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The Talking Dead: 4 Observations About the Dying Declaration Exception Based on the Advisory Committee’s Notes

November 28, 2018September 29, 2017 by admin

Federal Rule of Evidence 804(b)(2) provides an exception to the rule against hearsay

In a prosecution for homicide or in a civil case, [for] a statement that the declarant, while believing the declarant’s death to be imminent, made about its cause or circumstances.

Working off of my post from yesterday about dying declarations being admissible for ("The defendant didn't do it") and against ("The defendant didn't do it"), I wanted to take a look at the Advisory Committee's Note to Rule 804.

In that Note, we first have the Committee in part justifying the former testimony exception by reference to the dying declaration exception:

Falknor concluded that, if a dying declaration untested by cross-examination is constitutionally admissible, former testimony tested by the cross-examination of one similarly situated does not offend against confrontation....The constitutional acceptability of dying declarations has often been conceded.

Calculating Consequences:The Utilitarian Approach to Ethics

November 28, 2018September 29, 2017 by admin

Emagine that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency gets wind of a plot to set off a dirty bomb in a major American city. Agents capture a suspect who, they believe, has information about where the bomb is planted. Is it permissible for them to torture the suspect into revealing the bomb's whereabouts? Can the dignity of one individual be violated in order to save many others?

Greatest Balance of Goods Over Harms

If you answered yes, you were probably using a form of moral reasoning called "utilitarianism." Stripped down to its essentials, utilitarianism is a moral principle that holds that the morally right course of action in any situation is the one that produces the greatest balance of benefits over harms for everyone affected. So long as a course of action produces maximum benefits for everyone, utilitarianism does not care whether the benefits are produced by lies, manipulation, or coercion....

Pharmacology of Neuromuscular Blocking Drugs

November 28, 2018September 29, 2017 by admin

Abstract

Neuromuscular blocking drugs (NMBDs) have become an established part of anaesthetic practice since Griffith and Johnson in Montreal first described the use of curare to facilitate muscle relaxation in a healthy man undergoing an appendicectomy in 1942....

Depolarizing NMBDs

Mechanism of action

Depolarizing drugs are agonists at ACh receptors. Succinylcholine is the only depolarizing NMBD in clinical use. It is effectively two ACh molecules joined through the acetate methyl groups. The two quaternary ammonium radicals bind to the two α-subunits of one nicotinic receptor, and depolarization occurs. When voltage-sensitive sodium channels sense membrane depolarization (as a result of activation of the ACh receptors), they first open (Fig. 1A(b)) and thereafter close and become inactivated (Fig. 1A(c)). The membrane potential must be reset before the sodium channels can be reactivated (Fig. 1A(a)). This is a very rapid process with ACh (1 ms), as it is hydrolysed by acetylcholinesterase (AChE) within the synaptic cleft...

Following Blood Trails: A SAR Perspective

November 28, 2018September 29, 2017 by admin

Authors Unless otherwise noted, this presentation is based upon the research and field work of Mark Gleason and C. Steve Frye. The presentation was created by Mark Gleason.

Both are members of the Virginia-based Search and Rescue Tracking Institute (www.sarti.us). This presentation may be used by others for educational purposes, with proper credit given to the authors or referenced sources.

Credits and Thanks

Photographs on slides 19-22 are used with the expressed permission of Joe Slemko, of J. Slemko Forensic Consulting. email: jslemko@bloodspatter.com; website: www.bloodspatter.com

Poke Week photograph from Kevin Brewer. Information regarding the properties of blood, wounds, and blood clotting was obtained, in part, from discussions with Dr. K. Miller, Search and Rescue Tracking Institute. Information regarding types of wounds and resulting blood trails are from the work of Tyron J. Cunningham from his 2004 publication entitled, “Scout Craft and Scout Tracking...

Boundary Crossings and Violations in Clinical Settings

November 28, 2018September 30, 2017 by admin

Abstract

Principles of beneficence, autonomy, and nonmaleficence, compassion along with fiduciary partnership are the core concepts in the doctor-patient relationship in therapeutic settings. There are varieties of reasons for boundary problems. Physicians ignorance, exploitative character, emotional vulnerability moral weakness and similar factors may pave the way for boundary issues resulting in nonsexual or sexual boundary crossings and violations.

INTRODUCTION

Physicians are held in great esteem and respect by the society. It is the duty of the medical personnel to discharge their duties toward the billions of suffering from physical or psychological disorders, with a sense of commitment and without damaging the values of ethics. The behavior of the physicians toward their clients must be consistent in all aspects with the norms of the society and culture they live. Physicians are bound to abide by Hippocratic Oath. The Hippocratic Oath is an oath historically taken by doctors swearing to practice medicine ethically.[1]...

Boundaries, Blackmail, And Double Binds: A Pattern Observed In Malpractice Consultation.

