Hospital Wet Mount Examination for the Presence of Sperm in Sexual Assault Cases is of Questionable Value

Many protocols for the examination of sexual assault victims include the preparation of vaginal wet mount slides to determine whether sperm are present and if so, whether the sperm are motile. We have reviewed findings in 501 case reports to compare the efficiency of sperm detection on wet mounts to subsequent crime laboratory results of sperm searches on vaginal swabs. Sperm were detected on wet mounts in only 41% of cases in which sperm were detected in the crime laboratory. Motile sperm were observed in only 12% of cases reporting a 0–9 h postcoital interval; in three cases, motile sperm were seen at 15 h and beyond, indicating that motile sperm are not reliable evidence of a short postcoital interval. These findings demonstrate that wet mount examinations are of little value in guiding subsequent analyses in the crime laboratory or in corroborating other investigative aspects of the case.     

知识产权刑事案件证据调查与认定——以新刑事诉讼法为视角

刑事诉讼法的本次大修是适应社会转型的需要,它在证据方面的修订对知识产权的刑事法保护有着重要影响,如增加了电子数据形式、增设行政证据向刑事证据的转换机制、增加了专家证人形式、规范了诱惑侦查措施等。不断完善的程序法必定会逐渐增强对知识产权的刑事法保护。     

Validation of the factor structure and predictive validity of the Forensic Evidence Evaluation Bias Scale for robbery and sexual assault trial scenarios

In order to investigate the role of pre-trial attitudes about forensic science in juror decision-making, a previous study demonstrated the predictive validity of the Forensic Evidence Evaluation Bias Scale (FEEBS), using a murder trial scenario, which featured ambiguous prosecution DNA evidence. The current study validates the FEEBS using two new crime types and the conditions include a manipulation of the presence of DNA evidence in the trial scenario. The FEEBS successfully predicted mock jurors' perceptions of the probative value of DNA evidence for both robbery and sexual assault trials. The two subscales of the FEEBS were demonstrated to have different predictive ability depending on the presence or absence of DNA evidence. A confirmatory factor analytic technique was used to validate the underlying two-factor structure of the FEEBS, as previously proposed. These results are discussed with reference to the CSI Effect literature, and the potential for improvement to less empirically supported voir dire questioning techniques.     

Effects of pretrial juror bias,strength of evidence and deliberation process on juror decisions: new validity evidence of the Juror Bias Scale scores

This study examines the validity of the Juror Bias Scale scores in relation to the mock juror decisions reached in two real life homicide cases before and after the deliberation process. The judicial cases used varied in terms of the ambiguity of the evidence presented at both trials. The WLS methodology for statistical modelling of categorical data was used to analyse data. The findings indicated that the Juror Bias Scale scores successfully predict the verdicts and other related questions before and after deliberations in the case with ambiguous evidence. Furthermore, deliberations caused a generalisation effect on the pretrial juror bias in such a case, and enhanced the differences between defense-biased and prosecution-biased jurors in the verdicts delivered after deliberations. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the use of pretrial juror bias questionnaires in jury selection.     

DNA鉴定人出庭作证现状、问题及对策

DNA鉴定在刑事案件的侦查中能锁定犯罪嫌疑人、串并案件、提供侦查线索,是重要的技术破案手段.DNA证据通常是可靠的,被大多数人认可,以前DNA鉴定人出庭作证非常少见.但是,DNA证据也并非完美,在应用中常常会出现一些问题,还有个别DNA检验出错,因而法庭必须加强对DNA证据的审查.随着我国新刑诉法的出台,DNA鉴定人出庭作证将是今后日常工作之一,通过质证,排除非法证据,准确阐释证据的证明力,最终实现刑事诉讼的实体公正和程序公正.本文亦针对在探索阶段鉴定人出庭作证存在的问题给予了一些建议.     

利用红外显微镜无损检测圆珠笔油墨色痕的研究

在这个研究中,红外显微镜聚焦功能得到了充分验证。该研究采用的检测方法是通过红外显微镜将红外光斑直接聚焦在样品表面,采集其红外光谱。根据样品红外吸收峰的个数、位置、强度及形状进行定性分析,以达到区分相同颜色不同品牌的圆珠笔油墨色痕的研究目的。研究结果表明,采用的检测方法可有效区分相同颜色不同品牌的圆珠笔油墨色痕。而且该检测方法具有无损检测特点,保持了物证的原样性。     

规范检察机关参与非法证据排除程序探析

新《刑事诉讼法》对非法证据排除进行了相关规定,明确了检察机关参与非法证据排除主体性地位。检察机关参与非法证据排除意义重大,有利于从根源上防止非法证据的出现,也有利于克服我国一元制庭审模式的弊端,从而规避非法证据进入庭审对法官的影响,确保法官公正审判,维护司法正义。这就迫切需要对检察机关参与非法证据程序进行规范,才能以之指导检察实践。     

物联网及无线定位技术在物证管理中的应用

物证监控信息化管理系统发展大趋势是智能化,综合利用物联网RFID技术可对物证进行智能化识别、登记、使用、监控以及生命周期管理等;应用RFID与ZigBee相结合的室内无线定位技术,可实现自动获取、管理物证实时可控的状态信息,防止物证被盗或丢失,提高管理和维护效率。     

The cultural labor of surveillance: video forensics,computational objectivity,and the production of visual evidence

This essay argues that the status of video evidence as an index of real events—a sign or representation that offers a direct, empirical connection to material reality—is the result of an intentional process of production. This process involves the repurposing of new technologies borrowed from the domain of creative media production in order to transform a chaotic field of raw surveillance video into useable evidence. In addition to the exchange in technologies, an unavoidable epistemological and interpretive exchange takes place between evidentiary uses of surveillance video on the one hand, and the now prevalent forms of surveillant narration found in both fictional and reality-based storytelling. But despite this exchange in meanings and technical systems, considerable effort has gone in to establish formal standards for the evidentiary uses of surveillance video that distinguish the discovery of video evidence from the production of creative content. Building on Daston and Gallison's historical study of the prevailing “epistemic virtues” that have defined objectivity over time, I argue that what we see emerging in the field of forensic video analysis, as a means of establishing its scientific and legal status, is a commitment to a new epistemic virtue of “computational objectivity.”     

05式警用转轮手枪弹壳接触DNA检验方法的比较

目的比较05式警用转轮手枪弹壳表面接触性DNA检验方法,为实际检验提供参考和借鉴。方法制备40例击发后手枪弹壳的模拟样本,分别用两步转移法提取弹壳表面不同部位检材,采用两种DNA提取法和两种扩增试剂盒对样本进行STR分型检验,比较评价检验结果。结果避开发射药残留区域采用两步转移法提取样本,有助于提高检出率;Chelex-100联合Microcon-100法提取模板DNA的产量最高可达1.18ng,高于Mini M48试剂盒法(0.91ng);MiniFilerTM试剂盒的等位基因检出率(23.61%)高于IdentifilerTM试剂盒(6.41%)。结论采用选择适当区域提取检材,采用Chelex-100联合Microcon-100法提取DNA,经MiniFilerTM试剂盒扩增,进行弹壳接触DNA分型的效果较好。