Search

In the examination of questioned documents, problems involving the source or authenticity of carbon copies may be encountered. The copy presented may have been prepared through the utilization of individual sheets of carbon paper, or it may have been produced through a carbonless paper system. In some cases it may be significant to determine whether the copy was produced in the conventional manner or with a carbonless system and, if the latter, which particular carbonless system was utilized. For these reasons, a study of the carbonless systems currently in use was undertaken.

The standard method of identifying a typewriter as having typed a certain document has been to examine the typed impressions on the document for irregularities or identifying characteristics peculiar to that certain typewriter, as distinguished from all other typewriters of the same class. Among the identifying individualities considered are alignment, characters striking off their feet (striking harder on one side of the character than on the other), slant, and damage to the type face. Positive identification requires a sufficient amount of questioned and exemplar type to eliminate the element of chance and establish a definite pattern. In practice, this has not always been easily accomplished. Frequently a very limited amount of typing is available, and additional difficulty arises when the typewriter in question is fairly new and individual identifying characteristics are few.

Computer applications in toxicology have been under development in our laboratory at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) during the past eight years, and our progress in this field has been reported periodically in two films and papers presented at scientific meetings [1–5]. Computerized retrieval of ultraviolet spectral data, infrared spectral data, and gas chromatographic data has been included in these presentations, and more recently the Registry of Human Toxicology, maintained by the toxicology section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), has been programmed through our efforts so that computerized information files are now available for rapid access. As interest in computerization continues to grow, and computer systems are incorporated into laboratory operations (whether as dedicated instruments to control analytical equipment, or as information retrieval facilities provided by a data processing center on a time-sharing basis), the concept of a large information bank with rapid retrieval capability is most appealing to the researcher who must keep up with current developments, as well as to the toxicologist with an unusual case. The project described in this paper is an attempt to meet this requirement.

There are often questioned document problems in which alterations, additions, and obliterations have been made by visually similar inks. Such cases of forgery have been found in checks, passports, birth certificates, receipts, currency notes, lottery tickets, account books, etc. In the examination of such documents, an expert is often not interested in the complete composition of the inks involved, but is basically concerned with discriminating between these inks which are visually similar but chemically different in composition. He is thus interested in comparative study of the properties of various inks at large. A chemical analyst provided with a bottle of ink can determine the complete composition of an ink by several physico-chemical methods, but examination of ink on paper presents a much more complex and difficult problem [1,2]. For instance, about ninety-eight percent of the ink evaporates on writing and the residue is an extremely small quantity covering a very large surface. Ink writings, therefore, are either tested on paper or physically removed by special techniques [1,3]. This approach, apart from other basic handicaps, results in physical damage to the document in varying degrees depending upon the method used. Removal of ink from the document by solvents or physical punching of paper, followed by chromatography, electrophoresis, spectrophotometry, etc. are some of the other recent techniques which may give some specific information about composition and comparative identification [1–5]. However, these micromethods are cumbersome and require a good deal of expertise, apart from the basic disadvantage that the document is bound to be physically altered—even though to a small extent.

From time to time new methods of observation become available in the identification of skeletal remains. There is often a marked delay between the publication of these methods and an awareness of them on the part of many people who are engaged in the actual identification procedures, because such papers may appear in relatively obscure journals. On the other hand, some anthropologists who have had extensive experience in skeletal identification have learned to weight their estimates in favor of certain indicators of biological status that have worked particularly well in their experience. These special observations based on experience are often unpublished and may remain unknown to many pathologists who might have occasion to utilize them. The purpose of this paper is to describe some of the special observations and techniques beyond those routinely used by anthropologists in identification that might be particularly useful in special circumstances or unusually difficult cases.