November 28, 2018September 30, 2017 by admin

Abstract

A scenario common to several boundary violation/sexual misconduct cases is reviewed and discussed. Common features include an articulate patient whose high functionality concealed more primitive dynamics that arose in the therapy; boundary problems, often on an “attempted rescue” basis; and eventual litigation in some form. The patient's high functioning appeared to cause the therapists to underestimate the severity of the patients' disturbances. Drawing on forensic experience, the author analyses the cases and suggests risk management approaches.

In malpractice prevention and risk management consultation, boundary questions are a very common concern among consultees. Such questions account for a considerable portion of legal and ethics-related difficulties for clinicians. The subject has been extensively discussed in the professional literature (see, for example, Refs. 1–10).

Over time, a particular pattern has emerged that seems to pose repeated problems and create familiar pitfalls for the therapists involved. This review lays out the pattern and indicates...

An Information Processing Model of a Police Organization

November 28, 2018September 30, 2017 by admin

Abstract

A model has been developed to study economic decision making in police organizations. The conceptual viewpoint taken is that police organizations are information processing systems, with activities connected in a communication network. The resulting model is process-oriented, and organizational decisions are analyzed by studying how the police force senses, learns about, and solves a stream of criminal events. Search theory is used to model the information processing activities and to study the value of unit memory, communication between units and the coordination of two or more units. A computer model links the units and activities in a simulation of the police force organization. Examples based on a municipal police force are used to highlight the concepts of the model building approach. The implementation of the computer model using police force data is reported...

Theatric Revolution: Drama, Censorship, and Romantic Period Subcultures 1773-1832

November 28, 2018September 30, 2017 by admin

This chapter discusses the complex array of provincial and metropolitan dramas arising out of a contemporary sex murder. Mary Ashford’s death in Warwickshire in 1817 aroused both local and national controversy. The availability of a demonstrably popular print culture ensured that the circumstances of her murder — and the acquittal of Abraham Thornton — were nationally distributed. Two Warwickshire playwrights wrote dramas countering each others’ perspective. Ludlam’s Mysterious Murder made Ashford a sexually independent, yet naïve, victim. The anonymous Murdered Maid took a much more patrician line (befitting its probable vicar author). As the case became ever-more legally complex (trial by battle was invoked to re-indict the acquitted Thornton), both dramas were quickly followed by their London equivalents, including Barrymore’s Trial by Battle for the opening night of the Royal Coburg. The chapter demonstrates that provincial drama could initiate metropolitan drama....

Psychological Traits Underlying Different Killing Methods Among Malaysian Male Murderers.

November 28, 2018September 30, 2017 by admin

Abstract

Murder is the most notorious crime that violates religious, social and cultural norms. Examining the types and number of different killing methods that used are pivotal in a murder case. However, the psychological traits underlying specific and multiple killing methods are still understudied. The present study attempts to fill this gap in knowledge by identifying the underlying psychological traits of different killing methods among Malaysian murderers. The study adapted an observational cross-sectional methodology using a guided self-administered questionnaire for data collection. The sampling frame consisted of 71 Malaysian male murderers from 11 Malaysian prisons who were selected using purposive sampling method. The participants were also asked to provide the types and number of different killing methods used to kill their respective victims. An independent sample t-test was performed to establish the mean score difference of psychological traits between the murderers who used single and multiple...

Multiple Stabbing In Sex-related Homicides

November 28, 2018September 30, 2017 by admin

Abstract

It is possible that sexually driven homicides are the consequence of sexual deviation, but more often than not the main cause of such homicides stems from a non-paraphilic person's emotional component. It is known that homicides which involve multiple stabbing are very often the result of the assailant's highly expressed affect. This study tries to establish whether such homicides are essentially related to the sexual motives of the murderer. This paper is conducted through a retrospective autopsy study that includes 766 cases of homicides. These were reviewed and analysed according to the motive of the homicide, as well as by method, age, and gender of the victim, and the relationship between the victim and the assailant. The motives of homicides are classified as non-sexual and sexual, including homicides related to rape, jealousy, amorous affairs outside of an established relationship, deviant sexual behaviour of psychiatric patients, paraphilia, and disturbed emotional relationships...

Abuse of Corpse

November 28, 2018September 30, 2017 by admin

Recently, the bones of a nearly complete skeleton were discovered in the home of a 37-year-old Swedish woman. Allegedly, she was using them as sex toys. Along with the bones was a CD labeled “My Necrophilia,” which supposedly provided the evidence. Apparently, photos depict this woman licking skulls. Among her effects were documents about people who enjoyed having sex with corpses. She was charged with “violating the peace of the dead.”

