THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING

The legal standards for admissibility of expert testimony have recently been raised following several U.S. Supreme Court decisins. Although forensic mental health experts have relied on psychological testing as a method of data collection for many years, the scientific basis of such testing has traditionally gone unquestioned in court. Given the increased scrutiny currently being applied to expert testimony, it is more important now than ever for attorneys, judges and forensic experts to understand the scientific principles underlying psychological tests. In this article, the scientific principles of validity and reliability are explained, and scientifically acceptable methods for the forensic use of psychological testing are discussed. The application of recent case law to several well-known tests is described.     

中国刑事专家辅助人向专家证人的角色转变

中国的刑事专家辅助人具有既类似于律师又类似于鉴定人、证人的多重属性;围绕专家辅助人意见的性质,也形成了质证方式说、鉴定意见说、证人证言说等多种观点。角色定位上的混乱,不仅造成了独具特色的鉴定人与专家辅助人的双轨制,而且常常使专家辅助人意见的法庭采信陷入困境。从最高人民法院有关专家辅助人的新近规定看,专家辅助人的角色呈现出向专家证人转变的趋势。这种转变的核心要求,一是实现鉴定人和专家辅助人的诉讼地位平等,专家辅助人意见和鉴定意见在专家证言意义上的证据效力平等;二是使专家辅助人回归专家证人本色,将强加给专家辅助人的不合理的质证职责交还给律师、检察官;三是提高律师、检察官熟练运用交叉询问规则、对科学证据进行质证的能力,充分发挥法官的科学证据"守门人"作用,以适应事实认定科学化的需要。     

Evidentiary Standards for Forensic Anthropology*

Abstract: As issues of professional standards and error rates continue to be addressed in the courts, forensic anthropologists should be proactive by developing and adhering to professional standards of best practice. There has been recent increased awareness and interest in critically assessing some of the techniques used by forensic anthropologists, but issues such as validation, error rates, and professional standards have seldom been addressed. Here we explore the legal impetus for this trend and identify areas where we can improve regarding these issues. We also discuss the recent formation of a Scientific Working Group for Forensic Anthropology (SWGANTH), which was created with the purposes of encouraging discourse among anthropologists and developing and disseminating consensus guidelines for the practice of forensic anthropology. We believe it is possible and advisable for anthropologists to seek and espouse research and methodological techniques that meet higher standards to ensure quality and consistency in our field.     

Physical matches of bone, shell and tooth fragments: a validation study

The following study examines the reliability of physically matching fragments of bone and other mineral-based biological materials such as shells and teeth. Participants with varying education, training, and experience were asked to complete a matching exercise consisting of intentionally fragmented specimens. Success rates were very high; the positive association (correct match) rate was 0.925, while the nonassociation (overlooked match) rate was 0.075, and negative associations (incorrect matches) occurred at a rate of just 0.001. Results also indicate that those with more education and related experience tended to have higher positive association rates, although not significant statistically. Experienced osteologists, however, completed the matching exercise in significantly less time. Low error rates among both experienced and inexperienced individuals support the reliability and validity of performing physical matches of these materials, and suggest that performance may also be related to an individual's aptitude for spatial tasks or other factors.     

知识产权刑事案件证据调查与认定——以新刑事诉讼法为视角

刑事诉讼法的本次大修是适应社会转型的需要,它在证据方面的修订对知识产权的刑事法保护有着重要影响,如增加了电子数据形式、增设行政证据向刑事证据的转换机制、增加了专家证人形式、规范了诱惑侦查措施等。不断完善的程序法必定会逐渐增强对知识产权的刑事法保护。     

Kumho, Daubert, and the nature of scientific inquiry: implications for forensic anthropology

In the last 15 years, the US Supreme Court has implemented major changes concerning the admittance of expert testimony. In 1993, Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals superseded the Frye ruling in federal courts and established judges, not the scientific community, as the gatekeepers regarding the credibility of scientific evidence. In 1999, a lesser-known but equally important decision, Kumho Tire v. Carmichael, ruled that technical expert testimony needed to employ the same rigor as outlined in Daubert, but experts can develop theories based on observations and apply such theories to the case before the court. Anthropology has never been defined as a hard science. Yet, many recent publications have modified existing techniques to meet the Daubert criteria, while none have discussed the significance of Kumho to anthropological testimony. This paper examines the impact of Daubert and Kumho on forensic anthropology and illustrates areas of anthropological testimony best admitted under Kumho's guidance.     

完善我国医疗损害鉴定制度的思考

医疗鉴定意见在医疗纠纷案件的定性和裁判中具有十分重要的地位.我国现行的医疗鉴定制度由医学会组织的医疗事故技术鉴定和司法鉴定机构组织的医疗过错司法鉴定两者并存,形成了医疗鉴定制度“二元化”的现象.《中华人民共和国侵权责任法》的施行虽然消除了医疗损害赔偿案件适用法律的“二元化”问题,但医疗鉴定制度的“二元化”现象并没有被打破.探讨建立“一元化”的医疗鉴定制度,并引入专家辅助人制度对“一元化”医疗鉴定制度进行监督和辅助,希望在寻求司法公正与效率的基础上建立更加科学、完善、合理的医疗鉴定体制.     

