Observation of tri-allelic patterns in autosomal STRs during routine casework

We report three cases of tri-allelic patterns observed during routine forensic casework on 5964 Belgian residents. These individuals had been typed for the following 15 autosomal STRs: CSF1PO, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, D21S11, vWA, FGA, TH01, TPOX, D2S1338 and D19S433.The first example of a tri-allelic pattern had the genotype 13;15;16 for the D8S1179 locus. In the second observation there was 16;21;22 pattern for the D18S51 locus. The third case had the alleles 10;11;13 also for D18S51.All cases belonged to the Type I tri-allelic pattern, with three uneven peaks, the sum of the heights of both smaller peaks equalling the height of the tallest peak.Three cases in 5964 typed individuals is a frequency for tri-allelic patterns in autosomal STRs of 0.05%.     

Case report of a homicide resolved 15 years later: The robustness of Chelex extraction

DNA typing techniques is one of the most advanced tools for human identification. During the last 10 years, a great number of methods for DNA extraction and analysis have been introduced to forensic genetic, with considerable success but also with considerable controversy. The success and validation of a criminal investigation are very closely related to the process used for obtaining and preserving biological evidence.We report the strategy that we employed to analyze evidences belonging to a homicide happened in Brescia (Italy) in 1992, not resolved at that time, with the forensic genetic analysis. After 16 years the analysis were conducted on DNA samples extracted with Chelex maintained at −80 °C, bloodstain, and biological specimens of perpetrators. Standard autosomal and Y-chromosome STR analysis identified the persons involved and victim's profiles. This case is of interest as a demonstration of a more successful application of DNA typing in well conserved DNA samples than in bloodstains kept in the Court Office.     

The problem of DNA contamination in forensic case work—How to get rid of unwanted DNA?

The PCR technique has become a powerful and very sensitive tool in a broad field of research, that is, molecular biology, medical diagnostics, population genetics, ancient DNA analysis and forensic casework.However, the high sensitivity down to single molecules can easily cause false-positive PCR results due to different types of contamination. In this study, artificial DNA contaminations (saliva and pure DNA) were treated with UV irradiation and other decontamination procedures. A satisfactory DNA removal could not be achieved, emphasizing the necessity of contamination avoidance.     

Substantive due process after Gonzales v. Carhart

This Article begins in Part I with a doctrinal evaluation of the status of Washington v. Glucksberg ten years after that decision was handed down. Discussion begins with consideration of the Roberts Court's recent decision in Gonzales v. Carhart and then turns to the subject of Justice Kennedy's views in particular on substantive due process. In Part II, the Article goes on to consider whether the Glucksberg test for substantive due process decision making is correct in light of the original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment.The Article concludes in Parts II and III that Glucksberg is right to confine substantive due process rights recognition to recognition only of those rights that are deeply rooted in history and tradition.     

Osteometric method of determination of ordinal localization of the ribs using discriminant analysis

III-XI right ribs from 86 skeletons of the Caucasoid, stored in the Chair of Anthropology of Moscow State University, were examined. The ribs were measured by A. I. Turovtsev's program (1972) including 13 signs. The results have been analyzed with statistic program SPSS. Diagnostic models, based on incremental discriminant analysis, were calculated for expert practice. It is recommended to perform the expertise in 2 stages. On 1st stage group belonging of the rib has to be established. 1st group include III-V ribs, 2nd group--VI-VIII and 3rd--IX-XI ones. To determine ordinal localization of I, II and XII ribs is not difficult in view of uniqueness of its anatomic structure. Precision of classification of group localization of a rib is 99.6%. On 2nd stage individual number of the rib has to be determined. Precision of classification in case of belongings of the rib to 1st or 3rd groups is 80.2% and 85.7% respectively, to 2nd group it is lower (41.7-69%).     

The importance of biochemical studies for practical forensic-medical expert examination

Sudden death along with differential diagnosis of deaths from coronary heart disease and alcoholic cardiomyopathy is a challenging problem in practical forensic medicine. Relevant investigations demonstrated the possibility to address it using a battery of biochemical methods, such as measurement of blood glucose level in heart cavities, lactate dehydrogenase activity in myocardium, etc.     

Does Dworkin Commit Dworkin's Fallacy?: A Reply to Justice in Robes

In an article entitled ‘Dworkin's Fallacy, Or What thePhilosophy of Language Can't Teach Us about the Law’,I argued that in Law's Empire Ronald Dworkin misderived hisinterpretive theory of law from an implicit interpretive theoryof meaning, thereby committing ‘Dworkin's fallacy’.In his recent book, Justice in Robes, Dworkin denies that hecommitted the fallacy. As evidence he points to the fact thathe considered three theories of law—‘conventionalism’,‘pragmatism’ and ‘law as integrity’—inLaw's Empire. Only the last of these is interpretive, but each,he argues, is compatible with his interpretive theory of meaning,which he describes as the view that ‘the doctrinal conceptof law is an interpretive concept’. In this Reply, I arguethat Dworkin's argument that he does not commit Dworkin's fallacyis itself an example of the fallacy and that Dworkin's fallacypervades Justice in Robes just as much as it did Law's Empire.     

Regularities in Eyewitness Identification

What do eyewitness identification experiments typically show? We address this question through a meta-analysis of 94 comparisons between target-present and target-absent lineups. The analyses showed that: (a) correct identifications and correct-nonidentifications were uncorrelated, (b) suspect identifications were more diagnostic with respect to the suspect’s guilt or innocence than any other response, (c) nonidentifications were diagnostic of the suspect’s innocence, (d) the diagnosticity of foil identifications depended on lineup composition, and (e) don’t know responses were nondiagnostic with respect to guilt or innocence. Results of diagnosticity analyses for simultaneous and sequential lineups varied for full-sample versus direct-comparison analyses. Diagnosticity patterns also varied as a function of lineup composition. Theoretical, forensic, and legal implications are discussed.     

An Indepth Actuarial Assessment for Wife Assault Recidivism: The <Emphasis Type="Italic">Domestic Violence Risk Appraisal Guide</Emphasis>

An actuarial tool, the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA), predicts recidivism using only variables readily obtained by frontline police officers. Correctional settings permit more comprehensive assessments. In a subset of ODARA construction and cross-validation cases, 303 men with a police record for wife assault and a correctional system file, the VRAG, SARA, Danger Assessment, and DVSI also predicted recidivism, but the Hare Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R) best improved prediction of recidivism, occurrence, frequency, severity, injury, and charges. In 346 new cases, ODARA and PCL-R independently predicted recidivism. An algorithm was derived for a combined instrument, the Domestic Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (DVRAG), and an experience table is presented (N=649). Results indicated the importance of antisociality in wife assault.     

Criminal victimization in contemporary China: a review of the evidence and challenges for future research

The rapid economic growth in China over recent decades has been accompanied by higher levels of crime, but there have been few studies of the Chinese experience of criminal victimization. A recent victimization survey of a representative sample of households in Tianjin represents a major effort to fill this gap in the literature. The present paper reviews the research based on the Tianjin survey along with other studies of crime and criminal victimization in China that have been published since 1990. We summarize the major findings, discuss the theoretical perspectives and methodological strategies that have been applied, identify the limitations of the research to date, and offer suggestions for future research.

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