Here in the States, we call this abuse of corpse. This can range from corpse mutilation or rape, to corpse storage to mere exploitation. A man in Cincinnati, Ohio, for example, convinced morgue workers to allow him to take photographs of corpses posed with objects like sheet music and syringes. Into the hands of a deceased young girl he placed a copy of Alice in Wonderland.

When I was writing Cemetery Stories, I found plenty of material on the erotic...

An Illustrated Guide to Methods of Murder in Musical Theatre

November 28, 2018September 30, 2017 by admin

A tour through the madness and mayhem in ten killer musicals.

Rumor has it Benjamin Walker is racking up a high body count in American Psycho over at the Schoenfeld Theatre, but he’s not the first madman to bloody up the Great White Way. From women with powers to men with blades, the New York stage has seen its fair share of mayhem. Playbill takes a look at some methods of murder in these killer musicals.

Marie Christine, Broadway 1999 Loosely based on Medea, Michael John LaChiusa plops his woman scorned, Marie Christine, among the world of voodoo in turn-of-the-century New Orleans. Armed with spells of paralyzing fear and cursed gifts that burn rivals alive, Marie causes quite a bit of damage wherever she travels. She may not have laid hands on all of her victims, but she definitely has a hand in every murder in this musical—even casting spells causing others to do her bidding. Though she’s responsible...

Anne Frank: Finding the Truth (and Lies) in Diary-Writing

November 28, 2018September 30, 2017 by admin

“You betrayed millions of readers.” With these words, Oprah confronted the author who had aroused a storm of controversy in the literary world. His name was James Frey, and, in four short months, his new best-selling memoir, A Million Little Pieces, had come under extreme scrutiny. The problem was that James Frey’s memoir was not a memoir at all—he had dramatized large sections of his life, in one instance expanding his hours in jail to three months. Frey fueled an already fiery debate over artistic license and dramatic rendering in the “non-fiction” genres of memoir and autobiography. How rigidly can and should authors adhere to the facts when recounting their life stories? By examining The Diary of Anne Frank as an emblematic work of the genre, it becomes clear that the faithful recounting of one’s own life is extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The world of self-narratives is often chaotic and blurry....

When Self-Pleasuring Becomes Self-Destruction: Autoerotic Asphyxiation Paraphilia

November 28, 2018September 30, 2017 by admin

Abstract

Autoerotic asphyxia is presented in literature review form. Etiology, prevalence statistics, and a profile of AEA participants is provided. The author identifies autoerotic asphyxia as a form of sub-intentional suicide. Warning signs of AEA are presented. Possible sources of mis-information are given. Prevention and education recommendations for administrators, faculty, and parents are provided. A suggested reading list is provided. A part time computer programmer and full-time mother comes home from the office early on Friday afternoon to share a video and a pizza with her 15 year old son, Lance. His bedroom seems unusually quiet on this afternoon. Absent is the din of his favorite Smashing Pumpkins CD. She saunters down the hallway while calling his name, pushes open his bedroom door and then collapses on the floor in a flood of emotions launched by a graphic scene displayed in the room before her. Lance's lifeless, semi-nude, bluish-white body hangs b...

Narcissistic Rage and the Sense of Entitlement

November 28, 2018September 30, 2017 by admin

While the manic phase in what is commonly known as ‘bipolar disorder’usually involves manic flight into grandiose fantasy and impulsive behavior, on occasion it leads to rage, violence, suicide and even murder. The DSM-IV refers to this as “dysphoric mania” or a mixed state, where manic and depressive symptoms occur simultaneously. Outbursts of rage also occur in other disorders: they feature in Intermittent Explosive Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder and various types of narcissistic behavior; anyone dominated by feelings of shame may be prone to occasional outbursts of rage, which are often an intense form of blaming, one of the primary defenses against shame. While the DSM-IV defines these disorders as unique categories of mental illness, with individual diagnosis codes, they actually exist along a spectrum and have much in common. Most of the clients I’ve seen who demonstrated features of Borderline Personality Disorder or presented with Bipolar Disorder...

Sexual Murder: Definitions, Epidemiology and Theories (From Sexual Murderers: A Comparative Analysis and New Perspectives,

November 28, 2018September 30, 2017 by admin

Abstract: Ressler, Burgess, and Douglas (1988) consider a murder sexual if at least one of the following is involved: the victim is found totally or partially naked; the genitals are exposed; the body is found in a sexually explicit position; an object has been inserted into a body cavity; there is evidence of sexual contact; or there is evidence of substitutive sexual activity or of sadistic sexual fantasies. The main obstacle to labeling a homicide as sexual is the failure of some police officers to use these features of a crime scene as evidence of the sexual nature of a homicide, as well as the lack of specific definitions for sexual murder in criminal codes. In Canada between 1974 and 1986, there were 305 sexual murders (approximately 23 murders annually). In the United States between 1991 and 1995, sexual murders accounted for only 0.9 percent of all murders; however, there was no difference...