Journal de recherche médico-légale

Post-mortem testing of drugs and toxic agents is becoming an increasingly indispensible part of the forensic pathology routine that has recently made considerable progress. However, little attention has been given to the post-mortem blood and tissue metal levels compared to reference values of living population. Therefore, this study was designed to determine the post-mortem blood levels of arsenic (As), selenium (Se), silver (Ag), cadmium (Cd), antimony (Sb), mercury (Hg), thallium (Ti) and lead (Pb) and to compare their levels with the measured reference values from a living population sample. Moreover, the relationship between the post-mortem blood metal levels and the post-mortem interval (PMI) was investigated. Two hundreds and twelve post-mortem femoral blood samples were collected from autopsied cases at the Forensic Medicine centre in Dammam Saudi Arabia. In addition, a living population sample of 200 subjects was recruited from the same region. The blood metal levels were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The calculated means for blood As, Se, Ag, Cd, Sb, Hg, Ti and Pb were 2.7, 10.16, 3.38, 12.06, 1.61, 5.49, 1.33, and 13.5 μg/dl respectively. Blood Cd, Hg and Pb levels were significantly higher in the post-mortem samples compared to the living population with p values 0.001, 0.001 and 0.02 respectively. Moreover, there were statistically significant differences among post-mortem blood Cd and Pb levels with regard to post-mortem interval (PMI) which could be attributed to post-mortem redistribution (PMR).

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs when an external blow to the head causes a disruption in the normal functioning of the brain. Injuries such as these not only increase the risk of involvement with the criminal justice system for the individual, but also may make it more difficult to navigate within the legal system. Unfortunately, public defenders may not be familiar with the challenges of TBI their clients face. The aim of this study is to explore the familiarity of public defenders with the signs and symptoms of TBI. Additionally, the study investigates the degree to which public defenders recognize the prevalence and impacts of TBI in the legal system. The study consisted of a 14-item electronic survey distributed to all public defenders in Minnesota. Results found that public defenders varied widely in their familiarity with TBI’s symptoms, prevalence, and impacts in the legal system. Although the majority of respondents had not received any advanced training on TBI, most believed such training would be beneficial for their clients. This study clearly shows a need for more training on cognitive, memory, and behavioural impairments experienced by defendants who have been impacted by TBI

Neonaticide is defined as killing of a newborn within the first 24 hours of life. Neonaticide happens globally. The characteristics and motives of Chinese neonaticide are unknown. This study is committed to outline Chinese neonaticide offenders’ characteristics and primary motives. Neonaticide cases in Shanghai Public Security Bureau (SPSB) were reviewed and analyzed. All offenders were domestic migrants with normal mental status. Neonaticide offenders’ common characteristics such as biological mother, young age, immaturity, being unmarried, low socioeconomic status and having an unwanted pregnancy were confirmed. 18 unmarried offenders were resident in Shanghai under 2 years. Their first sexual experience occurred around coming to Shanghai. The offenses occurred under 2 years after coming to Shanghai due to the stigma of illegitimacy. 2 married offenders were resident in Shanghai over 5 years. They both already had children. They committed neonaticides due to the stigma of giving birth to a female newborn and removal of a burden. Migration, life changes and separation from original families were verified and could be seen as a main factor in the neonaticides. First sexual experience, unwanted pregnancy and neonaticide occurred in unmarried young women under this background. Unwanted baby was primary motive. Unmarried young women with low socio-economic status and recent migration who got unwanted pregnancies are more prone to commit neonaticide. Basic medical care and interventions should be extensively spread in them to improve human beings’ well-beings.

Introduction: In this study, it was aimed to investigate the frequency of autopsy findings and the frequency of cases decided to die due to hypothermia in Eskişehir. Materials and Method: This study is a descriptive study conducted in the 20-year period between 1997 and 2016 in Eskişehir province by retrospective examination of case files belonging to judicial qualifications. These deaths were included in the study because of the decision to die due to hypothermia. The cases were evaluated in terms of age, gender, location of the body, month in which the body was found, autopsy findings, psychiatric disease history, toxicological examination and death investigation information. Findings: It has been determined that in 20 year period, there were 16 deaths due to hypothermia in Eskişehir, Turkey. All cases were male and mean age (SD) was 62.4 ± 7.2 years. Wischnewsky ulcers occurred in 11 cases (68.8%) due to hypothermia. 9 cases (56.3%) had a history of psychiatric and neurological disease. Conclusion: Hypothermic deaths are preventable deaths and precautions should be taken to protect against hypothermia in elderly people, homeless people and those with mental illness that will affect the state of consciousness.