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Month: July 2017

The Disease of Ritual: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as an Outgrowth of Normal Behavior

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Introduction

In an influential paper, Fiske and Halsam (1997) begin with a description of a man in an unfamiliar country. We observe him to be dressed all in red in a red doorway, washing his hands six times in six different basins that have been arranged meticulously. His eyebrows are plucked bare, and as he washes, he repeats the same phrase, occasionally tapping his earlobe with his right index finger. Their question to the hypothetical observer is: Is this man a priest performing a sanctified ritual? Or is he afflicted with obsessive compulsive disorder? Is he normal, or mad? The question resides in a space between clinical psychiatry and anthropology and is much more far-reaching than the surface implication that normality is culturally constructed. The striking similarities between the form and content of normal ritual and the ritualistic behavior of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) invite a deeper analysis. This paper is concerned with the implications of a common ground between normal ritual...

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The Coroner’s Autopsy The Final Say in Establishing Cause of Death?

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The Present Coronial System

The process of determining cause of death through the coronial autopsy has been a cause of concern amongst both coroners and pathologists for a considerable period of time. The Wright report (1936), the Broderick report (1971) and the Luce report (2003) all highlighted the problems before Dame Janet Smith called for rigorous reform to protect the public. The Luce report stated: “There is, indeed, a general lack of evidence about the utility and justification for coroner’s autopsies on the scale on which they are practised in England and Wales. If the 121,000 autopsies a year that are now performed were surgical procedures carried out on living people there would long ago have been an evidence base compiled to assess the utility and justification for the scale of intervention.” In its response to the Luce report, the Coroners’ Society of England and Wales noted that:6 “it hopes fervently that this report will receive the attention and implementation that its predecessor reports.”

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A Comparative Research of Two Lifting Methods: Electrostatic Lifter and Gelatin Lifter

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ABSTRACT

Two-dimensional dust shoe prints are often of very high resolution and contain unique features. Lifting these prints in the most effective method may contribute much to preserving these fine details. A research was conducted by experts from Israel and Switzerland to compare gelatin lifters and electrostatic lifters for lifting shoe prints. Several substrates were chosen, and on each material a set of dry dust shoe prints was made. A set of wet prints was made on paper as well. The shoe prints were approximately of the same quality, and the only variable was the nature of the material. On substrates indifferent to the method used, the preferable sequence was tested. Gelatin lifter was superior on most substrates and for wet prints. The superior sequence for using both methods is electrostatic lifting followed by gelatin lifter.

Two dimensional dust shoe prints found at crime scenes are often of very high resolution and contain unique features. Thus, it is most desirable to lift these prints...

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Electronic Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide for First Responders, Second Edition

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Introduction

This guide is intended to assist State and local law enforcement and other first responders who may be responsible for preserving an electronic crime scene and for recognizing, collecting, and safeguarding digital evidence. It is not all inclusive but addresses situations encountered with electronic crime scenes and digital evidence. All crime scenes are unique and the judgment of the first responder, agency protocols, and prevailing technology should all be considered when implementing the information in this guide. First responders to electronic crime scenes should adjust their practices as circumstances including level of experience, conditions, and available equipment warrant. The circumstances of individual crime scenes and Federal, State, and local laws may dictate actions or a particular order of actions other than those described in this guide. First responders should be familiar with all the information in this guide and perform their duties and responsibilities as circumstances dictate.

When dealing with digital evidence, general forensic and procedural principles should be applied:

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Crime Scene Investigation A Guide For Law Enforcement

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Introduction

This guide is intended for use by law enforcement and other responders who have responsibility for protecting crime scenes, preserving physical evidence, and collecting and submitting the evidence for scientific examination. Physical evidence has the potential to play a critical role in the overall investigation and resolution of a suspected criminal act. Realization of this potential depends on actions taken early in the criminal investigation at the crime scene. Developments in technology and improvements in the analysis and interpretation of physical evidence recovered from crime scenes will place even greater importance on properly documented and preserved evidence. An important factor influencing the ultimate legal significance of this scientific evidence is that investigators follow an objective, thorough, and thoughtful approach. The goal of this process is to recognize and preserve physical evidence that will yield reliable information to aid in the investigation. Investigators should approach the crime scene investigation as if it will be their only opportunity to preserve and recover these physical clues....

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Methodical Approach to Processing the Crime Scene

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Additional Resource: Crime Scene Investigation: Guides for Law Enforcement

These guides are intended for use by law enforcement and other responders who have responsibility for protecting crime scenes, preserving physical evidence and collecting and submitting the evidence for scientific examination.

If crime scene investigators do not act methodically, they risk contaminating or losing evidence. Approach a crime scene investigation as if it will be your only opportunity to preserve and recover evidence. Combine a scientific assessment of physical evidence with case information and witness statements as you assess the scene.

