Autopsied cases of drowning in Denmark 1987-1989.

In the 3-year period 1987-1989, 219 drowning cases were submitted to medico-legal autopsy in Denmark. The demographic data including the manner of death and the external findings are reported. In 74 accident cases analysis for blood-alcohol concentration was performed. In 53% a concentration of more than 0.1% was found. In 91 drowning cases (age more than 18 years and where the time interval in the water was less than 24 h) the average weight of both lungs was 1.411 g, compared to 994 g in 20 control cases. In 7% of the drowning cases the weight was less than 1.000 g, so called dry lungs. Finally the weight of the lungs and the amount of pleural transsudate in relation to the time interval in the water were registered in 198 cases. For a longer time interval in the water the weight of the lungs decreased, while the amount of pleural transsudate increased. By adding these two parameters, the combined weight was between 1.000 and 2.200 g in more than 75% of the cases as long as the interval in the water was less than 30 days.     

Race,reintegration, and social capital in Singapore

Social capital, or the lack of, has variously been acknowledged as contributing to criminal and delinquent behavior among certain groups in society. It has rarely been employed to explain why ex-offenders are unable to break free from recalcitrant behavior and reintegrate into society. We argue that Indians and Malays, as racial minorities in Singapore and disproportionately represented in the prison and re-offending population, are significantly less likely to achieve reintegration than those who belong to the Chinese majority. Because Singapore is a highly racialized society, the effect of race on recidivism and rehabilitation is clearly identifiable. Understanding racial structuration by taking into account the differential impact of a hierarchically organized network of social relationships is central to this argument. For such vulnerable groups, social capital plays a critical role. The uneven distribution of ethnic capital restricts the ability of the Indians and Malays and enables the Chinese to achieve acceptance into the mainstream.     

GHB and driving impairment.

Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) was identified in the blood of 13 subjects arrested for impaired driving. GHB concentrations ranged from 26 to 155 mg/L (mean 87 mg/L, median 95 mg/L). In eight cases, GHB was the only drug detected, and signs of impairment were consistent with those of a CNS depressant, including erratic driving (weaving, swerving, ignoring road signs), confusion, incoherent speech, unresponsiveness, lack of balance, unsteady coordination, poor performances on field sobriety tests, and varying states of wakefulness. Given the ability of GHB to induce sleep and unconsciousness, it is evident from these cases that recreational use of the drug has the potential to impair a person's driving ability.     

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) and driving impairment.

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, is increasing in popularity in the United States as a drug of abuse. It has stimulant and empathogenic mood altering properties with the potential to affect psychomotor skills and impact driving. This report reviews the literature relating to the relevant psychomotor effects of the drug, the relationship between dose and blood concentrations, and studies and case reports on specific effects of the drug on driving. The latter reports include both laboratory driving simulator studies and anecdotal reports, and case series. We also report details of eighteen cases of apparent MDMA impaired driving, including six drivers whose blood tested positive for MDMA alone. Most subjects displayed muscle twitching and body tremors, dilated pupils, slow pupillary reaction to light, elevated pulse and blood pressure, lack of balance and coordination, and most were perspiring profusely. Five of the six subjects were given field sobriety tests (one leg stand, walk and turn test), and all five performed poorly. There was no clear correlation between the blood concentration of MDMA and the specific demeanor of the subject. These findings are consistent with other reports, and lead to the conclusion that MDMA use is not consistent with safe driving, and that impairment of various types may persist for a considerable time after last use.     

Drinking and driving: Detecting the “dark figure” of compliance

The “dark figure” of undetected alcohol-impaired driving in the United States is acknowledged to be very high. However, this “dark figure” may lead to premature pessimism about the prospects for deterrence unless there is a countervailing estimate of “the other dark figure”—the rate of compliance with the drinking-driving laws under conditions of negligible arrest risk. This was a feasibility study in the use of survey data (N = 1,401) to identify patterns of compliance on the last drinking occasion as a function of social roles as drivers and passengers. A small but statistically significant proportion of U.S. drivers took these steps to reduce alcohol-impaired driving: reduction of drinking before driving, allocation of the driving role to low volume drinkers, and relinquishment of the driving role to an alternate driver after heavy drinking. There was no evidence for the selective use of public transportation as a means for diverting heavy drinkers from alcohol-impaired driving.     

