Archiwum medycyny sa̧dowej i kryminologii
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Arch Med Sadowej Kryminol · Oct 2009
Review[Mental state and the criminal responsibility--legal regulations and medical criteria in Poland and other countries].
In contemporary civilized legal systems, sanity is a prerequisite for criminal responsibility of the perpetrator. Thus, insanity resulting from certain psychiatric and psychological disorders is a circumstance excluding the guilt. ⋯ These differences in particular appear among systems of continental European states as opposed to these, in which the judiciary system is derived from the English law. The paper presents and discusses in detail the legal and medical considerations of insanity defense in Poland, as well as outlines the legal foundations of this issue in other countries of Europe, North America and Australia.
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Arch Med Sadowej Kryminol · Oct 2009
Historical Article[Common paths of psychiatry and forensic medicine--history and evolution of insanity defense concept from antiquity to modern times].
Forensic psychiatry and psychology were in their beginnings inseparably associated with the forensic medicine, constituting one of its related branches of knowledge. Progress and development of these disciplines, education and the practical application for the purposes of the law were a contribution of a several generations of forensic pathologists in the 19th and 20th centuries. ⋯ However, the problem of criminal responsibility of the mentally ill perpetrators dates back to much earlier times and has its roots in the distant beginnings of human civilization. In this paper, the history and evolution of the insanity concept (as a circumstance excluding the guilt of the offender) were presented, from the oldest theories to ideas underlying modern codifications.
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Arch Med Sadowej Kryminol · Oct 2009
Case Reports[Postmortem CT examination in a case of alleged drowning--a case report].
The authors present an analysis of postmortem CT examination in a case of drowning in fresh water of a young male. Both the results of conventional forensic autopsy and radiologic examination have been compared. The analysis is illustrated by two-dimensional and three-dimensional reconstructions based on the DICOM files obtained during postmortem CT examination.
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Arch Med Sadowej Kryminol · Oct 2009
Case Reports[Analysis of taxus baccata alkaloids in biological samples with the use of chromatographic methods].
The aim of the experiment was to develop a method of the identification of taxines (taxine B and isotaxine B) from Taxus leaves and its application to the analysis of biological samples collected from the deceased girl. The object of the investigation was the analysis of taxines in post-mortem samples collected from a 15-year-old girl, who consumed leaves of Taxus baccata to commit suicide. She died after several hours of hospitalization. ⋯ The samples were prepared using solid-phase extraction (SPE) and analyzed by HPLC-ESI-MS-MS. The results demonstrated that all the samples contained taxine B and isotaxine B. The results of toxicological investigations were confirmed by macroscopic and microscopic histological examinations.
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Arch Med Sadowej Kryminol · Jul 2009
[Analysis of traffic accident fatalities in autopsy material collected in the years 2007-2008 at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Białystok].
The objective of the paper was an analysis of traffic accident fatalities in autopsy material collected at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Białystok in the years 2007-2008. The analysis was carried out in 209 traffic accident victims included in the total number of 876 autopsies. Based on autopsy reports, the main criteria included gender, site of death (urban area, rural area, non-built-up), mode of movement (driver, passenger, pedestrian, biker and cyclist), age, location of fatal injuries (head, thorax, abdomen and pelvis, upper and lower limbs, multiorgan injuries) and blood alcohol level. ⋯ The mean age of traffic accident fatalities was 41 years, predominantly due to an increasing number of fatal cases among young individuals. In the years 2007-2008, the percentage of traffic accident victims being under the influence of alcohol was 45% in males and 12% in females. The mean blood alcohol level of traffic accident victims was 2.1% per hundred in males and 1.6% per hundred in females.