Legal vs. quantified definitions of standards of proof

Law and Human Behavior - Three laboratory experiments were conducted to compare legal (unquantified) definitions of three standards of proof (“preponderance of the evidence,”...     

Biological factors and crime: implications for forensic psychiatry

To summarize, we can say that (1) Criminal behavior, especially chronic criminal behavior, seems to be partly genetically predisposed; (2) An important task at this point is to attempt to determine the biological factors which predispose people to crime; and (3) We have related some tentative initial steps being taken in the study of the autonomic nervous system as one possible heritable, biological basis for the failure of normal social learning forces in inhibiting criminal behavior. Early in this paper we discussed the tenability of asserting criminal responsibility on individuals whose criminal behavior has a partly genetic etiology. But this special consideration seems to set biological factors apart as being in some unique causal category. In fact, genetic, physiological, and biochemical factors are causal agents in the same sense as family, social class, or neighborhood factors. Of course, criminal behavior (like all other behavior) must be caused; one class of causal variables is the biological category. The legal doctrine of responsibility is not challenged by identifying biological factors as partially determining crime any more than it is by findings of social causation. Only in cases in which abnormal biological factors are exceptionally powerful influences might responsibility be challenged. Such cases will be quite rare.     

Transfer of nitroglycerine to hands during contact with commercial explosives

The techniques of thin-layer chromatography, gas chromatography with electron capture detection, and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry were used to analyze hand swab extracts for the presence of nitroglycerine. Both the amount of nitroglycerine transferred to the hands after handling commercial explosives and its persistence were measured. Gas chromatography-electron capture detection was found to be the most accurate and sensitive technique for making such determinations, especially if the extract was partially purified by thin-layer chromatography prior to analysis. The lowest limit of detection was 10 ng of nitroglycerine, and residues could be detected over 20 h after handling the raw explosive.     

An investigation of bulk and surface refractive indices for flat window glasses,patterned window glasses and windscreen glasses

The bulk and surface refractive indices have been measured for 20 float window glasses, 20 non-float window glasses, 20 patterned window glasses and 20 toughened float windscreen glasses.The refractive index of the tin-contact surface of the float glasses was always greater than that of the bulk, typically by 0.002 (range 0.00053–0.00307). In contrast the refractive indices of the two surfaces and the bulk of the sheet window glasses were in agreement within accepted experimental error in each case. A number of patterned window glasses showed significantly different refractive indices between the plain and patterned surfaces, the largest difference obtained (0.00021) being an order of magnitude smaller than that found for a typical float glass.Nine of the 40 float glasses examined yielded abnormal fragments from the upper surface in the sense that they did not disappear at the match temperature of the bulk glass. The refractive index measured from these abnormal fragments for two of these glasses was lower than the refractive index from the bulk glass.The variation in the bulk refractive index for the sheet and float window glasses produced an estimated standard deviation (E.S.D.) of 1.2 × 10^?5. However, the patterned glasses were nearly three times as variable (E.S.D. = 3.3 × 10^?5) and the toughened float glasses were, on average, almost seven times as variable (E.S.D. = 8.0 × 10^?5).The value of making surface as well as bulk refractive index measurements in routine casework is discussed in the light of the above results.     

A new computer-assisted possibility for evaluating the evidence value of textile fiber traces

This paper deals with the possibility of coding synthetic textile fibers. Using a small data bank the efficiency of a computer aided data search is demonstrated. It is intended to build up a large collection of textile fibers and to determine at least approximately the frequency of a certain fiber type. If this can be achieved the forensic scientist who has to examine textile fibers in case work will be able for the first time to answer the question about the frequency of an incriminating fiber, a question which is often asked in court.     

Isotachophoretic analysis of bloodstains: differentiation of human, menstrual, bovine, and ovine bloods

Isotachophoresis, a technique to separate components by constant current electrophoresis, was used to differentiate between bloodstains of male, female, menstrual, bovine, and ovine bloods on cotton cloth and filter paper. Bloodstain analysis by isotachophoresis of stains from male and female subjects showed identical cationic patterns, but gave different profiles in the anionic system. Plasma had one extra peak in the anionic system when compared to the profile of serum. This extra peak is due to the presence of fibrinogen in plasma. Some hemoglobin peaks overlapped with serum protein peaks, but these could be identified by comparisons at lower concentrations. Menstrual blood had a much different pattern than normal human blood as was expected since many more compounds are found in menstrual blood than in normally circulating blood. Human, bovine, and ovine bloodstains showed different profiles both in the cationic and anionic systems. These results indicate that isotachophoresis can be used for the rapid and simple analysis of bloodstains to differentiate reliably human male, female, and menstrual blood and also to distinguish human bloodstains from those of cattle or sheep.     

Death by peroral ingestion of soluble glass (sodium silicate)

The intake of 0.51 of water glass (sodium metasilicate; colloid pH 12.5) led to death within 1-1.5 h. Autopsy revealed alkali burns of the stomach mucosa. The stomach contained a small amount of liquid with a pH of 11.5. Histologically, numerous bronchioles and alveoles were filled with amorphous material. This material was chemically proved to be condensed water glass. The obstruction of large parts of the lungs by water glass led to an inhibition of alveolar gas diffusion, which may have been the cause of death. The transformation of the water glass from liquid to solid occurred in the lungs by means of the carbonic acid of expiration air. This was made possible because the pH of water glass had been changed by gastric secretions from 12.5 to 11.5. Water glass starts to solidify around pH 11.4-11.3.