inevitable in order to guarantee process safety, business continuity and examination efficiency. For people working in the control system community, this paper may be helpful to get an idea about specific forensic issues about which they would normally not bother, but may be crucial as soon as their systems are under attack or become part of a law enforcement investigation. For analysis of acquired data, existing tools for network security monitoring have useful functionality for forensic applications but are designed for real-time acquisition and often not directly usable for post-mortem analysis of acquired data in a forensically sound way. The constant and predictable way in which control systems normally behave makes forensic application of anomaly-based threat detection an interesting topic for further research.     

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.     

Prostatic acid phosphatase activity in the postcoital vagina.

The present results are in general agreement with previous reports on the minimal level of AP activity that should be designated positive and on the period after intercourse in which elevated levels can be demonstrated. In this study 100% of the specimens above 25 KAu were taken within 48 hours of intercourse and 85.7% of these were within 24 hours. For values above 50 KAu, all were within 24 hours of intercourse. A low AP level does not rule out the possibility of recent coitus, particuarly if the woman was menstruating or had douched or used some suppository preparation. These findings also point to the possible interference of certain pathologies in correlating AP activity and time since coitus. As other authors have shown and this study has confirmed, some reactive substance seems to be present in the vagina at all times. For the use of AP assays in the forensic investigation of alleged rape cases, it is suggested that a thorough, accurate history be obtained with regard to douches and suppositories and that the presence of vaginal pathologies be noted. Further research on the techniques used in the forensic investigation of sexually related crimes is proceeding. The large proportion of negative samples within 24 hours of intercourse in this and other studies needs clarification. Other sampling techniques and the quantitative measurement of several different constituents of semen may offer accurate estimates of the time of last intercourse. Large studies with stringent control of the possible variables will further refine this important area of forensic science.     

治理我国实践中司法鉴定失序的正途

司法鉴定制度作为司法制度的组成部分在诉讼中发挥着关键性的作用。然而,在我国司法实践中因相关职权履行不到位衍生了鉴定失序的现象,尤其是目前“诉讼掮客”引发的“鉴定黄牛”,更加剧了司法鉴定的乱象。由于理论对鉴定失序的原因研究不充分,司法实践对此现象分析的错位,在一定程度上干扰了司法鉴定制度改革的方向。基于此,深化司法鉴定制度改革更需要在强化司法行政有效管理和保障鉴定能力提高的基础上,更需要司法机关在实践中积极地扮演“第二守门员”的角色,履行鉴定启动决定权和鉴定使用选择权的控制职能,借助于鉴定人出庭作证来控制重复鉴定,同时还应通过保障当事人的鉴定权利使司法机关采纳鉴定意见获得可接受性,进而降低当事人重复鉴定的欲望,使司法实践中鉴定失序在正途中被不断纠正。     

尸体断层影像学文献计量分析

尸体断层影像学(post-mortem cross-sectional imaging,PMCSI),也称虚拟解剖(virtopsy)或解剖画像(Ai),是法医学的革命性技术。较国际而言,我国PMCSI领域发展相对缓慢。进行系统的PMCSI文献计量分析研究,对于厘清国际PMCSI发展整体概貌和制定我国PMCSI发展战略方面,有着重要的现实意义。本文通过对2013-2019年PMCSI领域下27个专业术语不同组合进行在线文献搜索,并对文献的年份、作者、研究领域、发表杂志、作者单位、发表国家等系列指标进行了定性定量分析。分析结果表明世界PMCSI发展迅速:PMCSI已成为国际法医学的研究热点;瑞士、日本和英国PMCSI研究位居世界领先地位;尸体计算机断层扫描、尸体计算机断层扫描血管造影和尸体磁共振成像三个领域研究最为深入;PMCSI研究已得到相关学界的认同;法医日常检案中普及PMCSI是世界发展趋势。     

Assessing Cognitive Bias in Forensic Decisions: A Review and Outlook

In recent years, a number of studies have demonstrated that forensic examiners can be biased by task-irrelevant contextual information. However, concerns relating to methodological flaws and ecological validity attenuate how much the current body of knowledge can be applied to real-life operational settings. The current review takes a narrative approach to synthesizing the literature across forensic science. Further, the review considers three main issues: (i) primary research on contextual bias within forensic science; (ii) methodological criticisms of this research; (iii) an alternative perspective that task-irrelevant contextual information does not always lead to error. One suggestion for future research is outlined, which is that studies on contextual bias in forensic decisions should be conducted in collaboration between forensic scientists and cognitive psychologists. Only then can rigorous and ecological valid experiments be created that will be able to assess how task-irrelevant contextual information influences forensic analysis and judgments in operationally valid settings.     

The Hazards of Investigating Internet Crimes Against Children: Digital Evidence Handlers’ Experiences with Vicarious Trauma and Coping Behaviors

Over the last two decades there has been a substantive increase in the number of cybercrime and digital forensic units in local and state police agencies across the US. There is, however, little research on the occupational responses of individuals serving in specialized roles within criminal justice agencies. Individuals tasked to these units are likely to encounter psychologically harmful materials on a regular basis due to the number of child pornography and sexual exploitation cases they are assigned. As a result, this study examined the experiences of vicarious trauma and coping behaviors of digital forensic examiners in a sample culled from across the country. The findings suggest that exposure to content involving crimes against children directly and indirectly increases the likelihood of trauma and incidence of coping strategies employed.     

Taxonomy of Challenges for Digital Forensics

Since its inception, over a decade ago, the field of digital forensics has faced numerous challenges. Despite different researchers and digital forensic practitioners having studied and analysed various known digital forensic challenges, as of 2013, there still exists a need for a formal classification of these challenges. This article therefore reviews existing research literature and highlights the various challenges that digital forensics has faced for the last 10 years. In conducting this research study, however, it was difficult for the authors to review all the existing research literature in the digital forensic domain; hence, sampling and randomization techniques were employed to facilitate the review of the gathered literature. Taxonomy of the various challenges is subsequently proposed in this paper based on our review of the literature. The taxonomy classifies the large number of digital forensic challenges into four well‐defined and easily understood categories. The proposed taxonomy can be useful, for example, in future developments of automated digital forensic tools by explicitly describing processes and procedures that focus on addressing specific challenges identified in this paper. However, it should also be noted that the purpose of this paper was not to propose any solutions to the individual challenges that digital forensics face, but to serve as a survey of the state of the art of the research area.