Follow Agency Policies!
Actions taken following these guides should be performed in accordance with department policies and procedures and federal and state laws.

Jurisdictional, logistical or legal conditions may preclude the use of particular procedures contained herein.

The steps presented on these Web pages are a guide to recommended practices for crime scene investigation.

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Electronic Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide for First Responders

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To assist State and local law enforcement agencies and prosecutorial offices with the growing volume of electronic crime, a series of reference guides regarding practices, procedures, and decision making processes for investigating electronic crime is being prepared by technical working groups of practitioners and subject matter experts who are knowledgeable about electronic crime. The practitioners and experts are from Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies; criminal justice agencies; offices of prosecutors and district attorneys general; and academic, commercial, and professional organizations. The series of guides will address the investigation process from the crime scene first responder, to the laboratory, to the courtroom. Specifically, the series of guides will address:
◆ Crime scene investigations by first responders.
◆ Examination of digital evidence.
◆ Investigative uses of technology.
◆ Investigating electronic technology crimes.
◆ Creating a digital evidence forensic unit.
◆ Courtroom presentation of digital evidence.
Due to the rapidly changing nature of electronic and computer technologies and of electronic crime, efforts will be periodically...

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Asphyxial Deaths and Petechiae: A Review

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ABSTRACT:

Conjunctival and facial petechiae, although nonspecific findings, are considered hallmarks of asphyxial deaths. Consensus in the literature suggests that their pathogenesis is related to the combined effects of increased cephalic venous pressure and hypoxic damage to endothelial cells. Despite the common knowledge that they are neither predictable findings in all asphyxial deaths nor rare in natural, nonaphyxial deaths, the belief persists that petechiae are corroborative evidence of asphyxia. We suggest that a clear, physiologically based understanding of the pathogenesis of petechiae of the head is critical for their appropriate interpretation. We present a review of the literature and the basis of our conclusion that conjunctival and facial petechiae are the product of purely mechanical vascular phenomena, unrelated to asphyxia or hypoxia.

Conjunctival and facial petechiae have been regarded as classic signs of asphyxial deaths (1–11). First described by Tardieu in the nineteenth century, external and visceral petechiae have since been interpreted as hypoxia-related sequelae of asphyxia, sometimes being attributed in part to......

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Staged Crime Scene California v. Charles B. Davis 2007

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This case involves a triple homicide in a small one-bedroom apartment. The victims were all stabbed to death and include Dana Beckmeyer, 44, WFA, who lived in the Oceanside apartment where the stabbings took place; Adrian Anthony Vanengalen, 55, WMA, of San Marcos; and Bruce Carriker, 57, WMA, of Vista, California. They were all either tweaked out on methamphetamine, high on marijuana, or drunk. The man suspected by police and ultimately put on trial was Charles B. Davis, 57, BMA, who had recently moved in with Beckmeyer. According to Mallory and Davis (2006): Charles Davis was calm and collected when he called police from a liquor store to surrender after a grisly triple murder in his home early yesterday, Vista sheriff’s officials said. The 58-year-old man called at 7 a.m. from a pay phone in Vista to say he knew why homicide investigators were searching for him and he was ready to cooperate. Oceanside police had been searching for Davis since 3:30 a.m., when...

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Discouragement of Crime Through Civil Remedies: An Application of a Reformulated Routine Activities Theory

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ABTRACT

This discussion develops an updated version of routine activities theory and assesses its potential for explaining the impact of civil remedies on crime discoura gement. A reformulated routine activities theory is constructed by marrying its original precepts with other theories of crime. The updated approach provides a promising theoretical framework for understanding how nuisance abatement, juvenile curfews, and server liability laws impact on crime.

INTRODUCTION

Since its introduction two decades ago (Cohen and Felson 1979), routine activities theory has emerged as a leading approach for explaining crime . During its brief history, the theory has weathered debates over its conceptualization as a micro or macro-level theory (Capowich 1999), criticisms of its assumptions (Jeffery 1993), and disquieting research findings (Massey, Krohn, and Bonati 1989). Still, the volume of research that acknowledges an intellectual debt to the routine activities approach continues to expand. This is due, in part, to recent attempts to marry routine activities with other theories of crime such as...

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To Be Published In The Official Reports Office Of The Attorney General

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ANALYSIS

The question presented for analysis concerns access by police and district attorney investigators to the medical and psychiatric records of a deceased person that are in the possession of the county coroner. May the records be disclosed by the coroner without the issuance of a court order, search warrant, or subpoena duces tecum? The issue arises when the coroner determines that a person has died under circumstances which suggest that the death was a homicide, and the coroner must notify the appropriate law enforcement agency. Government Code section 27491.11 provides: “In all cases in which a person has died under such circumstances as to afford a reasonable ground to suspect that the person’s death has been occasioned by the act of another by criminal means, the coroner, upon determining that such reasonable grounds exist, shall immediately notify the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the criminal investigation. Notification shall be made by the most direct communication available. The report shall state the name of the......