Accidental deaths due to firearms are relatively uncommon. Only 2400 were recorded in the United States in 1972 [1]. Most of these deaths were due to carelessness or misuse of firearms. A very small number were due to dropping a weapon with resultant discharge. This paper will present twelve cases of this latter type of accident that occurred in Dallas from 1969 to 1973, as well as a discussion of the type of weapon in which such an accident is possible. Seven of the twelve cases will be described in detail since each involves a different type of weapon. As the weapons involved in all twelve cases were handguns, the discussion will be limited to this class of weapon.

The examination of gunshot residues in a forensic science laboratory should be a series of integrated procedures. The Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences includes both the Office of the Medical Examiner and the Criminal Investigation Laboratory. Accordingly, a unique opportunity for comprehensive and coordinated examination of gunshot residues presents itself. This paper deals with those aspects involving items of clothing and deposits which may be present on the hand; the pathological evidence is not covered.

The purpose of this research paper is to review the literature dealing with the handling and subsequent examination of bite marks. The approach taken will be to explain the various uses of bite marks as an investigative aid to law enforcement personnel.

Through the examination of trace evidence, many forensic techniques can establish a link between a suspect and the scene of a crime. Blood, saliva, semen, hairs, fibers, soils, glass, and fingerprints have all been used in this manner. In addition, handwriting and voice exemplars, bite marks, and gunshot residues have also been employed to provide a nexus between a suspect and a crime. All these methods require some form of cooperation on the part of the suspect, ranging from his passive presence for fingerprinting and extraction of blood to his more active participation in providing voice and handwriting exemplars. This contact between the investigator and the suspect has generated constitutional litigation. Defendants have argued that submission to these techniques: (1) violated the privilege against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment, (2) violated the right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment, (3) infringed upon the right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment, and (4) deprived them of due process of law. This paper will examine the judicial response to these constitutional challenges and the impact these decisions will have on the forensic sciences.

The subject of this paper is the research work at the British Home Office Central Research Establishment (CRE). One might expect a report on the technical aspects of current toxicology as my colleagues and I see them; however, I do not think it appropriate to discuss the minutiae of a particular technique or such exotic topics as new concepts of cellular biology; instead I would like to discuss research work in our area generally, and to survey its objectives, initiation, control, organization, achievements, and hopes.

The intent of this paper is a clarification of the role of forensic jurisprudence in the judicial process. Confronted with this task, one is left feeling rather like the man who has been persuaded to wrestle with an octopus: uncertain how best to begin. The question is most relevant to lawyers already engaged in that branch of the law which deals with evidence derived from the sciences and the scientifically based arts of our technological society. It seems therefore appropriate to focus initially on the confusion of roles and terminology, and the occasional conflicts of interest which are the inevitable lot of the lawyer who calls himself a forensic jurisprudent, and whose professional concerns include the conflicts of a society in collision with its technology.

Quite frequently in the examination of a defendant in a criminal matter the defendant will say, “I don't remember what happened,” or the examining psychiatrist may find that there is a period of fuzziness or hazy memory at the time of the commission of the crime. It is precisely this time period that is essential for the examining psychiatrist to explore with respect to mental state and criminal responsibility. Usually the crimes for which a psychiatrist is called are major ones such as homicide, robbery, and rape. This paper will briefly explore the problem of amnesia in the examination of a defendant in a criminal matter.

