Fatal Methemoglobinemia Due to Acute Inhalation of Methyl Nitrite in an Industrial Accident

Methyl nitrite is suggested to cause methemoglobinemia by generating methemoglobin, which may be lethal when the methemoglobin concentration exceeds 70%. However, intoxication with methyl nitrite is seldom reported compared with that with other nitrites. Here, we present an industrial accident involving methyl nitrite inhalation during its synthesis process that resulted in three fatalities and one survivor. The autopsy revealed conspicuous blue-gray discoloration in various parts of the body, including the skin, airway mucosa, vessels, brain, heart, and among other areas. The toxicological tests on the deceased showed methemoglobin concentrations in the blood over the lethal level and increased nitrite ion levels in the blood, gastric contents, liver, and lung tissue compared with those in control samples. The cause of death was determined to be methemoglobinemia-induced hypoxia due to methyl nitrite inhalation. This report provides evidence that in methyl nitrite intoxication, exposure duration has a significant influence on the postmortem changes and likelihood of a fatal outcome may be related to the age of the victim. More attention is required regarding the industrial hazards of this substance.     

DNA Recovery From Tape-Lifting Kits: Methodology and Practice

In the case of suspicious deaths, the technique of 1:1 taping is often used in Belgium. It consists of affixing a large number of adhesive tapes to the body of the victim. It is conventionally aimed at obtaining microtraces (e.g., fibers, hair) and is usually not used for DNA analysis. However, in some cases, DNA analysis of certain areas of interest identified on the 1:1 taping material can offer a last resort solution. The four-step method that is described in this article involves the selection of areas of interest on the body (Step 1), the selection of the corresponding tapes (Step 2), the decontamination of the tapes (Step 3), the selection of areas of interest on the tapes, for DNA sampling (Step 4). The method is illustrated by its successful application in four murder cases. In each case, DNA profiles of good quality could be identified, including profiles of persons different from the victim.     

Article 75 of the Rome Statute: Reparations and Their Implementation in the Dutch Legal System

Netherlands International Law Review - Unlike the ICTY and ICTR Statutes, the Rome Statute of the ICC provides in Article 75 for various forms of court-ordered reparations for the victims of...     

Corruption,Party Leaders,and Candidate Selection: Evidence from Italy

Research indicates that voters are not particularly effective at removing corrupt politicians from office, in part because voters make decisions on the basis of many competing factors. Party leaders are much more single-minded than voters and will choose to deselect implicated legislators if it means maintaining a positive party reputation and improving the odds of winning a legislative majority. We examine renominations to Italy’s legislature in two periods marked by corruption. We compare these renomination patterns with those from the prior legislature, when corruption lacked political salience. Our analysis shows that incumbent renominations are negatively associated with the number of press mentions that link the incumbent to corruption—but only when corruption is salient to the public. Our study highlights the importance of party leaders in forcing malfeasant legislators out of office—and reducing corruption—and redirects attention from voters to political elites as a critical channel in enforcing democratic accountability.     

Risks and Realities of Working with Alienated Children

Involvement in custody cases that include accusations of parental alienation—whether as an evaluator, expert witness, lawyer, judge, therapist, provider of a specialized intervention, or researcher—incurs both professional and personal risks. Some risks relate to false negative or false positive identifications of parental alienation that can lead to regulatory agency complaints and public condemnation by the parent who feels wronged by the case outcome. Other risks stem from providing services in an emerging area of practice and working with children who overtly oppose repairing the relationship with their rejected parent. These risks include: unfounded accusations of mistreating children; negatively biased commentary and sensationalist attacks in the media and in social media, professional conferences and journals, and in courtroom testimony; harassment, vilification, and invasion of privacy; threats of violence and public humiliation; shunning and rumor spreading by colleagues; and complaints to regulatory agencies. This article examines circumstances, beliefs, and dynamics that give rise to these risks, suggests precautions to reduce the risk of false accusations against professionals, and offers recommendations for dealing with regulatory agencies. Criticisms that a court or service provider has mistreated a child merit careful scrutiny in the context of the case evidence and empirical data. While some interventions for alienated children raise legitimate concerns, others have been maligned by anecdotal complaints that studies show do not represent the experience of most participants.     

The Need for Confidentiality in Evaluative Processes: Arbitration and Med/Arb in Family Law Cases

Arbitration, mediation/arbitration and arbitration/mediation allow parties to resolve their disputes usually more expeditiously, privately and with less cost than going to court. While confidentiality is seen as essential to the mediation process and often included in statutes, confidentiality seems less essential to a more adversarial process. Confidentiality provisions rest at the intersection between privacy and self‐determination and the protection of vulnerable parties in family law disputes. This article explores the importance of confidentiality clauses in drafting arbitration and med/arb or arb/med agreements.     

Parenting Coordination In Cases Involving Intimate Partner Violence

Parenting Coordination is a “hybrid legal‐mental health role that combines assessment, education, case management, conflict management, dispute resolution and, often times, decision‐making functions (AFCC, 2019, https://www.afccnet.org/Portals/0/PublicDocuments/Guidelines%20for%20PC%20with%20Appendex.pdf?ver=2020-01-30-190220-990 ). This article addresses issues that arise when the case has allegations or findings of intimate partner violence (IPV). Considerations of the type of IPV, the severity, timing, perpetrator and effects on coparenting are discussed in the context of the parenting coordinator's role. Through screening and assessment, we differentiate the kinds of cases with the presence of IPV where a PC may be effective as opposed to other IPV cases that may not predict success for retaining a PC.     

Evaluating the Effects of Repeated Psychological Injury: an Introduction to the Special Issue

Psychological Injury and Law -