Archiv für Kriminologie
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Archiv für Kriminologie · Sep 1997
[Possibilities for injuries caused by rubber bullets from the self-defense weapon MR 35 Punch].
Manurhin developed a "non lethal" weapon, the MR 35 Punch, which fires 21 g weighing rubber balls of 35 mm caliber. The black powder cartridges which were used as propellant cause important variations of the projectile's velocity from 120 to 140 m/s. The resulting energies were about 150 to 200 J. ⋯ Skin and textiles were penetrated in all experiments. Pieces of flat bone which were embedded in gelatin were fractured by the shots, in part fracture elements were dislocated. The discussion of the wound ballistic results contradict the "non lethal" character of the MR 35 Punch.
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The bodies of 2 young men were discovered in the hut of a small garden plot. Due to the unclear circumstances of the deaths, a coroner's inquest was ordered. ⋯ At first the source of carbon monoxide was not detectable. According to the reconstruction of the fatal event, the only possible source of carbon monoxide was the charcoal grill found in the hut.
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Archiv für Kriminologie · Mar 1997
[Errors in autopsy in Germany. Results of a multicenter study (II)].
In the result of a workshop held in Münster on 1st May 1993, 23 institutes of legal medicine in Germany reported death cases where the primary supposition was natural death or a death without legal relevance, but where the autopsies by chance revealed an unnatural death or a death with legal relevance. In the institutes participating in the study 13,000 autopsies were performed during the period of the reports, i.e. 75% of all legal autopsies performed in one year in Germany. A total of 92 "discoveries by chance" were reported where a natural death was given on the death certificate after the external examination of the corpse among them 49 accidents, 10 homicides, and 19 deaths by medical implications. ⋯ In face of this emphasis must placed on the historical demands of criminologists and forensic pathologists: reinforced education and further education of medical students and doctors in the field of the external examination of corpses. Introduction of a specialized medical external examination of corpses Adherence to the 3 classical classifications of the manner of death: natural, unnatural and unclear on the death certificate. Increased number of autopsies.
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From 1990 to 1995, 274 deaths of infants (age range 7 days-6 years) were investigated in Münster, where there were no indications of suspicious circumstances. In 167 cases a legal autopsy was carried out and revealed 5 homicides. ⋯ A similar frequency of homicides in both groups indicates that the criteria used to form the basis of a decision by the prosecutor to release the body are insufficient. On average one out of 30 cases was found to be a homicide as the result of the autopsy where the initial assumption was death from natural causes.
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Archiv für Kriminologie · Sep 1996
[Detection of fluid in paranasal sinuses as a possible diagnostic sign of death by drowning].
A total of 387 cases of drowning in fresh water were investigated for the occurrence of liquid in sinus sphenoidalis and both left and right sinus maxillaris. About 75 per cent of the victims had positive findings of liquid in these cavities. This kind of investigation can be an auxiliary method in diagnosis of drowning.