美国的无罪裁决——从1989年到2003年

在1989年8月14日,伊利诺斯州芝加哥市库克郡巡回法院宣布1979年加利·多特森(GaryDotson)强奸案件的判决无效,并撤销了定罪裁决。多特森先生在监狱中服刑达10年之久,后来得到了假释,他并不是美国历史上第一个被无罪释放的无辜的囚犯。但是,该案是美国刑事司法历史上的一个转折点:他是第一个受益于 DNA 鉴定技术而被无罪释放的罪犯。该案掀开了美国刑事司法系统改革的帷幕。在此前,针对被错误定罪的被告作出无罪释放的裁决被视为是反常的情况。但是自从1989年以来,这种少有的事变成了一种令人不安的常见的情况。本研究报告旨在研究美国从1989年到2003年期间所作出的无罪裁决。通过调查那些作出无罪释     

Carisoprodol, meprobamate, and driving impairment

This paper considers the pharmacology of the centrally acting muscle relaxant carisoprodol, and its metabolite meprobamate, which is also administered as an anxiolytic in its own right. Literature implicating these drugs in impaired driving is also reviewed. A series of 104 incidents in which these drugs were detected in the blood of drivers involved in accidents or arrested for impaired driving was considered, with respect to the analytical toxicology results, patterns of drug use in these subjects, the driving behaviors exhibited, and the symptoms observed in the drivers. Symptomatology and driving impairment were consistent with other CNS depressants, most notably alcohol. Reported driving behaviors included erratic lane travel, weaving, driving slowly, swerving, stopping in traffic, and hitting parked cars and other stationary objects. Drivers on contact by the police displayed poor balance and coordination, horizontal gaze nystagmus, bloodshot eyes, unsteadiness, slurred speech, slow responses, tendency to doze off or fall asleep, difficulty standing, walking or exiting their vehicles, and disorientation. Many of these cases had alcohol or other centrally acting drugs present also, making difficult the attribution of the documented impairment specifically to carisoprodol and meprobamate. In 21 cases, however, no other drugs were detected, and similar symptoms were present. Impairment appeared to be possible at any concentration of these two drugs; however, the most severe driving impairment and most overt symptoms of intoxication were noted when the combined concentration exceeded 10 mg/L, a level still within the normal therapeutic range.     

Homicides in East Berlin from 1980 to 1989. Part I: victimology and phenomenology

At the Institute of Legal Medicine of the Humboldt-University in Berlin 8,580 autopsies were carried out in the period of analysis from 1980 to 1989 - including 139 homicides (= 1.6 %). The first part of this study deals with the victim-related analysis. Furthermore, the criminologically relevant aspects of the phenomenology of crime are described. Apart from the low frequency, the mainly short latency period and the low rate of homicides with removal of the victim are noteworthy.     

Video superimposition at the C.A. Pound Laboratory 1987 to 1992.

William R. Maples practiced many aspects of human identification using simple and relatively inexpensive video superimposition equipment. Identification of skulls by comparison to known photographs was a primary concern. Clear, smiling photographs revealing the spatial relationships of the teeth to one another led to uncomplicated positive identifications. However, without benefit of dentition, how accurate was an identification based on the alignment of soft tissues with the underlying skull? Most importantly, how often would a false positive result when anterior dentition were not available? A study conducted by this author and Dr. Maples used three human heads and 98 profile and full-face photographs. A 0.6% incidence of false match resulted when both views of the face were used. Lateral view and frontal view superimpositions were identified incorrectly in 9.6% and 8.5% of the sample respectively. As a result, multiple photographs from varying angles were requested for superimposition identity cases. Additional applications in laboratory case work were developed for the equipment. Light boxes under the television cameras allowed radiographic comparisons. Video taped comparisons of antemortem and postmortem radiographs were shown to medical examiners and families as proof of identification. Dr. Maples and this author were also involved in several cases in which photographs taken by a surveillance or ATM camera were compared to court ordered photographs of an alleged perpetrator. One case, which went to trial, led to the conviction of a habitual criminal under Florida statute. This individual had a condition known as Stahl's ear, a deformation of the cartilaginous structure. The ear was seen clearly in many of the ATM camera photographs and was aligned easily with the known photographic sample.     

Homicide-suicide in Hong Kong, 1989-1998

This study provides the first systematic research of homicide-suicide (HS) in a Chinese society. Data were drawn from the HK Homicide Monitoring Data-base computer file derived from investigation and death reports held by the HK Police Force and the Coroner's Court. During the 10-year study period, 56 events involving 133 deaths were identified. The majority of offenders were males (75%) and most victims were female (64%). The mean age of offenders and victims were 41.9 and 32.3 years, respectively. Spouses and lovers comprised the majority of victims (46.4%) followed by child victims (36%). Most HS events were motivated by separation or termination of marital or sexual relations (39%), economic reasons (25%) and other domestic disputes (20%). The most frequent modes of killing were strangulation/suffocation (26%), stabbing/chopping (24%), followed by gassing/poisoning (14%) and falling from height (14%). The commonest of suicide was falling from height (48%). It was followed by gassing/poisoning (22%) and strangulation/suffocation (13%). Depression (18.3%) was found to be the commonest mental disorder. Most offenders were from low-socio-economic background. Two-third were unemployed and 76.6% had 9 or less years of education. HS in HK were distinguished from those reported in the western literature in respect to the high relevance of economic factors, the absence of mercy killing between old couples, a higher percentage of pedicide-suicides and the infrequent use of firearms.     

