Medicolegal anthropology in France.

Medicolegal anthropology has a very long history in France. Basic studies on human skeletal remains started as early as the 18th century. The 19th century produced many medical theses and research papers on age, sex, as well as stature estimation. The research proliferated in the first 60 years of the 20th century, much of which is still in use in France and abroad. The later half of the 20th century, however, was dormant in research on human skeletal biology at a time when forensic anthropology was becoming an active field worldwide. In the last decade, medicolegal anthropology took a different perspective, independent of its traditional roots. Research and practice have both been in the professional domain of forensic physicians unlike the situation in many other countries. Population based studies requiring large databases or skeletal collections have diminished considerably. Thus, most research has been on factors of individualization such as trauma, time since death, crime scene investigation, and facial reconstruction. It is suggested that there is a need for cooperation between the forensic physician and anthropologist to further research. This also encourages anthropologists to carry out research and practice that can fulfill the needs of the medicolegal system of the country.     

Analysis of the possible use of liquid crystals in fingerprinting

Preliminary results concerning the use of liquid crystals (LC) in fingerprinting are given. These were based on thin layers of liquid crystals, changing colours (observed in linear polarized light) due to dissolved organic matter, transferred from fingers' surfaces. The possibility is shown of using LC to illustrate not only the surface but also the spacial configuration of a fingerprint. Relations are given between the amount of organic matter generating a fingerprint on a given surface and the coloured "response" of LC which may be used for identification as well as approximate estimation of the process of ageing.     

Sudden cardiac death following psychoemotional stress

Sudden death from cardiac arrest is described, which occurred after a minor accident. Morphologically, a coronary change was found in the sense of "juvenile coronary atherosclerosis" in connection with intramural bleeding postmortem. As there were no injuries in connection with the accident but psychoemotional stress had occurred, it is concluded that affective resonance resulting from the accident initiated the death. The pathological and pathophysiological relationships are discussed.     

Delinquency under drug influence (author's transl)]

In delinquency, connected with alcohol, the immediate and acute effect of the substance is prominent, whereas in delinquency connected with drugs, one has to deal with chronic effects. The criteria for judging drunken offenders also stand as a model for judging the responsibility of the addicted offender for his crime. We consider: 1. the personality of the offender 2. the way, the amount and the point of time of the last intake of the drug 3. the potential dependence 4. the psychopathological state at the time of offense and at the time of examination 5. the kind of the offense itself. Most cases, which have to be examined, deal with indictable offenses, which were undertaken, in order to get new supply, i.e. "supply-offenes". These cases surmise, that the offender is physically addicted, that he knows about withdrawal symptoms from own experience, and that he committed the crime purely for securing his personal supply. We differentiate between direct "supply-offenses" (i.e. direct stealing by the addict himself) and indirect "supply-offenses" (i.e. mainly trading and commission business). For the latter offenses the state of consciousness and insight at the time of offense does not serve as a suitable criterion for judging the responsibility for the crime, since these offenders usually are not deprived of their drugs and therefore in a stable state of mind. Therefore the inner situation and the motivation for carrying out the crime has to be analysed carefully. For these indirect "supply-offenses" reduced responsibility for the offense has to be considered, whereas for direct "supply-offenses" a total lack of responsibility can be assumed.     

Cannabinoids in blood and urine after passive inhalation of Cannabis smoke

To test the possibility that cannabinoids are detectable following passive inhalation of Cannabis smoke the following study was performed. Five healthy volunteers who had previously never used Cannabis, passively inhaled Cannabis smoke for 30 min. Cannabis smoke was provided by other subjects smoking either marijuana or hashish cigarettes in a small closed car, containing approximately 1650 L of air. delta 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) could be detected in the blood of all passive smokers immediately after exposure in concentrations ranging from 1.3 to 6.3 ng/mL. At the same time total blood cannabinoid levels (assayed by radioimmunoassay [RIA] ) were higher than 13 ng/mL in four of the volunteers. Both THC and cannabinoid blood concentrations fell close to the cutoff limits of the respective assays during the following 2 h. Passive inhalation also resulted in the detection of cannabinoids in the urine by RIA and enzyme multiple immunoassay technique (EMIT) assays (above 13 and 20 ng/mL, respectively). It is concluded that the demonstration of cannabinoids in blood or urine is no unequivocal proof of active Cannabis smoking.