STR analysis of artificially degraded DNA-results of a collaborative European exercise

Degradation of human DNA extracted from forensic stains is, in most cases, the result of a natural process due to the exposure of the stain samples to the environment. Experiences with degraded DNA from casework samples show that every sample may exhibit different properties in this respect, and that it is difficult to systematically assess the performance of routinely used typing systems for the analysis of degraded DNA samples. Using a batch of artificially degraded DNA with an average fragment size of approx. 200 bp a collaborative exercise was carried out among 38 forensic laboratories from 17 European countries. The results were assessed according to correct allele detection, peak height and balance as well as the occurrence of artefacts. A number of common problems were identified based on these results such as strong peak imbalance in heterozygous genotypes for the larger short tandem repeat (STR) fragments after increased PCR cycle numbers, artefact signals and allelic drop-out. Based on the observations, strategies are discussed to overcome these problems. The strategies include careful balancing of the amount of template DNA and the PCR cycle numbers, the reaction volume and the amount of Taq polymerase. Furthermore, a careful evaluation of the results of the fragment analysis and of automated allele calling is necessary to identify the correct alleles and avoid artefacts.     

Canadian Human Rights Commission recommends prison needle exchange programs

In a report released on 28 January 2004, the Canadian Human Rights Commission recommended that the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) implement a pilot needle exchange program in three or more correctional facilities, at least one of them a women's facility, by June 2004.     

Relevance of "psychopathy"-- concepts from the Hare measure for preventive detention

Preventive detention can be ordered, if a person falls back into crime repeatedly and shows a "disposition to commit substantial offences". In the trial and at subsequent points of time expert opinions supporting this personal disposition have to be obtained. However up to now it is not clear on which basis such statements should be made. On the basis of a retrospective investigation of the author's own expert opinions the paper discusses the relevance of Hare's psychopathy concept for opinions on criminal disposition.     

Spontaneous rupture of the urinary bladder

The report presents the case of a 33-year-old man under the primary assumption of homicide in which the court-ordered autopsy revealed death as a result of bleeding due to a spontaneous rupture of the urinary bladder. The article gives a short summary of the pathomorphological findings and their respective causes, for example the typical location of the rupture at the posterior wall and roof of the bladder and the common concomitant drunkenness. Furthermore, obligatory forensic investigations--beside the autopsy--are mentioned and discussed.     

Traumatic potential of colour marking cartridges (FX ammunition)

Colour marking cartridges as the FX ammunition (Simunition Europe, Brussels) are increasingly used by the police for realistic close range combat training. Conversion kits for service weapons of different manufacturers are available. The ballistic data of this ammunition is reported and experimentally verified. The risk of injury seems to be very low, if the recommended protective equipment is used. Small hematomas up to superficial lacerations are to be expected only in areas over a bony support. Shots to the unprotected eye will result in severe injuries.     

Homicide with postmortem opening of the thoracic and abdominal cavity--morphological, criminological and forensic-psychiatric aspects

During a walk a man found the partially unclothed body of a 16-year-old girl in a field near a village in South Baden. The body showed numerous injuries caused by sharp force. Several stab wounds were discernible on the neck, the chest, the genital region, the back and the right thigh. Postmortem, the anterior wall of the trunk had been severed with one long cut reaching from the mons pubis to the jugular fossa. The injuries and the scene suggested homicide with a sexual motive. Already on the next day a male suspect was ascertained. Blood traces of the victim could be demonstrated on his car. The man confessed the homicide, but did not describe the course of events in detail. He denied a sexual motive for the homicide. The psychiatric examination did not furnish any clues to internal, neurological or psychiatric disorders. The perpetrator did not claim intoxication for the time of the offence, which might have been relevant for the question of criminal responsibility. Psychodiagnostically, it was found that he had a narcissistic personality structure with a pronounced lack of self-esteem, deficits in affect processing and control as well as anxiety and aggression problems. The man was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder.     

Radiologically determined DMF index variations for forensic age estimation of young adults

The eruption and mineralization of third molars are the main criteria for dental age estimation of living people involved in criminal proceedings. Since the development of third molars is usually completed by the age of 19 or 20 years, this feature cannot be used to ascertain whether a person has attained the forensically relevant age of 21 years. This study examined whether the DMFT index or the third molar DFT index could supply reliable information enabling conclusions to be drawn about whether a person has reached the age of 21. To this end, 650 conventional orthopantomograms of German subjects aged 18 to 30 years were evaluated. The DMF index variations considered were found to be unsuitable for determining whether a person is over 21 because they displayed a weak correlation with age and considerable individual scatter. A high indicative value can only be attributed to a third molar DFT index of 4, although this is rarely observed in the relevant age group. An X-ray examination of the medial clavicular epiphyseal cartilage is, therefore, strongly recommended when assessing whether a person has attained 21 years of age.