Homicide-suicide in Hong Kong, 1989-1998

This study provides the first systematic research of homicide-suicide (HS) in a Chinese society. Data were drawn from the HK Homicide Monitoring Data-base computer file derived from investigation and death reports held by the HK Police Force and the Coroner's Court. During the 10-year study period, 56 events involving 133 deaths were identified. The majority of offenders were males (75%) and most victims were female (64%). The mean age of offenders and victims were 41.9 and 32.3 years, respectively. Spouses and lovers comprised the majority of victims (46.4%) followed by child victims (36%). Most HS events were motivated by separation or termination of marital or sexual relations (39%), economic reasons (25%) and other domestic disputes (20%). The most frequent modes of killing were strangulation/suffocation (26%), stabbing/chopping (24%), followed by gassing/poisoning (14%) and falling from a height (14%). The commonest method of suicide was falling from a height (48%). It was followed by gassing/poisoning (22%) and strangulation/suffocation (13%). Depression (18.3%) was found to be the commonest mental disorder. Most offenders were from low-socio-economic background. Two-third were unemployed and 76.6% had 9 or less years of education. HS in HK were distinguished from those reported in the western literature in respect to the high relevance of economic factors, the absence of mercy killing between old couples, a higher percentage of pedicide-suicides and the infrequent use of firearms.     

Suicides in East Berlin from 1980 to 1989

In the analysed period from 1980 to 1989, 3.480 suicides (= 34.6%) were among the 10.064 corpses admitted to the Institute of Legal Medicine of the Humboldt University in Berlin. The share of men who committed suicide was higher than the share of women with the average ratio being 1.4:1. The preferred suicide method in men was hanging and in women drug intoxication. The decrease of the formerly common carbon monoxide poisoning is attributable to the switch from town gas to natural gas. Autopsies showed that only about one third of the individuals who had committed suicide had been under the influence of alcohol at the time of death. In most cases the suicides were committed in the suicides' own flat. It also turned out that there was a seasonal peak of suicides in spring.     

Collective Litigation and the Constitutional Challenges to Decriminalizing Homosexuality in Singapore

This article examines collective legal mobilization through the courts, or collective litigation, in a non‐liberal regime. It analyses the emergence and development of collective litigation to challenge the constitutionality of section 377A of the Penal Code, the law that criminalizes same‐sex sexual conduct in Singapore. The analysis focuses on the relational dynamics of collective litigation and legal subjectivities of the social actors involved, highlighting how social positions and strategic interests shaped their interactions and decisions on litigation. While gay rights activists emphasized their movement's collective interests when choosing the appropriate case and lawyers, a movement outsider pursued individual interests on behalf of a client. Due to their divergent social positions and strategic interests, the two teams competed with each other as they initiated two separate constitutional challenges. Tension between the teams led to conflict with constituents of the gay rights movement and influenced their relational dynamics with other parties.     

Private,Hidden and Obscured: Image-Based Sexual Abuse in Singapore

Asian Journal of Criminology - This article documents women’s experiences of image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) in Singapore. Drawing from 30 IBSA cases reported to a local sexual assault...     

The modern trends in alcohol, drugs and driving research

Research on alcohol, drugs and driving can be broadly separated into experimental and epidemiological studies. Every approach has its inherent advantages and disadvantages. Experimental studies can result in an interpretation by single cause, but can only identify potential risks, and the results can sometimes be of limited value because of the use of non-realistic doses or because of the drug use history or inter-individual differences of the volunteers. Recent studies have used higher, more realistic doses and paid more attention to the combination of alcohol and drugs and have shown that the chronic use of illicit drugs can be associated with some cognitive and/or psychomotor impairment, and can lead to a decrease in driving performance even when the subject is no longer intoxicated.Epidemiological studies include roadside surveys, studies in a subset of drivers, accident risk studies, responsibility analyses, surveys and pharmaco-epidemiological studies. Between studies, results may be incomparable due to testing different populations, different kinds of samples, etc. More large-scale roadside studies are conducted now.Advances in analytical toxicology have also contributed to a better understanding of the risks associated with driving under the influence. While older studies measured the inactive metabolite THC-COOH and did not show an increased risk in cannabis-positive drivers, more recent studies measured the active THC in blood and did show a concentration dependent increase in crash risk. The use of LC–MS/MS has allowed more broad-range screening as this technique can measure many different drugs in a small sample volume. While some older studies used saliva but had many analytical problems (including an insufficient sample volume in up to a third of the cases), newer methods of saliva sampling and analysis give better results. The use of saliva for roadside surveys allows non-invasive sampling, but the lack of correlation with the concentrations in blood makes interpretation of results difficult.The results of both epidemiological and experimental studies should be combined to obtain a good estimate of the impact of certain drugs on driving performance and accident risk. In 2006–07 a committee of international experts drafted guidelines for future research into drugs and driving. These have been taken on board by the DRUID project, a large-scale EU funded project on driving under the influence of drugs, alcohol and medicines.