Knowing and Intelligent: A Study of Miranda Warnings in Mentally Disordered Defendants

A conservative estimate is that 695,000 mentally disordered offenders are arrested and Mirandized annually in the United States. Past research has focused almost exclusively on cognitive factors affecting the comprehension of Miranda rights. The current study broadens the scope by including diagnostic variables and by extending the investigation to basic elements of Miranda reasoning. A sample of 107 mentally disordered defendants was administered two research measures, the Miranda Statements Scale (MSS) and Miranda Rights Scale (MRS), in addition to standardized tests. Most defendants lacked good comprehension of all but the simplest (Flesch-Kincaid<6th grade) Miranda warnings. Defendants with the poorest understanding (i.e., comprehending about 25% of the warnings) had marked deficits in multiple domains including cognitive abilities (intelligence and comprehension) and general adjustment. Different background and clinical variables predicted defendants' abilities to generate reasons either to exercise or waive their Miranda rights.     

Longitudinal effects of domestic violence on employment and welfare outcomes

This study uses longitudinal data spanning 13 years from a study of 234 adolescent mothers to evaluate the effects of cumulative domestic violence on employment and welfare use before and after welfare reform. Domestic violence increased the odds of unemployment after welfare reform, but not before; domestic violence had no effect on welfare use during any time period. Psychological distress after welfare reform was associated with unemployment, but not with welfare outcomes. Thus, the authors found that the direct effect of domestic violence on unemployment is not mediated by concurrent level of psychological distress. The relationship of psychological distress to unemployment exists only for those with a history of domestic violence. Cumulative domestic violence can have negative effects on economic capacity many years after the violence occurs, suggesting that policymakers recognize the long-term nature of the impact of domestic violence on women's capacity to be economically self-reliant.     

EPO takes pragmatic view of therapeutic gene sequence patent claims

The Board of Appeal has taken a pragmatic view that a patentapplication can be considered to disclose an industrial applicationfor a gene sequence if a plausible therapeutic role is disclosed,even if the details of the biochemical activity are not so disclosed.     

Requirement of industrial application, exclusion of scientific theories from patentability, perpetual motion machines

This decision provides a clear example of how to apply the exclusionfrom patentability of scientific theories, as well as how perpetualmotion machines are incapable of industrial application.     

Cashlessness and Street Crime: A Cross-national Study of Direct Deposit Payment and Robbery Rates

Substantial variation in national crime rates suggests social structure and cultural context influence offending and victimization. Several prominent criminological theories anticipate a positive association between the prevalence of cash in a society and its rates of pecuniary crime. We examined the association between one form of “cashlessness” and national robbery rates across nations (n = 67), controlling for several structural covariates of national crime rates. We obtained data on robbery from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and data on government-based cashlessness from the Global Financial Inclusion Database. We found nations with higher levels of government-based cashlessness had lower robbery rates (β = ?.41, p = .02). We also undertook several sensitivity analyses, including tests for a relationship with commercial cashlessness and for crimes like homicide and burglary. Our results suggest technological advancements that reduce cash in a society may have implications for a nation’s robbery rates.     

Determining the sex of human remains through cranial morphology

Sex determination is the keystone of a biological profile, yet few qualitative methods of cranial sex determination have been tested. This analysis examines the accuracy and precision of 17 morphological features of the skull commonly used to determine the sex of unknown skeletal remains. The sample consists of 46 identified skulls from the 19th century St. Thomas' Anglican Church Cemetery in Belleville, Canada. Nasal aperature, zygomatic extension, malar size/rugosity, and supraorbital ridge proved the most useful; of secondary value are chin form and nuchal crest; mastoid size is of tertiary consideration; nasal size and mandibular symphysis/ramus size rank fourth; forehead shape ranks fifth; and palate size/shape are sixth. Skull size/architecture provides an internal standard to assess the relative sizes of other traits. This research is a necessary step in establishing the credibility of morphological sex determination with respect to the Daubert and Mohan criteria for admissibility in a court of law.     

Recognition of cemetery remains in a forensic context

The purpose of this paper is to provide guidelines for the recognition of human remains from modem and historic cemeteries found in a forensic context. Three avenues of evidence may be pursued to confirm the origin of cemetery remains: context, condition of the body, and associated artifacts. This article outlines types of North American cemeteries, demonstrating how land use over time has resulted in many being closed, moved, or forgotten, leaving only the context to indicate their presence. The condition of human cemetery remains varies considerably depending on cultural practices and burial environment, but many exhibit combinations of the following traits: dried or embalmed tissue; erosion of bony pressure points; cortical bone flaking; and bone damage due to autopsy or embalming. Examples of artifact types useful in recognizing cemetery remains are also provided. Two cases from British Columbia, Canada are presented to demonstrate the diagnostic features of a disturbed cemetery burial.     

Crime scene ethics: souvenirs, teaching material, and artifacts

Police and forensic specialists are ethically obliged to preserve the integrity of their investigations and their agencies' reputations. The American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the Canadian Society of Forensic Science provide no guidelines for crime scene ethics, or the retention of items from former crime scenes. Guidelines are necessary to define acceptable behavior relating to removing, keeping, or selling artifacts, souvenirs, or teaching specimens from former crime scenes, where such activities are not illegal, to prevent potential conflicts of interest and the appearance of impropriety. Proposed guidelines permit the retention of objects with educational value, provided they are not of significance to the case, they are not removed until the scene is released, permission has been obtained from the property owner and police investigator, and the item has no significant monetary value. Permission is necessary even if objects appear discarded, or are not typically regarded as property, e.g., animal bones.