In 1945 a committee of the American Medical Association (AMA) published a report [1] deploring the condition of the coroner service throughout the United States. The AMA report stated that “medicine participates less effectively in the administration of justice in the United States than it does in any comparable country in the world.” Although the medical profession throughout the country was aware of the situation already, there was apparently no follow-up nor any change instituted as a result of that report. Presumably the obstacles to reforming the situation seemed invulnerable, for the offices of coroners in most states were imbedded in the state's constitution as were those of county boards, sheriffs, county clerks, prosecutors, and various others. These minor offices, along with the other dull and minor posts that appeared periodically on local ballots, failed almost completely to attract the attention or scrutiny of typical voters. Voters, in the course of marking a paper ballot or pulling little levers on a voting machine, came to such minor offices and voted for all the Democrats or all the Republicans without being able, as they left the polls, to tell you the names of the candidates. The sovereign people have their own royal notion of what is interesting or relatively important in their daily lives, and have taken this attitude toward the great lists of minor offices ever since the era of Andrew Jackson. They are not to be sneered at for being so sensible as to bestow their attention on nearer and dearer matters of private concern; however, this condition left the selection of minor offices to the ticket makers of the two major political parties in each county, a group trivial in numbers and concerned with self interest and party interest in distributing these minor jobs to loyal party members. In perhaps half the 3000-odd counties of the United States, a single party has held, and still holds, consecutive control for generations on end. The situation excluded selection of professionals, since the coronership, like the other county offices, was sure to be awarded to a local aspirant.

He who lights a fire during the day will wet his bed that night. (German and Mexican-Spanish proverb) The wisdom of the proverb makers continues to pique our interest as the subtle inter-relationship among the triad of enuresis, fire-setting, and animal cruelty is observed. Elsewhere the authors have reviewed the literature on these behaviors and new clinical evidence concerning the validity and meaning of this predictor is offered [1]. The present paper is limited to a discussion of sexually aberrant behavior, particularly from a developmental point of view, in six male adolescents who manifest the triad.

It is the purpose of this paper to introduce just a few of the new developments coming out of the Japanese laboratories and to open the door to a wealth of research findings available in one of the more advanced centers for forensic science.

A recent paper by A. W. Archer [1] has prompted us to report our results on the gas chromatographic (GC) determination of bromide in blood.

Opium, the dried exudate of unripe capsules of the opium ,poppy (Papaver somniferumL.), is a complex mixture containing up to 25 different alkaloids in varying amounts [1]; yet it is a mixture whose identification is frequently demanded in forensic laboratories, Of the 25 alkaloids, only five are generally present in significant quantities in crude opium: morphine (Ia; about 10 percent); codeine (Ib),thebaine (II), papaverine (III), and narcotine (IV)—each present in amounts varying from 0.5 to 5 percent. At present forensic identification of suspected opium relies heavily upon general characteristics of the mixture, such as chemical spot tests, thin-layer chromatography, and gas chromatography. Obtaining good spectral data on the major alkaloids present in these mixtures has been precluded, however, due to the difficulty of isolating any of these compounds in reasonably pure form [2]. This difficulty can be overcome with combined gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), whose ability to produce spectral data from the constituents of small quantities of complex mixtures already has led to significant advances in the area of drug identification [3–7]. This paper describes a method using computerized GC/MS for the identification of suspected opium samples.

Hexachlorophene is an antibacterial agent widely used in soaps and antiseptic solutions because of its low toxicity and high bactericidal properties. It is used in agriculture as a fungicide on citrus fruits and a number of vegetables. Toxicity from either ingestion or topical application can occur, however. This paper will present four deaths related to hexachlorophene exposure, two acute and two chronic.

A single homicide is such a commonplace occurrence today that it hardly merits attention from the hardened eyes of the public, but periodically the world still gets shaken by gruesome mass murders. There are few psychiatric studies available dealing with the subject of violent mass murder. The purpose of this paper is to study one man named Bill, who on 28 September 1964, using a heavy double bladed axe, struck and killed his wife and five step-children in less than 10 minutes. A sixth child was killed sometime later with a shotgun.

Although the document examiner would always prefer to have the originals of documents that he is called upon to analyze, he sometimes must do the best he can with copies. A copy may be in the form of a photograph, microfilm print, photocopy, or carbon copy. In the case of sales slips it is not unusual to be forced to work from a third or fourth carbon of the original. Soon, if not already, the examiner may be called upon to make examinations from electronically-produced copies, most of which are called “facsimiles.” (Indeed, upon the day of completion of this paper there was received in the Questioned Document Laboratory of the Metropolitan Police Department, Washington, D.C. the first case that included ten such documents which were transmitted from Kansas City to Washington via Telecopier.)

