Influence of Velocity on Variability in Gait Kinematics: Implications for Recognition in Forensic Science

Closed circuit television (CCTV) footage is often available from crime scenes and may be used to compare perpetrators with suspects. Usually, the footage comprises incomplete gait cycles at different velocities, making gait pattern identification from crimes difficult. This study investigated the concurrence of joint angles throughout a gait cycle at three different velocities (3.0, 4.5, 6.0 km/h). Six datasets at each velocity were collected from 16 men. A variability range VR throughout the gait cycle at each velocity for each joint angle for each person was calculated. The joint angles at each velocity were compared pairwise, and whenever this showed values within the VR of this velocity, the case was positive. By adding the positives throughout the gait cycle, phases with high and low concurrences were located; peak concurrence was observed at mid‐stance phase. Striving for the same velocity for the suspect and perpetrator is recommended.     

Variations in Member States’ Preliminary References to the Court of Justice—Are Structural Factors (Part of) the Explanation?

The preliminary reference procedure in Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which enables national courts to request the Court of Justice to provide a ruling on the interpretation or validity of an EU legal act, is widely considered to be the jewel in the crown of EU law. When considering the number of references from different Member States, it will become immediately apparent that there are considerable variations. This article examines to what extent these variations may be explained by three structural factors, namely (1) population size, (2) willingness to litigate and (3) Member State compliance with EU law. It is concluded that some—but not all—of the variations in number of references from Member State judiciaries may be attributed to structural factors rather than being merely a reflection of different Member State courts’ willingness to make use of Article 267 TFEU on such references (the so‐called behavioural factors).     

The transportation-credit mortgage: a post-mortem

Abstract

Over the past decade, public housing has become the nation's “housing of last resort.” This article examines the emergence of this social role and describes the conditions of resident economic and social distress that have accompanied it. In this context, the article also evaluates the problem assessment and recommendations of the National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing, which released its final report in August 1992. This evaluation is used as the basis for proposing a new social role for public housing defined around the concept of social capital.

The commission correctly identified concentrations of resident distress, such as high proportions of extremely poor and female‐headed families, as a major problem facing distressed public housing. However, the recommendations of the commission were much less satisfying. Rather than confronting directly the tenant selection policies that have produced these aggregations of resident distress, the commission held to an unrealistic optimism that social services and economic development initiatives could relieve these conditions. For changes in public housing tenant selection policies to occur, an alternative social role for public housing must be defined. Under this alternative role, a primary objective of the public housing program would be to give residents access to social capital. Such an approach would ensure that families of the working poor are integrated with the nonworking poor in public housing developments, thereby fostering those sinews of community connection and trust the essential features of social capital and the sources of hope and opportunity.     

Comparison of handmarks in manual strangulation: an experimental study

A police case with a strangulated woman with fingermarks on the neck and two suspects identifying each other as the perpetrator set off a laboratory experiment. Twenty-one males participated in the study. Blue paint was applied to their fingers, after which they grasped a neck dummy and pressed hard as if strangulating someone. The imprint was removed from the dummy, and their hands were photographed. Five imprints were randomly chosen and superimposed on the hand photographs in blind trials. In no cases did we match an imprint to the correct hand. However, in four cases we matched the imprint with several hands, one of which was the correct one. This means we were able to exclude nonmatches in 4/5 cases. Overall, matching of hands and fingermarks is difficult and inconclusive. Objective criteria for matching are difficult to establish, and matching is probably best suited for cases with specific anatomical features.     

The paraphilia-related disorders: an investigation of the relevance of the concept in sexual murderers

Paraphilic disorders (PAs) and sexual preoccupation are known risk factors for recidivism in sexual offenders. Nonparaphilic sexual excessive behaviors-so-called paraphilia-related disorders (PRDs), like paraphilias, are also characterized by sexual preoccupation and volitional impairment and can be diagnosed in paraphilic men. The prevalence and clinical significance of PRDs in sexual homicide perpetrators, however, is unknown. We investigated the relationship between PAs and PRDs retrospectively in a sample of 161 sexual murderers. Four groups were compared: men without a PA or a PRD diagnosis, men with at least one PRD but no PA, men with at least one PA but no PRD, and finally, those with a combination of both (PA+PRD). The PA+PRD group had the most lifetime cumulative sexual impulsivity disorders, more developmental problems, the highest persistent frequency of sexual activity, the highest number of previous sexual offences, more sexual sadism, and compulsive masturbation. Men of the PRD subsample had suffered more from childhood sexual abuse, showed more promiscuity, psychopathy, and alcohol problems. The use of the PRD concept in this special offender group should be further investigated with prospectively designed studies.     

