Nothing to Lose: An Insurance Company's Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing,Punitive Damages,and The Legacies of Campbell

This article explores the potential evisceration of the deterrence function of punitive damages, one of the only economic incentives that deters insurance companies from opportunistically breaching their insurance policies. Readers will gain an understanding of why large punitive damages awards are essential in the insurance coverage field and how such awards may implicate due process standards. The article explains the constitutional limitations set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in imposing punitive damages, and provides a roadmap of how lower courts and practitioners are presently applying these rules.     

A survey of the incidence of missing anterior teeth: potential value in bite mark analysis.

Bite mark analysis involves comparison of individual dental characteristics between a dentition and the bite injury. A bite mark injury may result from sexual assault, or physical assault, and defensive injuries, and as such can be used to link a suspect to a victim or vice versa. Missing teeth are one of the characteristics that could implicate or exclude a suspected biter. However frequency data for use by forensic odontologists can only be collated from epidemiological studies. Therefore an audit was undertaken of missing anterior teeth in adult patients (n = 1010) attending for treatment, gathering data that could be more relevant to odontology. One in five of the sample presented with missing teeth that were either replaced with a denture (11%), not replaced (6%) or missing with the gap closed (2%).     

Computer-assisted identification of basic substances

The potential applications of a personal computer with integrated database software in toxicologic analysis are discussed. A toxicologic database including 370 basic compounds, is presented that was built up without knowledge of a higher programming language and was used as a base for drug identification in normal analysis by PC, DC and GC.     

‘Robust and Raring to Go?’– Judges' Perceptions of Child Witnesses

This article explores judicial perceptions of child witnesses. It considers the impact of recent legislation in England and Wales as well as in Scotland which classified all child witnesses as vulnerable and introduced a series of special measures to facilitate children's evidence. The article reports the findings of an empirical research study conducted with the judiciary in Scotland which suggests that judicial perceptions of child witnesses extend across a complex spectrum where a child may be viewed as vulnerable but is also likely to be seen as suggestible, reliable or resilient. The article advances two propositions. First, that the statutory conceptualization of children as invariably vulnerable has not displaced established beliefs concerning children's suggestibility and therefore has made little difference to perceptions of their ability to produce reliable testimony. Second, that focusing on children's potential for resilience rather than their vulnerability may prove a more productive conceptualization of children, one which could better support their capability as witnesses.     

Factors Influencing the Higher Education Decisions of Criminal Justice Professionals

Criminal justice professionals are a potential source of students for many criminal justice programs, especially those in metropolitan areas. This study explored factors that influenced the higher education decisions of 480 Northwestern Ohio criminal justice employees (e.g., municipal police officers, sheriff deputies, jail staff, and prison staff). Most indicated a desire to pursue higher education. Among those indicating an interest in earning a degree, cost and convenience were the most significant factors in their choice. The availability of evening and weekend classes, availability of a part-time curriculum, availability of financial aid/tuition reimbursement, total credit hours required for the degree, the field experience of faculty, and flexibility in admission requirements were all significant factors. Location was also very significant. Most respondents indicated that they would not travel more than thirty minutes to attend classes.     

The case of the empty body.

Autopsy on an externally intact decomposed body showed empty thoracic and abdominal cavities with no trace of normal organ content. The process producing this previously unencountered situation is discussed.