Understanding Children's Use of Secrecy in the Context of Eyewitness Reports

To investigate socioemotional influences on children's eyewitness accuracy, we examined children's reports for activities they were motivated to conceal. Forty-eight 3–6-year-old children participated in a standardized play session with their mothers. Half of the children were told by an experimenter not to play with certain toys, but did so at the urging of their mothers, who told their children to keep the play activities secret. The remaining children were not restricted from playing with the toys, nor told by their mothers to keep the play activities secret. Later, all children were interviewed about the activities with free narrative and detailed questions. Half were given an interview that consisted of highly suggestive questions; half were given an interview consisting of specific, less suggestive questions. Results indicated that older children who were instructed to keep events secret withheld more information than did older children not told to keep events secret. Younger children's reports were not significantly affected by the secret manipulation. There were no significant effects associated with interview type. We discuss implications for understanding the development of children's knowledge and use of secrecy, and applications of the research to issues that arise when child witnesses give reports in legal contexts.     

Sudden death in an infant resulting from torsion of the uterine adnexa

A 2-month-old infant girl died suddenly as a result of torsion of the uterine adnexa. The infant was found unresponsive in bed and was pronounced dead shortly after her arrival at a hospital. There were no antecedent signs of illness. At autopsy, the right ovary and right fallopian tube were twisted and were dark purple, swollen, and necrotic. The right ovary was enlarged by a follicle cyst 4 cm in diameter, which likely precipitated the torsion. The mechanism of death was unclear but may have resulted from the release of cytokines produced in response to necrotic adnexal tissue. Fatal uterine adnexal torsion has been reported rarely in infants; in all those cases there were antecedent symptoms. Torsion of the uterine adnexa should be included in the differential diagnosis of sudden death in infancy.     

Personal identification based on radiographic vertebral features

Personal identification of human remains constitutes about 10% of the normal caseload of any forensic medicine practice. Identification can be achieved by a variety of methods, one of which is the comparison of antemortem and postmortem radiographs. There are numerous accounts of cranial and dental radiographic features useful for identification, whereas the availability of postcranial radiographs and especially plates that depict the vertebral column is less widespread among the forensic community. The authors here review the various vertebral features instrumental in positive identification that can be identified on radiographs of the spine.     

A study of the effects of a Micelle Encapsulator Fire Suppression Agent on dynamic headspace analysis of fire debris samples

The effects of a Micelle Encapsulator Fire Suppression Agent (F-500, Hazard Control Technologies Inc., Fayetteville, Georgia) on the routine analysis of fire debris samples by Gas Chromatography (GC) were studied. When mixed with water the product can be used in the suppression of Class A and Class B fires. Laboratory tests were performed to determine whether or not the product has any effect on the analysis for ignitable liquids by GC, in particular for gasoline, medium petroleum distillates. and heavy petroleum distillates. Test burns were suppressed using either the micelle encapsulator or water and samples collected from these burns were analyzed. The results of analysis show that use of the micelle encapsulator at a fire scene may affect the chromatographic data obtained from samples collected by the investigator. However, the effect does not prevent the identification of common ignitable liquids in fire debris samples.     

Comparison of the elemental composition of office document paper: evidence in a homicide case

Fraudulent substitution of a page within a multiple page document such as a will or business contract, the counterfeit manufacture of paper banknotes, and linking ransom or extortion notes have all been the focus of criminal investigations at one time or another. In a recent homicide investigation, document examiners were requested to compare a threatening letter received by a business partner of the deceased with paper samples seized under warrant from a suspect's house. Through a quantitative elemental analysis of the concentrations of nine elements (Na, Mg, Al, Mn, Sr, Y, Ba, La, and Ce) within the questioned and specimen documents, determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), it was concluded that (i) the paper of the threatening letter originated from a different source to that of the paper seized from the suspect's house and (ii) all six pages of paper seized from the suspect's house originated from the same source. This discrimination of paper is presented as both a statistical t-test analysis (99.9% confidence limit) as well as construction of an elemental fingerprint for individual replicates within the questioned and specimen sample populations. This is the first reported use of the comparison of the elemental composition of document paper, determined by ICP-MS, to assist in a criminal investigation.     

A method for group identification of hair infected with Microsporum

A method for identifying the group appurtenance of biological objects from subjects suffering from various diseases is developed. The method can be used in examination of putrefactive objects (blood, secretions, hair, etc.) and in cases when the group appurtenance cannot be identified by other methods.