Context effects in forensic science: a review and application of the science of science to crime laboratory practice in the United States.

This article discusses the phenomenon of "context effects" by reviewing the findings and practices of a range of scientific fields, including astronomy, physics, biology, medicine, and especially the relevant research and theory from psychology. Context information, such as expectations about what one is supposed to see or conclude, has been found to have a small but relentless impact on human perception, judgment, and decision-making. The article then considers the vulnerability of forensic science practice to context effects, and concludes by suggesting that forensic science adopt practices familiar in other fields of scientific work, in particular blind or double-blind testing and also the use of evidence line-ups.     

An alternative method to screen for pepper spray residue

A method was developed to screen for pepper spray residue using instruments and methods other than those techniques commonly employed to analyze chemical residue (i.e.. gas chromatography mass spectrometry-GCMS or liquid chromatography mass spectrometry-LCMS). The method employed gas chromatography (GC), thin layer chromatography (TLC), and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) to screen for dried pepper spray stains. Pepper sprays from nine different manufacturers were investigated. Capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin were identified and unique IR reflectance spectra are presented. An additional five compounds were presumptively found. Results showed that a particular stain could be characterized as a pepper-based stain.     

Volitional impairment and the sexually violent predator

This article discusses psychiatry's limited conceptualization of volitional capacity and its application to sexually violent predator laws by exploring two legal opinions critical to predator case law (Kansas v. Hendricks and Kansas v. Crane). The author reviewed pertinent psychiatric literature on impaired volition to identify potential contributions and limitations that psychiatry may offer the legal field. Assessment of the ego dystonic nature of impaired self-regulation, utilization of recent advances in self-assessment and laboratory evaluation of impulsive behavior, and dimensional categorization of a volitional capacity construct are recommended as an approach to the assessment and understanding of an inability to control concept. This paper concludes that elements of volition may be psychiatrically evaluated in a way that contributes to the Court's understanding of that capacity. However, further study is needed to operationally define volitional capacity and address issues of assessment validity and reliability.     

Virtopsy-postmortem multislice computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a fatal scuba diving incident

The body of a 44-year-old scuba diver was examined using postmortem multislice computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and findings were verified by subsequent autopsy. The goal was to find out whether the important pathomorphological findings for the reconstruction of events and the identification of cause and manner of death could be identified using modem digital cross-sectioning techniques. The findings of a massive vital decompression with pulmonary barotrauma and lethal gas embolism were identified in the radiological images. MSCT and MRI were superior to autopsy in the demonstration of the extent and distribution of gas accumulation in intraparenchymal blood vessels of internal organs as well as in areas of the body inaccessible by standard autopsy.