A case of suicidal suffocation simulating homicide

This case concerns an unusual suicidal plastic bag suffocation. An elderly white man was found dead and partially disrobed in his apartment lying supine on a sofa with a plastic bag closed by a rope over the head and the upper and lower extremities tightly tied with two other ropes, the end of both arranged into slipknots (self-rescue mechanism). Police investigations found no pornography in the apartment, and circumstantial data alleged no psychiatric disorders or suicidal intentions. The autopsy excluded signs of struggle and sexual intercourse as well as any type of injury or physical illness. Chemical analyses on the peripheral blood excluded acute drugs and/or alcohol intoxication. A differential diagnosis of the manner of death was performed, including scenarios of accidental autoerotic asphyxiation, homicide during either sexual activity or ritualistic, elderly suicide. The collected data most strongly supported the hypothesis of a suicidal asphyxiation simulating homicide to devolve a life insurance to the victim's sons because of economic difficulties.     

Determination of illicit drugs in seized materials: role of sampling and analysis in estimation of measurement uncertainty

The determination of illicit active ingredients in seized materials, in order to assess penal or administrative offences, is routinely carried out in many forensic toxicology laboratories. This paper presents main features of the protocol adopted in the Authors' laboratory for the above investigations. In particular, sampling and analysis are considered as the same measurement process quantifying their combined contribution to overall measurement uncertainty. Aspects concerning representative sampling in the case of single and multiple items are discussed. The effects of material heterogeneity are considered by analyzing separately distinct primary samples taken from different parts of the sampling target. Possible errors due to particles dimension that could arise when sub-sampling are also considered. Analytical precision, bias and other matrix effects are studied in order to quantify the component of the overall measurement uncertainty associated to the analysis of prepared test samples. Typical scenarios arising when measurement results are used to assess compliance with specification limits are also discussed revealing the crucial role of measurement uncertainty.     

Private monetary transfers in rural china: Are families altruistic?

Monetary transfers between relatives may be motivated by altruism, or they may represent payments for services rendered. Data from a large 1988 household survey are used to test these hypotheses and to study the size and direction of transfers in rural China. The analysis suggests that altruism alone cannot explain the observed transfers and that exchange may be involved. Most of the money flows appear to be transfers from adult children to elderly parents and remittances from migrants. Child care is likely to be one of the main services that parents render to adult children in exchange for money.     

Alcohol dependence and criminal behavior: preliminary results of an association study of environmental and genetic factors in an italian male population

The aim of this study is to propose an innovative approach evaluating the connection between alcohol use disorders and criminal behavior. The research, structured as a case–control study, was based on the analysis of environmental (social variables) and genetic factors (single nucleotide polymorphisms of glutamic acid decarboxylase) in a population (N = 173) of Italian alcohol‐dependent men. Group 1 (N = 47, convicted subjects) was compared with Group 2 (N = 126, no previous criminal conduct). Grade repetition, work problems, and drug problems were statistically associated with criminal behavior. Having daily family meals together and having children were inversely related to convictions. The genotype distribution of the two groups was similar. The association between environmental factors and antisocial behavior confirms previous findings in the literature. The lack of genetic association does not exclude the role of the gamma‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) system in determining antisocial behavior; further studies with larger samples are needed, together with investigation of other components of the GABA pathway.     

Understanding Sexual Harassment a Little Better Reed and Bull Information Systems Ltd v. Stedman

This case note reviews the guidelines issued by Morison J. in the Employment Appeal Tribunal at the end of the decision in Reed and Bull Information Systems Ltd v. Stedman [1999] I.R.L.R.299. The author argues that while the judge’s decision is to be welcomed in adopting an approach more sympathetic to victims of sexual harassment, it also raises a number of problems by placing a burden on the victim to place the harasser on notice that she does not welcome his conduct. The guidelines are likely to be usefully applied in any jurisdiction that has rules forbidding sexual harassment. The author considers the guidelines from both a practical and a doctrinal angle and indicates that the right to be free from sexual harassment is one that the courts are reluctant to protect like other civil rights. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Metal objects mapping after small charge explosions. A study on AISI 304Cu steel with two different grain sizes

