Journal of Forensic Sciences

Forensic casework samples often include human hairs, teeth, and bones. Hairs with roots are routinely processed for DNA analysis, while rootless hairs are either not tested or processed using mitochondrial DNA. Bones and teeth are submitted for human remains identifications for missing persons and mass disaster cases. DNA extraction from these low templates and degraded samples is challenging. The new InnoXtract DNA extraction method utilizes magnetic beads that are optimized to bind small DNA fragments, as small as 100 base pairs, to purify high-yield DNA from compromised samples...

Angle grinders are one of the most dangerous and frequently used tools in industrial settings. Angle grinder injuries range from superficial cuts to deep penetrating injuries with underlying fracture-dislocation and vascular trauma. The injuries caused by angle grinders mostly involve the head, face, or upper limbs, while the lower limb is an unusual site. The high-speed rotating disc of the angle grinders does not respect anatomical boundaries or structures; therefore, the injuries caused may be disfiguring, permanently incapacitating, or even fatal...

Currently, SEM-EDS is used to detect gunshot residue (GSR) from the presence of Ba, Pb, and Sb in the sample. However, the development of new nontoxic ammunition (NTA) has prevented conventional metals from being found. In this work, we aim to determine the presence of an inorganic luminescent chemical marker based on rare earth in gunshot residues using the technique of squarewave voltammetry (SWV). After firing, the luminescent complex [(Eu2 Zr)(btc)3 (Hbtc)0.5 .6H2 O], which is used as a chemical marker, can be detected under a UV lamp...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The results are reported of a study to examine case factors associated with 732 wrongful convictions classified by the National Registry of Exonerations as being associated with "False or Misleading Forensic Evidence." A forensic error typology has been developed to provide a structure for the categorization and coding of factors relating to misstatements in forensic science reports; errors of individualization or classification; testimony errors; issues relating to trials and officers of the court; and evidence handling and reporting issues...

The US corrections system is the largest provider of mental health care in the country. Suicide is a leading cause of death in corrections facilities with rates of inmate suicide being far higher than the national average. Suicide is an event that can lead to legal action against the facility, staff, and treating health-care providers. Some claims are based on medical malpractice. In this setting, claims may also be brought based on violations of the detainee's constitutional rights. Pretrial detainees and prisoners, alike, have a constitutional right to adequate medical and psychiatric care through the Fourteenth Amendment and Eighth Amendment, respectively...

The frequency and distribution of fractures are commonly utilized to assist in interpreting the manner of death. In cases of alleged suicide by hanging, however, the evidence base for the frequency and patterning of laryngohyoid and cervical vertebrae fractures resulting from such blunt force traumatic events is limited and so fractures cannot be reliably used to assist in interpreting the manner. Using meta-analytic techniques, this study aimed to estimate frequency and distribution of fractures in the context of relevant intrinsic and extrinsic variables...

The most highly cited forensic practitioners in the United States were identified using a publicly available citation database that used six different citation metrics to calculate each person's composite citation score. The publication and citation data were gleaned from Elsevier's SCOPUS database, which contained information about ~7 million scientist each of whom had at least five entries in the database. Each individual was categorized into 22 scientific fields and 176 subfields, one of which was legal and forensic medicine (LFM)...

Measuring trajectory angles of bullet defects at a crime scene is an important part of crime scene investigation as these angles can be used for shooting incident reconstructions. The Washington State Patrol Crime Scene Response Team (WSP CSRT) had a desire to report and use measured trajectory angles. To report quantitative measurements, a statement of uncertainty for the measurement must also be reported due to an accreditation requirement through the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB), through which the WSP CSRT is accredited...

Confirmatory identification of hair colorants can be used to establish a connection between a suspect and the crime science or demonstrate the absence of such connections. A growing body of evidence shows that surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) could be a confirmatory, minimally destructive, and fully noninvasive analysis of hair colorants. In SERS, a signal that provide the information about the chemical structure of both permanent and semipermanent dyes present on hair is enhanced by a million-fold using noble metal nanostructures...