Assessment of age at death by microscopy: unbiased quantification of secondary osteons in femoral cross sections

The microscopic method of age at death determination was introduced by Kerley in 1965 [E.R. Kerley, The microscopic determination of age in human bone, Am. J. Phys. Anthropol, 23 (1965) 149-163.]. However, even though the method has been revised several times, there remain some fundamental issues concerning the reliability of the methods. This is because several basic histological features seen in a cross section of a bone have to be quantified according to the method, but the definition, and hence quantification, of these features leaves room for subjectivity. In a previous study we found that some of these features (osteon fragments and Haversian canals) could not be identified reliably. Only secondary osteons could be identified with a low inter and intra observer error. Furthermore, since the histological features are quantified in only parts of an entire bone cross section, the selection of these parts or areas is a potential source of bias. Finally, unless an unbiased method is used for addressing features on the borders of the selected areas, this will also introduce error. These issues have not been addressed specifically in previous studies. In this study, we used the methods of stereology to choose the regions of interest, as well as for dealing with border phenomena, and we only counted secondary osteons. Our results show a statistically significant increase in the median number of osteons per area unit with increasing age at death. However, this was after exclusion of one outlier. This result is probably due to the limited sample size (N = 24). As such, this study is preliminary, but does warrant applying the described techniques to a larger sample.     

Duplications of the Y-chromosome specific loci P25 and 92R7 and forensic implications

In the present study, we demonstrate that two commonly used Y-chromosome single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), P25 and 92R7, are paralogous sequence variants (PSVs) originating from segmental duplications and that at least one of the sequence variants in each group of loci is polymorphic. Several methodologies were used in order to detect the SNP alleles and the PSVs of the loci. All results obtained with the various typing techniques supported the conclusion. The allele distributions of the binary markers were analysed in more than 600 males with seven different haplogroups. For P25, the ancestral allele C was found in several samples from different haplogroups. The derived allele A was always present with an additional C variant. Haplogroup P was defined by the derived allele A at the 92R7 locus. However, the ancestral allele G was always associated with an A variant due to the duplication.     

The influence of brain abnormalities on psychosocial development, criminal history and paraphilias in sexual murderers

The aim of this study was to investigate the number and type of brain abnormalities and their influence on psychosocial development, criminal history and paraphilias in sexual murderers. We analyzed psychiatric court reports of 166 sexual murderers and compared a group with notable signs of brain abnormalities (N = 50) with those without any signs (N = 116). Sexual murderers with brain abnormalities suffered more from early behavior problems. They were less likely to cohabitate with the victim at the time of the homicide and had more victims at the age of six years or younger. Psychiatric diagnoses revealed a higher total number of paraphilias: Transvestic fetishism and paraphilias not otherwise specified were more frequent in offenders with brain abnormalities. A binary logistic regression identified five predictors that accounted for 46.8% of the variance explaining the presence of brain abnormalities. Our results suggest the importance of a comprehensive neurological and psychological examination of this special offender group.     

Customizing a commercial laboratory information management system for a forensic genetic laboratory

The need for high-throughput laboratories to comply with regulatory requirements makes data management an important aspect of forensic genetics. A Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) enables efficient workflows and ensures traceability if designed and implemented properly. We customized a commercial LIMS to support STR typing of reference samples according to in-house defined requirements. The customization focused on data validity, traceability and automated solutions.     

Automated extraction of DNA and PCR setup using a Tecan Freedom EVO liquid handler

We have implemented and validated automated methods for DNA extraction and PCR setup developed for a Tecan Freedom EVO^® liquid handler mounted with a Te-MagS™ magnetic separation device. The DNA was extracted using the Qiagen MagAttract^® DNA Mini M48 kit. The DNA was amplified using AmpF?STR^® Identifiler^®, Y-filer^® (Applied Biosystems), GenePrint^® FFFL and PowerPlex^® Y (Promega). The methods were validated for fresh whole blood and blood from deceased according to EN/ISO 17025.