Isolated myocarditis as a cause of sudden death in the first year of life

A series of three cases of isolated myocarditis, presenting as sudden death in infancy, occurred over a period of 3 months. This prompted a review of the autopsy records of the Children's Hospital of Winnipeg. Over a period of 40 years, 24 cases of isolated myocarditis were traced from 3196 autopsies. Most (21 of 24) cases of isolated myocarditis occurred in infants less than 12 months of age. In 16 of the infants there were either no antecedent clinical signs (sudden deaths), or a short clinical history of less than 24 h duration. Heart weights, however, were greater than the 99th percentile of published normals in three infants and above the 95th percentile in a further 16 infants. Areas of hypertrophied fibres were seen even in infants with a short history. These latter findings suggest that a latent phase of myocarditis may exist. The responsible pathogens were identified very rarely, due to a lack of suspicion of the existence of myocarditis, and it is suggested that samples of myocardium should be submitted for virologic examination in all cases of sudden death in the first year of life.     

The Relationship Between Crime Reporting and Police: Implications for the Use of Uniform Crime Reports

Empirical studies that use reported crime data to evaluate policies for reducing crime will understate the true effectiveness of these policies if crime reporting/recording behavior is also affected by the policies. For instance, when the size of the police force increases, changes in the perceived likelihood that a crime will be solved may lead a higher fraction of victimizations to be reported to the police. In this paper, three data sets are employed to measure the magnitude of this reporting bias. While each of these analyses is subject to individual criticisms, all of the approaches yield similar estimates. Reporting bias appears to be present but relatively small in magnitude: each additional officer is associated with an increase of roughly five Index crimes that previously would have gone unreported. Taking reporting bias into account makes the hiring of additional police substantially more attractive from a cost–benefit perspective but cannot explain the frequent inability of past studies to uncover a systematic negative relationship between the size of the police force and crime rates.     

Evaluation and treatment of insanity acquittees in the community

This paper describes the monitored outpatient treatment program for Psychiatry Security Review Board (PSRB) clients in the largest single community treatment agency in the Oregon system. We describe 161 persons referred to this agency for evaluation and treatment. Ninety-one PSRB clients received treatment and of this group 51% had their conditional release revoked by the PSRB. The most frequent cause of revocation was noncompliance with treatment. There were only 11 crimes committed during the study period, four of which were in the felony range. The majority of PSRB clients are chronically mentally ill persons. We discuss both the treatment approach and our results in light of a recently published research agenda for insanity acquittees.     

The Effects of Juror Anonymity on Jury Verdicts

This study examined the effects of anonymity on jurors' verdicts and on jurors' feelings of accountability for their jury's verdicts. Twenty four-person anonymous juries and 20 four-person nonanonymous juries rendered individual and group verdicts for three student defendants charged with selling drugs on a school campus. When unanimous guilty verdicts were reached, juries imposed one of five punishments. Finally, jurors completed postdeliberation opinion and accountability questionnaires. As predicted, anonymous juries showed a higher rate of conviction (70%) than did nonanonymous juries (40%) when the evidence against the defendant was strong, supporting the hypothesis that anonymity would have a greater effect for situations in which there was relatively strong evidence of the defendant's guilt. Anonymous juries imposed the harshest punishment (expulsion) significantly more often than did nonanonymous juries. Contrary to predictions from differential self-awareness theory, anonymous juries did not report feeling less accountable than did nonanonymous juries. However, anonymous juries did see the process as significantly more fair than did identifiable juries.     

Filicidal abuse in the histories of 15 condemned murderers

This paper describes the family characteristics of 15 Death Row inmates. It documents extraordinary physical and/or sexual abuse in 13 cases. It describes murderous behaviors of parents toward children in 8 cases and documents ongoing hostility and neglect throughout childhood and adulthood. The paper explores the mechanisms by which such abuse may contribute to violent behaviors. It highlights the relevance of these findings to the outcome of sentencing in capital cases.     

3-Methoxytyramine in the putamen as a gauge of the postmortem interval

The armamentarium of the forensic thanatologist includes the examiner's subjective assessment of bodily changes together with comprehensive evaluation of environmental and associated factors to estimate the postmortem interval (PMI). Of the various objective means, postmortem accumulation of potassium in vitreous humor is a widely used gauge. In view of the considerable variability inherent in these techniques, an additional marker with greater accuracy would be a welcome supplement to these indices. We have developed a method of estimating PMI from the level of 3-methoxytyramine (3-MT) in the dorsal putamen of the brain. The supernatant of a sample of putamen, sonicated in 6 volumes (weight/volume) of 0.1 M perchloric acid and centrifuged at 51 000 times gravity for 10 min, was analyzed for 3-MT using high-pressure liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. The change of 3-MT in the putamen is linearly related to the PMI (range: 5.5 to 60 h), irrespective of patient age (1 to 84 years). This observation is attributable to several factors, including high substrate (dopamine) concentration, preservation of catechol-O-methyl transferase activity, and an inactivation of monoamine oxidase activity, as a result of a decrease in tissue pO2.