Assessment of intra- and intercostal variation in rib histomorphometry: its impact on evidentiary examination

Rib histological age estimation requires the evaluation of the middle third of the sixth rib. Human ribs have thin cortices and, when recovered, are often fragmented or absent, making it difficult to identify a specific midthoracic rib. This research explores the amount of microstructure variation in the middle third of the midthoracic ribs and determines whether the sixth rib age prediction equation can be applied to non-sixth ribs with similar accuracy. The amount of variability must be evaluated in order to meet the criterion for evidentiary examination. The sample consists of 120 cortical bone cross-sections from the middle third of ribs 3-8 removed from 20 cadavers. For each rib, osteon population densities (OPDs) and associated age estimates were calculated. The results demonstrate that non-sixth ribs can provide similar OPD values compared with those of the sixth ribs; however, individual variation proved to be significantly associated with bias, suggesting that individual factors influence the magnitude and direction of bias in non-sixth rib OPD values. This demonstrates the importance of evaluating multiple cross-sections (both intra- and inter-rib) to estimate age due to the normal remodeling variation within individuals.     

论我国不宜引入英美法系专家证人制度

诉讼模式的改革使得产生于强职权模式下的传统司法鉴定体制与新庭审方式的矛盾日益突出,司法实践中也暴露出越来越多的问题,我国司法鉴定体制的改革势在必行,司法鉴定也亟需立法。近年来,有关引入英美法系专家证人制度的改革构想成为我国司法鉴定制度改革中的热门话题．但在我国不宜引入专家证人制度。     

司法制度中的几个法律语言学问题

法律语言学就是将语言学应用于法律问题的学科,司法制度中与语言学相关问题:语言与法律的关系、法律诉讼中语言学家的介入、语言学家与律师的关系、陪审团指令的理解、语言学家作为专家证人出庭等方面应该引起关注。     

The Error in “Error Rate”: Why Error Rates Are So Needed,Yet So Elusive

Establishing error rates is crucial for knowing how well one is performing, determining whether improvement is needed, measuring whether interventions are effective, as well as for providing transparency. However, the flurry of activities in establishing error rates for the forensic sciences has largely overlooked some fundamental issues that make error rates a problematic construct and limit the ability to obtain a meaningful error rate. These include knowing the ground truth, establishing appropriate databases, determining what counts as an error, characterizing what is an acceptable error rate, ecological validity, and transparency within the adversarial legal system. Without addressing these practical and theoretical challenges, the very notion of a meaningful error rate is limited.     

法医骨学推断计算机专家系统的开发研究

目的构建计算机法医骨学推断专家系统。方法利用面向对象的方法,综合现有法医人类学统计资料,系统结合了模糊匹配和DS证据理论两种推理手段,使用融合了框架和产生式的知识表示方法进行专家系统构建。结果开发出具有开放知识库、可操作性强的法医骨学性别、年龄、身高推断软件。结论本系统具有较大的可信度和有效性,能够很好的辅助法医技术人员开展工作。     

专家证据的价值与我国司法鉴定制度的修改

随着科学技术的飞速发展,专家证据在诉讼中发挥着越来越重要的作用。在英美法系国家,专家证据制度在专家证人资格规定上的广泛性和选任上的自由性,使其在适用上具有灵活性和实用性的特点,其详细而完备的专家证据可采性规则,更是司法经验的积累与法官智慧的结晶。英美法系国家的专家证据制度和大陆法系的鉴定制度,在近些年的改革中呈现出共同的趋向,如启动程序的多样化、过错责任的严格化和庭审对抗的强化,这为完善我国司法鉴定制度、准确适用新刑诉法中有关专家辅助人的规定以及充分发挥专家证据的作用开启了新的思路。面对我国司法鉴定中依然相当混乱的鉴定主体问题,构建鉴定人、专家顾问和专家辅助人三位一体的司法鉴定主体格局,或许是一条比较合理可行的出路。     

Y-SNP在法庭科学中的应用

本文介绍了Y-SNP的遗传特性、在世界特别是在东亚人群中的分布特点,以及在法庭科学中应用的研究做一综述,旨在利用现场罪犯遗留生物学检材的Y-SNP检测来推测其人种或地理来源,为案件调查提供帮助.     

论录像证据可采的基本法理

录像材料再现案件事实能力的优势和劣势都同样明显,这决定了录像证据有着较为特殊的可采性规则。美国、英国、加拿大和日本的立法例表明,录像证据可采有三个基本法理,即录像证据与录音证据的可采性规则不一致;影响录像证据可采性的特定因素是形式真实性要件;不同表现形式的录像证据可采性规则不同。我国有关录像证据的规定存在诸多问题,应当按照上述法理加以完善。