In the early 1950's chlorpromazine (Thorazine), the first phenothiazine drug for clinical use in man, was synthesized in France, was introduced in Europe and Canada without delay, and has been used on a large scale in this country since 1954. Since its introduction chlorpromazine (CP) has been administered to about 100 million people all over the world, and, therefore, metabolic and toxicologic studies have been conducted in many laboratories. There are more than 10,000 papers on record dealing with clinical, pharmacological and biochemical aspects of its use.

This paper describes a dynamic and evolving program that was implemented less than three years ago at the Women's Division of the Federal Correctional Institution in Terminal Island, San Pedro, California.

One of the primary goals of the forensic scientist is to be able to individualize physical evidence. Associated with this goal is the underlying assumption that no two things are exactly alike. Individualization has been obtained if it can be unequivocally stated that this fingerprint is that of John Doe, or that this piece of glass is from this sealed beam head-lamp and no other. Unfortunately, due to practical limitations, individualization is not always possible. In such a case the forensic scientist must examine all information available and then make an “estimate of the situation” [1] often based upon his past experience. The purpose of this paper is to aid the forensic scientist so that he may make a better estimate of the forensic value of automobile headlamp glass when confronted with this type of evidence.

The crime of murder exists in some form in all known societies. In the disposition of those who are found guilty, the law places little reliance upon behavioral sciences. Homicide occurs for diverse reasons. The law recognizes this fact by providing several legal categories of homicide, one of which is "not guilty by virtue of insanity." The concept of insanity in determining responsibility for the crime is defined according to legal criteria. The literature on the issue of criminal responsibility is extensive, but that issue will not be the subject of this paper.

The color of human skin is determined by many factors. Blood supply, epidermal thickness, and pigments, both intrinsic and extrinsic, are responsible for the many variations we see. An important factor is the amount of the intrinsic pigment melanin, which absorbs and scatters ultraviolet radiation. In recent studies of the morphology of surface skin cells and their melanin content, we noticed a clear correlation between gross skin color and the average number of melanin granules per cell. This suggested that a quantitative analysis of melanin granules in skin cells from microscopic skin specimens, such as those present on clothing, could help to determine the skin color of the individual from which the cells came. This paper describes the methods of cell collection and staining followed and summarizes the results of the quantitative studies.

The idea of the “Reconstruction of the Crime” as an aid to its solution was first succintly expressed and practiced by Alphonse Bertillon [1] toward the latter part of the nineteenth century. Since that time investigators have aimed at ever more detailed descriptions and reconstructions. The phases of description and reconstruction employ procedures very similar to those employed in the compilation of maps. The mapping quality is the basis for the experiments to be described in this paper.

A number of methods [1–5] are available for the identification of aldehydes and ketones by gas chromatography (GC). Baker et al [1] used a column packed with Porapak Q for the direct determination of the lower alcohols, acetone and acetaldehyde, in blood; a similar method was used to identify these same components in milk [2]. The analysis of compounds containing an isolated carbonyl group, as their 2,4 dinitrophenylhydrazones, has been reported [3,4] and in a recent paper the GC analysis of aldehydes and ketones as their acetals and ketals was described [5].

Various methods are available for the detection of prostatic acid phosphatase [1, 2], spermine, choline [3], and spermatozoa. Aspermatic seminal stains are increasing in number due to vasectomies. In these cases location of spermatozoa is not possible. Difficulties are also frequently encountered in the location of spermatozoa even when present in dried seminal stains. This paper sets forth a practical, rapid, inexpensive, and sensitive thin-layer chromatographic method for the detection of spermine and choline. No interferences have been noted from blood, vaginal secretions, saliva, douche powders, urine, or the azo dye (Fast Blue B) for the detection of prostatic acid phosphatase.