Performance evaluation of the Scent Transfer Unit (STU-100) for organic compound collection and release

The Scent Transfer Unit (STU-100) is a portable vacuum that uses airflow through a sterile gauze pad to capture a volatiles profile over evidentiary items for subsequent canine presentation to assist law enforcement personnel. This device was evaluated to determine its ability to trap and release organic compounds at ambient temperature under controlled laboratory conditions. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses using a five-component volatiles mixture in methanol injected directly into a capture pad indicated that compound release could be detected initially and 3 days after the time of collection. Additionally, 15 compounds of a 39-component toxic organic gaseous mixture (10-1000 parts per billion by volume [p.p.b.(v)]) were trapped, released, and detected in the headspace of a volatiles capture pad after being exposed to this mixture using the STU-100 with analysis via GC-MS. Component release efficiencies at ambient temperature varied with the analyte; however, typical values of c. 10% were obtained. Desorption at elevated temperatures of reported human odor/scent chemicals and colognes trapped by the STU-100 pads was measured and indicated that the STU-100 has a significant trapping efficiency at ambient temperature. Multivariate statistical analysis of subsequent mass spectral patterns was also performed.     

The Impact on Juror Verdicts of Judicial Instruction to Disregard Inadmissible Evidence: A Meta-Analysis

The effect on juror verdicts of judicial instructions to disregard inadmissible evidence was evaluated using meta-analysis. One hundred seventy-five hypothesis tests from 48 studies with a combined 8,474 participants were examined. Results revealed that inadmissible evidence (IE) has a reliable effect on verdicts consistent with the content of the IE. Judicial instruction to ignore the inadmissible evidence does not effectively eliminate IE impact. However, if judges provide a rationale for a ruling of inadmissibility, juror compliance may be increased. Contested evidence ruled admissible accentuates that information, resulting in a significant impact on verdicts. Suggestions for how the courts may mitigate the impact of inadmissible evidence more effectively are discussed.     

The role of beta-amyloid precursor protein (beta-APP) staining in the neuropathologic evaluation of sudden infant death and in the initiation of clinical investigations of subsequent siblings

This report highlights the importance of undertaking immunohistochemical staining of the brains of infants who die unexpectedly, as it may not only assist with the evaluation of the cause of death in an individual infant but may also help with the clinical management of subsequent siblings. A 5-month-old male infant who died suddenly was found to have diffuse beta-amyloid precursor protein (beta-APP) staining in the brain, with no unusual features in his history, death scene examination, routine autopsy dissection, and ancillary tests to suggest any definite cause of death. Due to the beta-APP staining, the possibility of previous episodes of occult trauma, apparent life threatening events (ALTEs), and accidental or inflicted suffocation was raised in the autopsy report. As detailed analyses and investigations provided no supportive evidence for trauma or inflicted injury, hypoxia was clinically considered the most likely cause. Because of these concerns, sleeping oxygen saturation levels were monitored following the birth of a subsequent sibling who had normal APGAR scores and no evidence of any health problems. Oxygen desaturation to 70% occurred in association with a color change while on the postnatal ward, and a subsequent polysomnogram showed multiple episodic significant desaturations to around 80% in association with central apnea. Other testing was unremarkable. These cases demonstrate that beta-APP staining of the brain may not only provide clues as to possible mechanisms of death in pediatric forensic cases but may indicate a need for careful clinical evaluation of subsequent siblings for possible central apnea requiring oxygen therapy.     

A systematic analysis of diversion: Net widening and beyond

This analysis focuses on the operation of a juvenile diversion program in a large metropolitan area. In particular, the impact of the program on referrals made by the police to the juvenile court is examined. Consistent with most studies of diversion, a significant amount of net widening was found to occur following the introduction of the program. A time-series design using a four-year-preprogram and four-year-program period was employed to examine the trends in processing over time. Referrals for all categories of offenses rose significantly during the program years. The implications of these results are discussed in light of both police commitment to the goals of diversion and the legal safeguards in juvenile processing.     

Violence in the city: Empirical bases for a collective working image

Many police patrol officers in Newark, New Jersey, articulate a working image of violence in the city that is similar to Louis Wirth's classical model of the effects of urban social disorganization on deviant behavior. In Newark, however, the working theory posits the 1967 civil disorders as a cataclysmic disorganizing event that generated ominously unique patterns of violence in the post-disorder years, compared to earlier times. Using data on violent crimes reported to the Newark police between 1940 and 1980, this article attempts to test the adequacy of that working theory as an explanation of reality. Regression techniques similar to those used by Friesma (1979) to assess natural disaster impacts are applied to three transformations of these crime data. The analysis demonstrates that the police working version of the disorganization model is more accurate as an inference from the pattern of violence that characterizes their workload than it is one from the patterns of absolute incidence of violent crime or of the risk of violent victimization incurred by residents of Newark. The article closes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for the larger problem of police-citizen distance.     

The Massachusetts Task Force on Secure Facilities: An Examination of the Issue of Security in a Community-Based System of Juvenile Corrections

Authors' note: This article reviews the findings of the Massachusetts Task Force on Secure Facilities' Final Report “The Issue of Security in a Community-Based System of Juvenile Corrections,” L. Scott Harshbarger, Chairman (1977), and includes the comments of the authors which do not necessarily represent the official position of the Task Force.