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Clinical Longitudinal Standards For Height, Weight, Height Velocity, Weight Velocity, And Stages Of Puberty

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Growth standards based only on cross-sectional survey data are different in form from standards which represent individual longitudinal curves of growth. The two are not interchangeable over the ages at which the adolescent growth spurt may occur, that is from about 7 years onwards in girls and 9 years onwards in boys. The difference is particularly marked in standards for growth velocity. The longitudinal-type standards are those which should be used in following the individual child, whether in the paediatric or adolescent clinic or as a routine monitoring procedure in healthy children. The cross-sectional values are the appropriate ones to use in making comparisons between population groups each studied only in cross-sectional surveys. They give misleading assessments for children followed individually due to the distortion introduced by some children having their adolescent growth spurt early and others late. Mixed longitudinal and cross-sectional data require a more sophisticated combination of these two approaches (Tanner, 1951). pproaches (Tanner, 1951). When we first introduced longitudinal-type standards for clinical use...

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State Standards Charts for Assisted Treatment Civil Commitment Criteria and Initiation Procedures by State

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Introduction

This document contains critical state-by-state information about civil commitment laws and criteria for inpatient and outpatient treatment, emergency hospitalization for psychiatric evaluation, and initiating proceedings for court-ordered intervention in a mental health emergency. Each chart may also be found as an individual document under LEGAL RESOURCES on the Treatment Advocacy Center site. While we hope you find this document helpful, please note that the charts summarize only the most crucial provisions of the pertinent statutes for each state. This information does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as a substitute for seeking legal counsel.

Assisted Psychiatric Treatment
Inpatient and Outpatient Standards by State
The following chart captures the most essential information about the laws for inpatient and outpatient assisted treatment in each state court ordered treatment for symptoms of severe mental illness. Please note that while this chart contains much of each standard’s actual language, it summarizes only the most crucial provisions

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The Coroner and the Common Law

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ONE OF THE STATUTES of the State of California (Section 27491 of the California Government Code) declares, "It shall be the duty of the coroner to investigate, or cause to be investigated, the cause of death of any person reported to the coroner as having been killed by violence, or who has suddenly died under such circumstances as to afford a reasonable ground to suspect that his death has been occasioned by the act of another by criminal means, or who has committed suicide." In addition to this basic statement, there is much more to this section of the California Government Code. It establishes the manner in which the investigations may be conducted, and it outlines the powers of the coroner in the effective pursuit of his duties. Together with similar sections of the codes of the several counties, it further authorizes and defines the coroner's official activities. While this codification of the duties of the coroner is relatively new in California,* the office itself and...

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Wrist and Ankle Restraints

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Usually, binding objects such as handcuffs, legcuffs, ropes, chains, straps or straitjackets are used for this purpose. Alternatively different kinds of arm locks deriving from unarmed combat methods or martial arts are frequently used to restrain a person, which are predominantly used by trained police or correctional officers. This less commonly also extends to joint locks and pinning techniques.

The freedom of movement in terms of locomotion is usually limited, by locking a person into an enclosed space, such as a prison cell and by chaining or binding someone to a heavy or immobile object. This effect can also be achieved by seizing and withholding specific items of clothing, that are normally used for protection against common adversities of the environment. Examples can be protective clothing against temperature, forcing the individual to remain in a sheltered spot. A practice employed in countries including Zimbabwe[1] is to take away a prisoner's shoes, forcing them to remain barefoot. The freedom of movement...

Additional Resource: Physical Restraint

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Bondage 101

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An example of rope bondage at BoundCon, Germany, 2008

Rope used in erotic bondage is usually soft to avoid chafing the skin, and easy to twist and straighten

Rope can be used for keeping a subject fully secured.

A playful, less restrictive form of rope bondage is a common magic trick at cabaret performances Rope bondage, also referred to as rope play, kinbaku, shibari, Fesselspiele, is bondage involving the use of rope to restrict movement, wrap, suspend, or restrain a person, as part of BDSM activities.

History
One popular form of rope bondage technique derives from the erotic Japanese bondage art form of shibari, which was in turn developed from the now-defunct Japanese military restraint technique of hojōjutsu. An important part of rope bondage is the rope dress, which is not of itself a form of restraint, but may be used either by itself as an adornment, or as a basis for restraining bondage.

Additional Resource: Rope Bondage

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