Summer 2008
A look at this quarter's content in The Forensic Examiner, the official journal of the American College of Forensic Examiners
Featured Articles
Pain Reliever or Poison?
Death and morbidity associated with methadone treatment has increased dramatically in recent years, largely in the population prescribed this drug for pain control rather than addiction maintenance. Inadvertent overdose is becoming increasingly common, likely in part because the drug’s acute pain-relieving effect lasts only 4 to 6 hours, yet it has a very long and variable plasma half-life of 24 to 36 (in some studies 15 to 55) hours, is stored in body tissues, and toxic accumulation occurs with too-frequent consumption. Adverse effects are most common in patients treated with methadone in combination with other drugs. Both cardiac and respiratory systems are vulnerable targets for the drug’s toxic actions, and other co-administered drugs can interactively increase the risk of death through a variety of mechanisms including direct central nervous system depression of respiration, idiosyncratic respiratory vulnerabilities, and lethal cardiac arrhythmias. Idiosyncratic factors also play a part in methadone’s cardiac toxicity, and risk factors are well characterized, though perhaps not sufficiently widely known and understood by key stakeholders. The recent change in FDA labeling requirements for the drug—and the November 2006 posting of a government warning regarding its use in pain treatment—has not yet reduced morbidity and mortality associated with methadone as reported in the MedWatch database for the first quarter of 2007.
The Battle of Accounting Expert Witnesses: Judges Can Be Harsh
Thick skin can be an asset for expert witnesses dealing with the harshness of some judges. Judges can make negative comments about an expert in the courtroom, which can hurt an expert’s reputation. For example, a judge in Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal said the following about an expert when a defense attorney asked why he excluded the expert: “Dr. ________ is an insidious perjurer who wouldn’t know the truth if it leapt up and bit him on the ***.” The expert had been a doctor since 1963 and had testified for 25 years. On appeal, the appellate court upheld the judge’s ruling that the expert’s claim lacked merit.
Assessing Patients
During
a Mass
Casualty
History has recorded many natural epidemics. By World War I, scientists had established germ theory by studying natural epidemics and learned how to use this knowledge for biological sabotage. On September 11, 2001, the United States experienced a terrorist attack that was followed by biological attacks. Since that time the United States has invested heavily in bioterrorism preparedness, however, the role of the clinical laboratory has been taken for granted in this preparation. Studies have demonstrated that without a functioning clinical laboratory, clinicians are relegated to providing first aid. Bioterrorism agents such as anthrax, plague, tularemia, brucellosis, and glanders all require intensive laboratory services for proper diagnosis and treatment. The laboratory’s resources are also crucial in preventing the spread of disease.
Bullet Trajectories: Misidentifying Bullet Trajectories in Reconstruction
Pythagora’s Theorem is the basis for establishing the area of origin in blood pattern analysis and is commonly used in shooting reconstruction for establishing bullet trajectories. In part, this method of triangulation works well in blood pattern analysis, because a specific blood pattern is created by a hemorrhaging event from a single source that casts spatter in directions away from the source point. By dissecting the central axis of the stains to find an area of convergence, and taking the arc sine of the ratio of representative stains, one may derive the degrees of the angle of incidence or impact. Converting that integer to its tangent and multiplying by the linear distance to the Area of Convergence allows one to ascertain the area of origin. The adjacent of the right triangle that is thereby created approximates the trajectory of the drop of blood that created the stain under consideration. By retracing the flight path of several stains, an area of origin can be fairly accurately isolated in three-dimensional space.
A Tale of Two Countries:
International
Fraud-Detection
Homicide
In contrasting the American murders with the former Soviet Republic murders, a strong inference can be made from the facts that these foreign murders were committed solely on a contract basis, also known as murder-for-hire. The former Soviet Republic murderers had the markings of skilled professionals who were capable of avoiding detection by developing and executing a quality murder plan with surgical precision. It is not a coincidence that such murders go unsolved.
Litigation Support and the Forensic Accountant: Assembling a Defensible Report
Forensic accountants are frequently retained to provide litigation support services. These services provide assistance for accounting and financial matters in existing or pending litigation. Within the scope of each service the role of the forensic accountant can range from consultant to expert witness. Despite the function, the chief task remains to communicate specialized knowledge that will assist the trier of fact in understanding the evidence—that is why almost all engagements require the preparation of an expert report. This article addresses techniques for compiling an expert report that will impact the compilation of a well written and defensible report.
Case Studies
Dollhouses of Death: Frances Glessner Lee and the Nutshell Dioramas
Although the past century in forensic science has yielded many innovations, few women have been credited with advancing the field. A notable exception is Frances Glessner Lee, daughter of John Jacob Glessner and heir to the International Harvester fortune. Defying her father’s attempt to protect her from the outside world, she found a way to make a significant contribution to the arena of death investigation. In a 1949 article for the Coronet, George Oswald described her: “A queenly looking woman with the high, white coiffure and the tiny gold-rimmed eyeglasses is known as a passionate crusader for justice and a tireless lobbyist for reform.” Lee was one of a kind.
