Measurement of Postmortem Pupil Size: A New Method with Excellent Reliability and Its Application to Pupil Changes in the Early Postmortem Period

Measurement of postmortem pupil width is a potential component of death time estimation. However, no standardized measurement method has been described. We analyzed a total of 71 digital images for pupil–iris ratio using the software ImageJ. Images were analyzed three times by four different examiners. In addition, serial images from 10 cases were taken between 2 and 50 h postmortem to detect spontaneous pupil changes. Intra‐ and inter‐rater reliability of the method was excellent (ICC > 0.95). The method is observer independent and yields consistent results, and images can be digitally stored and re‐evaluated. The method seems highly eligible for forensic and scientific purposes. While statistical analysis of spontaneous pupil changes revealed a significant polynomial of quartic degree for postmortem time (p = 0.001), an obvious pattern was not detected. These results do not indicate suitability of spontaneous pupil changes for forensic death time estimation, as formerly suggested.     

Cues to Deception and Ability to Detect Lies as a Function of Police Interview Styles

In Experiment 1, we examined whether three interview styles used by the police, accusatory, information-gathering and behaviour analysis, reveal verbal cues to deceit, measured with the Criteria-Based Content Analysis (CBCA) and Reality Monitoring (RM) methods. A total of 120 mock suspects told the truth or lied about a staged event and were interviewed by a police officer employing one of these three interview styles. The results showed that accusatory interviews, which typically result in suspects making short denials, contained the fewest verbal cues to deceit. Moreover, RM distinguished between truth tellers and liars better than CBCA. Finally, manual RM coding resulted in more verbal cues to deception than automatic coding of the RM criteria utilising the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software programme.In Experiment 2, we examined the effects of the three police interview styles on the ability to detect deception. Sixty-eight police officers watched some of the videotaped interviews of Experiment 1 and made veracity and confidence judgements. Accuracy scores did not differ between the three interview styles; however, watching accusatory interviews resulted in more false accusations (accusing truth tellers of lying) than watching information-gathering interviews. Furthermore, only in accusatory interviews, judgements of mendacity were associated with higher confidence. We discuss the possible danger of conducting accusatory interviews.     

The Comparison Question Test: Does It Work and If So How?

In a mock crime study of the comparison question test (CQT), 35 subjects decided to participate as guilty and 30 as innocent. Two conditions were varied: Explaining the comparison questions in the pretest interview and re-discussing comparison questions between charts. Higher identification rates (approximately 90% for guilty and innocent participants) were achieved in groups with explanation of comparison questions than in groups without explanation. Re-discussing comparison questions had no effect on identification rates. Ratings of subjective stress due to relevant and comparison questions were also obtained and can be seen as indicators of the significance of the questions. The significance of comparison questions was hardly affected by the different testing conditions. When effects are detectable at all, they contradict theoretical expectations in their direction. Results are discussed in terms of the significance of comparison questions used in polygraph testing.     

Haftfristen bei Beschwerde gegen die Verhängung der U-Haft

Im Fall der Beschwerde gegen die Verh?ngung der U-Haft wird die Frist bis zur ersten Haftverhandlung um einen Monat verl?ngert. Der über die Beschwerde – vor Einbringen der Anklage – ergehende Beschluss des OLG l?st eine Haftfrist von zwei Monaten ab der Beschwerdeentscheidung aus.     

Results of the 2009 Paternity Testing Workshop of the English Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics

Here we present the results of the 2009 Paternity Testing Workshop of the English Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics. The exercise included paternity testing of blood samples from a mother, a child and two alleged fathers. The laboratories were encouraged to answer questions concerning their laboratory routines and a paper challenge was distributed in order to compare statistical calculations. A total of 62 laboratories participated. The laboratories used a total of 49 autosomal STRs and PCR-investigated VNTRs, 19 Y-chromosomal STRs, 8 X-chromosomal STRs, 7 VNTR systems investigated with RFLP, 49 autosomal SNPs and 11 mtDNA SNPs. The rate of typing and reporting errors was 0.1%.     

Evaluating the utility of ‘strength’ items when assessing the risk of young offenders

There is emerging recognition that positive or pro-social characteristics may lessen criminal propensity. There are now several adult and youth forensic instruments that include protective or strength components. Yet evidence supporting the protective capacities of these instruments with youth offending populations is still developing. This study aimed to identity the prevalence of strength items on the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory tool, and their relationships with risk and re-offending for a cohort of 212 multi-cultural Australian juveniles in custody. The prevalence of strengths in the sample was low, and differed by cultural group. Young people who possessed a strength yielded lower instrument total and domain scores and were more likely to be afforded a lower level of risk compared to youth without a strength. Moreover, youth who possessed a strength were significantly more likely to desist from re-offending. This association remained after controlling for level of risk. Findings point to the importance of strengths when assessing a young person’s risk for re-offending.     

Verteidigerzwang in der Hauptverhandlung

Der Nichtigkeitsgrund des § 281 Abs 1 Z 1a StPO knüpft an den Urteilsfeststellungen über die entscheidenden Tatsachen, mithin an die wirklich und nicht blo? nach Ansicht des Ankl?gers begangene Tat an. Eine Verletzung des § 61 Abs 1 Z 5 StPO und damit Nichtigkeit des Urteils liegt daher nicht vor, wenn blo? der Ankl?ger von Sachverhaltsannahmen ausging, die bei tats?chlicher Feststellung im Urteil diese Konsequenz gehabt h?tten, der Schuldspruch aber wegen einer Tat erging, hinsichtlich derer kein Verteidigerzwang bestand.     

Unmündiges Tatopfer und untauglicher Versuch

Die Versuchstauglichkeit ist nicht an der misslungenen Versuchshandlung, sondern am Tatplan des T?ters zu prüfen. Danach liegt nur dann ein absolut untauglicher Versuch iSd § 15 Abs 3 StGB vor, wenn die Verwirklichung der angestrebten strafbaren Handlung auf die vorgesehene Art bei generalisierender Betrachtung geradezu denkunm?glich ist und demzufolge unter keinen wie immer gearteten Umst?nden erwartet werden kann. Ein blo? relativ untauglicher Versuch ist dagegen anzunehmen, wenn die Tatvollendung nur infolge der zuf?lligen Modalit?ten des konkreten Einzelfalls gescheitert ist. Im Fall der Nichtannahme eines zur Tatzeit eingetretenen Pubert?tsbeginns beim Tatopfer kommt Deliktsbegehung durch (blo? relativ untauglichen) Versuch in Betracht. Ob die Brustgegend eines unmündigen M?dchens bereits zur unmittelbaren Geschlechtssph?re geh?rt, deren Berührung auch nach au?en hin sexuell sinnbezogen erscheinen kann, h?ngt davon ab, ob das betreffende M?dchen insgesamt eine solche k?rperliche Reife erreicht hat, dass ihr Brustbereich ohne Rücksicht auf die Ausbildung der Brustdrüsen schon biologisch der Geschlechtsregion zuzurechnen ist. Weiters, ob die Berührung als solche einem M?dchen als zum Sexualleben geh?rig bewusst werden kann, und ob diese im Hinblick auf die abstrakte Eignung zur Gef?hrdung der sittlichen und sexuellen Entwicklung der Unmündigen nach der Auffassung von mit rechtlich geschützten Werten verbundenen Menschen als grob sozialst?rend empfunden wird.