An evaluation of expert reports with regard to adherence to current quality standards

In early 2008 the penal system of Lower Saxony established a specialised department responsible for risk assessment regarding all prison inmates in that state. The department generates approximately 200 risk assessment expert reports per year, mainly on questions such as the inmates' aptitude for social therapy, relaxation of imprisonment conditions, and transfer to an open prison. Prof. Dr. Konrad and Dr. Heering (from the Charité's Institute for Forensic Psychiatry) have been accompanying the work of this department scientifically for at least 2 years by offering a scientific exchange and by reviewing random samples of the risk assessments and verifying the application of current standards. It is of particular interest to examine which methods are used and which topics are discussed with the inmates during the exploration for risk assessment expert reports, whether or not standardised risk scales are applied, and finally which conclusions are drawn from the results of the exploration and the information which could be gathered from court and prison files.     

Age assessment by magnetic resonance imaging of the knee: a preliminary study

The authors developed an original magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) staging system for epiphyseal fusion of growth plate maturation of the knee and evaluated its reliability and validity for age assessment of living individuals. A total of 290 MRI scans of the knee were reviewed retrospectively in patients aged from 10 to 30 years old (138 males, 152 females). Five original MRI stages were defined to assess the degree of maturation of the distal femoral and proximal tibial epiphyses. Intra-observer variability was excellent and inter-observer variability was good, demonstrating the reliability and the validity of this original MRI staging system. In both sexes, the changes of growth plates (proximal tibial or distal femoral) were associated with age (p<0.001). Our results agreed with classic data on skeletal maturation of the knee, with globally earlier maturation in females than in males, and also earlier maturation of the proximal tibial epiphysis than of the distal femoral epiphysis. MRI of the knee is an efficient non-invasive method of age assessment, without the disadvantage of X-ray exposure. Further studies with larger groups are needed to support our results.     

Integrating Growth Variability of the Ilium,Fifth Lumbar Vertebra,and Clavicle with Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines Models for Subadult Age Estimation

Subadult age estimation should rely on sampling and statistical protocols capturing development variability for more accurate age estimates. In this perspective, measurements were taken on the fifth lumbar vertebrae and/or clavicles of 534 French males and females aged 0–19 years and the ilia of 244 males and females aged 0–12 years. These variables were fitted in nonparametric multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) models with 95% prediction intervals (PIs) of age. The models were tested on two independent samples from Marseille and the Luis Lopes reference collection from Lisbon. Models using ilium width and module, maximum clavicle length, and lateral vertebral body heights were more than 92% accurate. Precision was lower for postpubertal individuals. Integrating punctual nonlinearities of the relationship between age and the variables and dynamic prediction intervals incorporated the normal increase in interindividual growth variability (heteroscedasticity of variance) with age for more biologically accurate predictions.     

Entomological and Cardiologic Evidence of Time Since Death in Short Postmortem Intervals

Estimating the time since death of the deceased is a main goal in forensic investigations, but this can be challenging due to contradictory results derived from different investigations at the scene of death. We present a case of a 78‐year‐old woman, found dead in a small forest with broad‐leaved trees, whose husband had a history of domestic violence. Routinely performed investigations, such as postmortem rectal temperature and lividity, yielded inconsistent time since death results between only a few and longer than 20 h. This difficulty was most likely caused by high ambient temperatures of up to 38.0°C, which negatively influenced the informative value of the applied nomogram method. Additionally, performed entomological investigation of fly maggots (Lucilia illustris) recovered from the corpse and the assessment of heart pacemaker data revealed consistent and incontrovertible results. The presented case highlights the benefits of information provided by entomological investigations and data evaluation of cardiac implantable electronic devices and the combined use of the two techniques.