Evidence of exposure of a metal component to a small charge explosion can be detected by observing microstructural modifications; they may be present even if the piece does not show noticeable overall plastic deformations. Particularly, if an austenitic stainless steel (or another metal having a face-centered cubic structure and a low stacking fault energy) is exposed to an explosive shock wave, high-speed deformation induces primarily mechanical twinning, whereas, in nonexplosive events, a lower velocity plastic deformation first induces slip. The occurrence of mechanical twins can be detected even if the surface is damaged or oxidized in successive events. In the present research, optical metallography (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) were used to detect microstructural modifications caused on AISI 304Cu steel disks by small-charge explosions. Spherical charges of 54.5 or 109 g TNT equivalent mass were used at explosive-to-target distances from 6.5 to 81.5 cm, achieving peak pressures from 160 to 0.5 MPa. Explosions induced limited or no macro-deformation. Two alloy grain sizes were tested. Surface OM and SEM evidenced partial surface melting, zones with recrystallization phenomena, and intense mechanical twinning, which was also detected by STM and X-ray diffraction. In the samples' interior, only twins were seen, up to some distance from the explosion impinged surface and again, at the shortest charge-to-sample distances, in a thin layer around the reflecting surface. For forensic science locating purposes after explosions, the maximum charge-to-target distance at which the phenomena disappear was singled out for each charge or grain size and related to the critical resolved shear stress for twinning.     

Acute flurazepam intoxication: a case report

A fatality due to ingestion of flurazepam is reported. Flurazepam is a benzodiazepine, a widely prescribed hypnotic drug for use in sleep disorders. There are only few documented reports of the disposition of flurazepam in deaths due to overdose. A 68-year-old woman was found deceased at home with no evidence of trauma or asphyxia. Toxicologic analyses were performed and drug levels measured by means of gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The flurazepam concentration in each specimen was as follows: heart blood 2.8 microg/mL, bile 323 microg/mL, and urine 172 microg/mL. Presence of flurazepam into gastric content was observed too. Based on the autopsy findings, patient history, and toxicologic results, the cause of death was determined to be acute intoxication of flurazepam and the manner, suicide.     

Medicolegal aspects of an unusual uterine perforation with multiload-Cu 375R

Perforation of the uterus is one of the most serious complications associated with insertion of intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUD). According to recent studies, this lesion occurs in 0.87 per 1000 cases, but statistics generally fluctuate between 0.05 and 13 per 1000 insertions. "Primary" perforations occur at the time of IUD insertion, and "secondary," or delayed, perforations are usually assumed to be caused by reactive uterine contractions. We report an unusual case of uterine perforation, which occurred 9 days after the insertion of a Multiload-Cu 375 IUD. The criteria for differential diagnosis between primary and secondary complications are discussed, particularly from the perspective of medical malpractice cases.     

The Place of Legal Positivism in Contemporary Constitutional States

The aim of the paper is that of discussing some recent antipositivist theses, with specific reference to the arguments that focus on the alleged incapability of legal positivism to understand and explain the complex normative structure of constitutional states. One of the central tenets of legal positivism (in its guise of methodological or conceptual positivism) is the theory of the separation between law and morality. On the assumption that in contemporary legal systems, constitutional law represents a point of intersection between law and basic moral values, antipositivists contrast legal positivism with two main arguments. First, on a more general level, the positivist theory of the separation between law and morality is questioned; then, and consequently, the neutrality thesis in the juristic study of law is rejected. The author discusses both these antipositivist arguments, and offers a brief defence of methodological positivism.     

The left-wing armed struggle in Italy from a critical-historical perspective: the case of study of Prima Linea

This article intends to cast new light on the history of the Italian left-wing armed struggle using the research perspectives offered by Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS). The object of the analysis is Prima Linea (Front Line, PL), which in less than 5 years (1976–1981) became the second most important left-wing clandestine organisation of the Italian 1970s. On the one hand, the historical development of the organisation is divided into two distinct phases. On the other hand, three dimensions of the armed activity of PL will be considered, namely, its ideological approaches, its organisational repertoires and the choice of the targets, in order to investigate the origins, meanings and outcomes of certain framing processes related to the concept of political violence. Taking into consideration direct sources of the organisation and the debates within the social movements, this contribution contextualises these conceptualisation processes of political violence by relating them to the surrounding social context and focusing on the role played both by the structural dynamics from above, and by the theories and practices developed within the revolutionary Left. The aim is to de-exceptionalise and historicise the left-wing armed struggle in Italy and to propose a critical explanation of such phenomenon.