A comparative study of analytical methods to determine postmortem changes in carbon monoxide concentration

Twenty-one autopsy blood samples were analyzed using spectrophotometric and gas chromatographic procedures after storage for 30 and 150 days.When carboxyhemoglobin was measured spectrophotometrically at the absorbance ratio of $\text{540}\text{nm}\text{555}\text{nm}$, the observed average percent losses were 8 ± 9% and 35 ± 27% after 30 and 150 days of storage, respectively. When measured at the absorbance ratio of $\text{540}\text{nm}\text{579}\text{nm}$, the average percent losses of carboxyhemoglobin were 7 ± 8% and 34 ± 25% after 30 and 150 days, respectively. Wavelength shifts and distorted spectral scans were observed at 150 days.When carbon monoxide was determined by gas chromatographic methods based on combining capacity, the average percent loss was 15 ± 24% and 37 ± 36% after 30 days and 150 days, respectively. The average percent loss of calculated CO based on hemoglobin concentration after 30 days was 31 ± 14% and at 150 days, 40 ± 24%. The average percent loss of calculated CO based on iron content was 23 ± 13% and 37 ± 23% after 30 and 150 days, respectively.     

Self-reports of Police Speeding Stops by Race: Results from the North Carolina Reverse Record Check Survey

Survey reports of police stops and driving behavior are a potential methodology for examining the magnitude and prevalence of the “Driving While Black” phenomena. However, estimates of the magnitude or correlates of racial disparity in police stops from self-reported survey data are potentially compromised if the accuracy of self-reports of police stops and driving behavior differ by race. We report on the results of a reverse record check survey in which we directly assess the degree and consequences of differences by race in self-reports of police stops. In our sample of drivers who had been cited for speeding in the preceding year, we found that 77% of the White respondents and 71% of the African American respondents admitted to being stopped. While both groups underreport stops, African Americans do so at a higher rate. This finding is consistent with many past studies which report stronger social desirability effects on survey responses among African Americans. Thus, survey data will tend to underestimate the magnitude of the “Driving While Black” phenomena.

Effects of victims' characteristics on attitudes toward hate crimes

Hate crimes are motivated by perpetrators' prejudice toward targets' group. To examine individuals' attitudes toward hate crime perpetrators and targets, participants responded to vignettes of court cases in which the victim's group membership was varied. Results showed that participants recommended more severe sentences for perpetrators when the targets of their crimes were not White males or White females and reported those crimes as more closely fitting the definition of "hate crime." These results show that participants consider penalty enhancements appropriate for hate crimes and that they do not consider crimes against women to be hate crimes, consistent with present hate crime legislation. These results have implications for the utility and support of hate crime legislation but may showcase the resistance to expanding the legislation to protect individuals of other groups, especially women.     

Extent, trends, and perpetrators of prostitution-related homicide in the United States

Prostitute women have the highest homicide victimization rate of any set of women ever studied. We analyzed nine diverse homicide data sets to examine the extent, trends, and perpetrators of prostitution-related homicide in the United States. Most data sources substantially under-ascertained prostitute homicides. As estimated from a conservative capture-recapture analysis, 2.7% of female homicide victims in the United States between 1982 and 2000 were prostitutes. Frequencies of recorded prostitute and client homicides increased substantially in the late 1980s and early 1990s; nearly all of the few observed pimp homicides occurred before the late 1980s. These trends may be linked to the rise of crack cocaine use. Prostitutes were killed primarily by clients, clients were killed mainly by prostitutes, and pimps were killed predominantly by pimps. Another conservative estimate suggests that serial killers accounted for 35% of prostitute homicides. Proactive surveillance of, and evidence collection from, clients and prostitutes might enhance the investigation of prostitution-related homicide.