Girls and Boys

Law and Critique - Transsexuality recently burst once more upon the legal scene when the European Court of Human Rights found UK law denying transsexuals a new `gender re-aligned' birth...     

Observations and 3D Analysis of Controlled Cast-Off Stains

Cast-off stains are common patterns found at crime scenes involving blood shedding events. However, the analysis and interpretation of cast-off patterns remains an area lacking tools for crime scene investigators. Analyzing cast-off patterns may allow investigators to interpret the area from where an object may have been swung and thus determine the approximate location of a suspect or victim. This study looked at the position and distribution of cast-off patterns and area of origin as a starting point for the development of a method to analyze cast-off patterns. Through a series of tests using a controlled cast-off rig (n = 10), it was observed that a Path Volume Envelope (PVE) may be identified where the swinging path is contained in a volume along with an area of exclusion. The calculated center, linear position of the PVE was found to have an average error of just over 3.2 cm when compared to the known object swing path position. The maximum deviation of the PVE to the known swing path was found to be 5.0 cm with a standard deviation of 1.4 cm. Additional studies are required to investigate the effects of partial cast-off stains, wielded object velocity, direction of swing, distance from the projected surface, and other factors. The observations and analysis from this study were seen to be predictable and repeatable and may provide a possible new method for investigators to interpret cast-off stains.     

The 2018 California Wildfires: Integration of Rapid DNA to Dramatically Accelerate Victim Identification

In November 2018, Butte County, California, was decimated by the Camp Fire, the deadliest wildfire in state history. Over 150,000 acres were destroyed, and at its peak, the fire consumed eighty acres per minute. The speed and intensity of the oncoming flames killed scores of people, and weeks before the fire was contained, first responders began searching through the rubble of 18,804 residences and commercial buildings. As with most mass disasters, conventional identification modalities (e.g., fingerprints, odontology, hardware) were utilized to identify victims. The intensity and duration of the fire severely degraded most of the remains, and these approaches were useful in only 22 of 84 cases. In the past, the remaining cases would have been subjected to conventional DNA analysis, which may have required months to years. Instead, Rapid DNA technology was utilized (in a rented recreational vehicle outside the Sacramento morgue) in the victim identification effort. Sixty-nine sets of remains were subjected to Rapid DNA Identification and, of these, 62 (89.9%) generated short tandem repeat profiles that were subjected to familial searching; essentially all these profiles were produced within hours of sample receipt. Samples successfully utilized for DNA identification included blood, bone, liver, muscle, soft tissue of unknown origin, and brain. In tandem with processing of 255 family reference samples, 58 victims were identified. This work represents the first use of Rapid DNA Identification in a mass casualty event, and the results support the use of Rapid DNA as an integrated tool with conventional disaster victim identification modalities.     

The role of young adolescents' perception in understanding the severity of exposure to community violence and PTSD

This study seeks to (a) identify and measure the lifetime exposure to community violence of 137 African American and Latino middle school students from a low income neighborhood and apply numerical weights to each violent event; (b) examine the relationship between the objective severity of child self reported violence exposure and the child's subjective perception of the most bothersome event; and (c) examine the relationship between child's exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Results highlight that students' designation of their most bothersome exposure to community violence did not correspond to the most severe violent event they experienced. Regression analyses reveal the weight of the most severe event explains a larger percentage of the variance in PTSD compared with the relationship to victim, level of exposure, weight of the most bothersome exposure, and cumulative weight of all exposure. This study underscores the importance of assessing a child's perception of violent events.     

The FCPA and analogous foreign anti-bribery laws overview, recent developments, and acquisition due diligence

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. Key points

• Securities regulators and law enforcement authoritiesare increasingly active in the application of anti-bribery lawsin the global environment. This renewed emphasis on rootingout transnational corruption has substantial implications forparticipants in the global capital markets engaged in cross-bordermergers and acquisitions.
• More than ever, there is a risk thattransactions improperly structured or subjected to inadequatedue diligence may result in unexpected criminal or civil liabilitiesof unprecedented scope and severity.
• This article is intendedas a brief primer on the essentials of the Foreign Corrupt PracticesAct a summary of the most current global developments in globalanti-bribery enforcement, and basic guidance on the due diligenceefforts that prudent participants in a cross-border transactionshould consider.