Physical forms of contemporary small-arms propellants and their forensic value

Intermediate gunshot wounds typically produce powder tattooing and/or stippling of the skin. The size and density of such powder-induced injuries around an entry wound are used to estimate the separation distance between the muzzle of the responsible firearm and the entry site through test firings at selected muzzle-to-target distances, with ammunition comparable to the injury-producing round and the evidence firearm. The foregoing is well known to forensic pathologists who document and describe such powder patterns in gunshot victims and firearm examiners who customarily produce the test-fired powder patterns for subsequent range-of-fire determinations. Less known, particularly to pathologists, is the considerable variety in forms of modern nitrocellulose propellants, their effects on powder-induced injuries to human skin, and the value of these varied physical forms in the reconstruction of shooting incidents. These factors are the subject of this article.     

Behavior of expelled glass fragments during projectile penetration and perforation of glass

Bullets striking common forms of flat glass with an orthogonal intercept angle result in a cloud of ejected glass fragments that are in concert with the exiting bullet's flight path. This is not the case with strikes at angles other than orthogonal. In these situations, the expelled glass fragments follow a very different course from that of the exiting projectile. This is both counterintuitive and a potential source of serious error in the evaluation and reconstruction of a shooting victim's position and orientation at the moment the victim was struck by a bullet that has passed through a nearby source of glass such as a vehicle side window or a window in a building. The flight path of the ejected glass fragments is, however, predictable and is dictated by the orientation of the plane of the glass opposite the projectile's impact site.In all cases, these expelled glass particles have considerable velocity and can produce pseudostippling of the skin in individuals located downrange of bullet-struck glass and near the projectile's exit site. The distribution and location of such pseudostippling and its relationship to the associated bullet hole in glass have important reconstructive value. A proper and reliable reconstruction of the victim's position in such cases will require the integration of scene information with the autopsy findings.     

Res Ipsa Loquitur: a step along the road to liability without fault

Traditionally, courts have required that the plaintiff prove the negligence of medical defendants through expert testimony. Res ipsa loquitur, on the other hand, allows juries to infer negligence from the circumstances surrounding the injury. The tension between those two propositions is obvious. It is incongruous to allow a lay jury to infer a proposition that generally demands expert proof.     

Previous judicial detection and paedophilic sexual interest partially predict psychological distress in a non-forensic sample of help-seeking men feeling inclined to sexually offend against children

Little is known about overall psychological distress in paedophiles who are not formally involved with the criminal justice system. Since knowledge in this context could help to optimise intervention efforts, this study aimed to examine the association between distress as measured with the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and preference- and offence-related variables in a sample of N?=?455 men self-reporting sexual interest in children, of whom 402 were diagnosed as paedophiles. Results showed that 59% reported clinically relevant levels of distress, with paedophiles being significantly more distressed than teleiophiles. A regression analysis revealed that a paedophilic preference and prior detection were relevant predictors for distress. However, past offending behaviour had no impact and the major part of variance could not be explained. The results suggest that paedophilia is associated with distress, but other factors influence whether a paedophilic man is distressed on a clinically significant level.     

Retail cascading in Germany a model for a revision of the PD?

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. Key points

• The EU Prospectus Directive (the ‘PD’),as implemented in several EEA member states, including the UnitedKingdom, and the Regulation accompanying the PD (the ‘Regulation’)render difficult or even inhibit public offers of debt securitiesto retail investors.
• Market participants and their advisors,trade associations such as the International Capital MarketAssociation (‘ICMA’), as well as the United KingdomListing Authority (‘UKLA’) and the Committee ofEuropean Securities Regulators (‘CESR’) have beendealing with the issues. UKLA and ICMA have come forward byproposing a solution regarding the information requirementsof Annex V.5 of the Regulation. The proposal is to utilize Article23.4 of the Regulation allowing information required by theRegulation to be omitted if the information is not pertinentto the offer. CESR may take a wider approach. It has indicatedits willingness to assess whether further Level 2 work is appropriateand legislative action will . . . [Full Text of this Article]