An Evaluation of the Use of Videotaped Evidence for Juvenile Witnesses in Criminal Courts in England and Wales

For the first time, the UK Criminal Justice Act (1991) allowed the videotaped evidence of a child to be substituted for the child's evidence-in-chief in a criminal court. The present study is an evaluation of that legislation. One hundred and fifty children were observed testifying in a criminal court in the UK. The use of the videotaped evidence and subsequent cross-examination of the child witness (usually via the closed circuit television system) was also observed. The data base from the Lord Chancellor's Department of all trials involving child witnesses in England and Wales was also analysed. The results showed that the introduction of the video technology into the criminal courts reduced the levels of stress of child witnesses but did not increase the conviction rates.     

Equality and Sharing: Views of Household Across the Iron Curtain

Before they reunified, the two Germanies provided a natural experiment in whether law could rectify what many have seen as injustice between men and women in the household. East German legislation mandated that equal hours of housework be contributed by husband and wife, while West Germany allowed the couple to reach any arrangement they chose. This paper explores the predicted and actual consequence of the two regimes for labor force participation, divorce, and equality within marriages.     

Public/private information sharing in healthcare fraud investigations

Private insurers have good reason, both in their private interest and in the public interest, for pursuing and rooting out fraud in the healthcare system; moreover, they often have sophisticated data systems, substantial investigative information, and management expertise that can be useful to prosecutors. It makes sense, as a public policy matter, to undertake steps to encourage insurers to be aggressive in pursuing legitimate fraud cases, and to provide a framework for effective cooperation and information sharing with law enforcement. At the same time, prosecutors are responsible for enforcing equal justice under the law; thus, any such relationship must be handled in an appropriate manner, with safeguards to protect privacy and the reputation of investigative subjects. While the courts have not yet explored many of the relevant legal and factual issues in this area, the author surveys existing guidance under governing laws and policies applicable to state and federal prosecutors, and suggests techniques to prevent inappropriate communication or use of such information.     

Hungary's pre-accession strategy to the European Union in education, training and research

The article presents an analysis of the expected impact of EU accession on the Hungarian education, training and academic research system with a number of recommendations for an integration policy in these sectors. The first part of the article develops four themes: (1) the current level of preparation of the country for accession in the education sector, (2) the possible longer term benefits of accession, (3) the shorter term costs and (4) the most important elements of a policy of integration. A distinction is made between material and cultural, and that of political cost and benefits, the stress being laid on the second. One of the conclusions of the author is that accession may open up a number of new opportunities for the development and modernisation of the country but that these can be exploited only if the country has a coherent sectorial strategy. Specific preparation actions are proposed in the areas of school education, higher education, vocational training and research policy. The article presents a list of the most important short term government measures and the needs for institutional development. It also makes a proposal for possible further themes of investigation and research. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Image analysis of gunshot residue on entry wounds. II--A statistical estimation of firing range.

A statistical investigation of the relationship between firing range and the amount and distribution of gunshot residue (GSR), used automated image analysis (IA) to quantify GSR deposit resulting from firings into pig skin, from distances ranging between contact and 45 cm. Overall, for a Ruger .22 semi-automatic rifle using CCI solid point, high velocity ammunition, the total area of GSR deposit on the skin sections decreased in a non-linear fashion with firing range. More specifically there were significant differences in the amount of GSR deposited from shots fired at contact compared with shots fired from distances between 2.5 and 45 cm; and between shots fired from a distance of 20 cm or less, with shots fired at a distance of 30 cm or more. In addition, GSR particles were heavily concentrated in the wound tract only for contact and close range shots at 2.5 cm, while the particle distribution was more uniform between the wound tract and the skin surfaces for shots fired from distances greater than 2.5 cm. Consequently, for future scientific investigations of gunshot fatalities, once standards have been established for the weapon and ammunition type in question, image analysis quantification of GSR deposited in and around the gunshot wound may be capable of providing a reliable, statistical basis for estimating firing range.     

Fatality caused by a combined trimipramine-citalopram intoxication

A 53-year-old woman who was diagnosed as suffering from depression was found dead in her bed. The autopsy revealed no morphological changes sufficient to explain death. Toxicological analysis was performed and the drugs trimipramine (2.33 mg/l), citalopram (4.81 mg/l) and zolpidem (0.07 mg/l) were identified in the femoral blood. A combined drug intoxication resulting in synergistic effects to cardiovascular disorders was proposed as the cause of death. An acute overdose and suicide was suggested by calculation of the parent drug to main metabolite ratios in femoral blood and liver tissue. The trimipramine to desmethyltrimipramine ratios were calculated to be 2.06 and 3.18, the citalopram to desmethylcitalopram ratios were 1.96 and 2.02.     

Compared to what? Instructing the jury on product defect under the Products Liability Act and the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability

This Article is based on a presentation given at Seton Hall University School of Law's Seventh Annual Health Law Symposium on February 12, 1999.