Search Dogs are Best Friends to the Lost
In March of 2007, a Boy Scout wandered away from his troop and began a 4-day trek through the wilderness in the rugged mountain-country of North Carolina. Searchers looked frantically for the 12-year-old boy using hundreds of volunteers and such advanced technology as helicopters armed with heat-detection equipment. On the 4th day, a black 2-year-old Shiloh Shepherd named Gandalf picked up the boy’s scent and led searchers to a stream where they found him, disoriented and dehydrated, but alive. It was a happy ending made possible by the science of canine scent detection, the training of search dog handlers, and search and rescue techniques that bring together disciplines as divergent as geometry and psychology.
Caretaker Cruelty: Munchausen's and Beyond
Born in 1720, Karl Friedrich Hieronymus, Freiherr von Münchhausen, spent his youth as a page to Anthony Ulrich II, the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (“Munchhausen,” 2008). Münchhausen moved to Russia with Ulrich, and both served in the Russian cavalry: Ulrich as a “generalissimo” and Münchhausen as a “cornet.” Together, they served in two campaigns against the Ottoman Empire with Münchhausen remaining in the military even after Ulrich was imprisoned in 1741. By 1750, Münchhausen had been promoted to the position of “rittmeister,” or captain, and shortly thereafter, retired from the cavalry and returned to his family’s manor in Bodenwerder, Germany.
Special Features
Forensic Science in San Diego
Serious forensic science and paradise—they’ll go together at the 2008 National Conference of the American College of Forensic Examiners Institute.
The San Diego venue offers warm beaches, vibrant nightlife, and resort accommodations that will make attendees well rested and ready to plunge into the exciting programs. It’s all combining to make this year’s National Convention one of the most anticipated in recent memory.
The many cases for quality certifications
In 1982, author and futurist John Naisbitt predicted in his best-selling book, Megatrends, that the world was being transformed from an industrial to an information society. He also accurately forecast the shift toward economic globalism and the growth of diversity in the United States.
Regular Features
Falsely Accused:
Prosecutor, Forensic Experts Take Heat for Mississippi ‘Disaster’
Kennedy Brewer and Lavon Brooks are free men today, and now it’s the turn of the prosecutor and expert forensic witnesses who convicted them to draw fire.
The Mississippi criminal justice system is on trial, with some activists calling for the review of scores of convictions, and many raising questions about the state’s most prolific medical examiner and a fellow controversial forensic expert.
The lapses that led to one man being sentenced to die and another to life for crimes they didn’t commit have been called part of a “forensic science disaster” (Balko, 2007). They have provoked action in the Mississippi Legislature (Innocence Project, 2008), and they have inspired a public information request relating to hundreds of autopsy records (Associated Press, 2008).
Books by ACFEI Members
New publications by members of the American College of Forensic Examiners.
About the ACFEI
The American College of Forensic Examiners Institute (ACFEI)
is an independent, scientific, and professional association representing forensic examiners worldwide.
Multi-disciplinary in its scope, ACFEI actively promotes the dissemination of forensic information and the continued
advancement of forensic examination and consultation across the many professional fields of membership. ACFEI has
elevated standards through education, basic and advanced training as well as Diplomate and Fellow status.
ACFEI serves as the national center for this purpose and circulates information and knowledge through the official
journal - The Forensic Examiner,
lectures, seminars, conferences, workshops, continuing education courses, and home study courses.
We believe Forensic Examiners do not 'win' or 'lose' cases. Forensic Examiners seek only the truth and conduct evaluations,
examinations, and inquiries and report the true results of their findings in
y in his day.
Stand Your Ground, Revisited: Measuring Reasonable Fear
This is a story of deceptian unbiased and objective manner.
What is a Forensic Examiner?
The term "forensic examiner" refers to a professional who performs an orderly analysis, investigation, inquiry,
test, inspection, or examination in an attempt to obtain the truth and form an expert* opinion. Almost every scientific and
technical field has a forensic application. A forensic examination refers to that part of a professional's practice
that is carried out to provide an expert* opinion.
*Note: Only a judge, under Rule 702, can qualify a professional as an "expert" in a given court case.
What is an ACFEI Diplomate?
The Diplomate distinction is a prestigious credential awarded by ACFEI that recognizes excellence and achievement and
identifies professionals who strive for a higher level of competence. Not only does it establish the Diplomate as a
distinguished top professional, it also encourages continuous professional development and promotes visibility in the
field of forensic science.
Learn More about the Diplomate Distinction
What is an ACFEI Fellow?
The Fellow status is the highest honor ACFEI can bestow upon a member. Fellowship in ACFEI is an honorary distinction that represents the member's dedication to not only the association, but also to the field in which he or she practices. The Fellow status exemplifies the member’s high quality of knowledge, skill, education, training, and experience. Fellowship assures that the member has met the highest standards set forth by ACFEI.