The storage and use of explosives is regulated at the state and federal level, with a particular focus on physical security and rigorous accounting of the explosive inventory. For those working with explosives for the training and testing of explosive-detecting canines, cross-contamination is an important concern. Hence, explosives intended for use with canine teams must be placed into secondary storage containers that are new, clean, and airtight. A variety of containers meet these requirements and include screw-top glass jars (e...

This study assists the interpretation of glass and paint evidence by filling an existing gap in the background occurrence that reflects the socioeconomic and demographic circumstances in the United States. The collection was performed in a college US city (Morgantown, West Virginia) to determine the effect of the type of clothing worn at different seasons on the presence of glass and paint. Tape lifts and sole scrapings (1038) were collected from 210 participants and up to six clothing and footwear areas per individual...

Two probabilistic genotyping (PG) programs, STRMix™ and TrueAllele™, were used to assess the strength of the same item of DNA evidence in a federal criminal case, with strikingly different results. For STRMix, the reported likelihood ratio in favor of the non-contributor hypothesis was 24; for TrueAllele it ranged from 1.2 million to 16.7 million, depending on the reference population. This case report seeks to explain why the two programs produced different results and to consider what the difference tells us about the reliability and trustworthiness of these programs...

Analogs of non-fentanyl novel synthetic opioids (NSO) with modifications that fall outside of established structure-activity relationships (SARs) for that class of drugs create the question whether or not it should be considered an analog, as defined by 21 U.S.C. §802(32)(A), which is important for its inclusion in the US system of drug scheduling. AH-7921 is a US Schedule I drug and an example of the 1-benzamidomethyl-1-cyclohexyldialkylamine class of NSO. The SARs regarding substitution of the central cyclohexyl ring have not been well characterized in the literature...

The near ubiquitous presence of numerical simulation has made case-specific calculations of body temperatures following death possible so that accurate calculations of body temperatures can provide valuable information for estimating the time of death and can aid in forensic investigations. Here, a computational approach is described that has been validated against multiple, independent, and experimental investigations. The approach only requires one subjective input parameter (the heat transfer coefficient)...

Women remain a small minority of homicide offenders and appear to be understudied in the scientific literature. Gender-specific characteristics are however identified by existing studies. The aim of the study was to explore homicides committed by women with mental disorders, by analyzing their sociodemographic, clinical features, and criminological circumstances of the homicide. We conducted a retrospective and descriptive study among all female homicide offenders with mental disorders hospitalized in a French high-secure unit over a 20-year period (n = 30)...

Lipstick can be an important piece of evidence in crimes like murders, rapes, and suicides. Due to its prevalence, it can be an important corroborative evidence in crime reconstruction. The analysis of such evidence can provide an evidentiary link between the suspect, the victim, object, or the crime scene. We report the use of nondestructive ATR-FTIR spectroscopy combined with chemometrics for the classification of 10 brands of lipsticks with nine samples each. Chemometric method of partial least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) has been employed to interpret the data and classify the samples into their respective classes...

With the emergence of new psychoactive substances (NPSs) over the years, the substances detected on stamps (also known as blotter papers) have also evolved from the traditional drug-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) to the multiple variants of lysergamides such as ALD-52 and 1P-LSD. The analysis of such blotter papers is usually done by solvent extraction followed by identification using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). This study has shown that hydrolysis to form LSD was observed in GC-MS analysis when ALD-52 was extracted with methanol...

Gunshot residues (GSR), cartridge projectiles, and casings are frequently encountered evidence in gun-related forensic investigations. However, in circumstances where the investigation of striation marks is impossible, such as unrecovered or deformed projectiles and cartridge casings, GSR deposited on the hands or clothes of the shooter and victim-related items can provide information to establish a link between the suspect, the firearms used, and the victim. Since the formula of primers used by all cartridge manufacturers in China is identical, links based on the conventional morphological and compositional analysis of GSR are difficult to establish...