Journal of Forensic Research

Maltreatment against animals is defined as a deliberated action that causes pain and suffering to those. At this range, Brazilian law of Environmental Crimes states that cruelty against animals is, by nature, a crime. In cases of suspected maltreatment and non-accidental injury, is of great importance the role of the veterinary doctor in recognizing and, therefore, taking the correct conduct during the attendance. For this, one must have the knowledge of the elements that sustain the chance of abuse, as the characteristics of the wounds and whether they consist with the record given by the owner, if the wounds repeat in this animal or in other animals of the household, the posture of the owner during the attendance, amongst others.

Cases of intoxication are common in the history of the veterinary medicine, mainly in dogs and cats. Appropriate recognition of the clinical signs and pathological findings could characterize cases of intoxication, however laboratorial methods in forensic toxicology is fundamental to establish a definitive diagnosis of the toxic agent. In the present work was made analysis of three cases of pet animals criminally intoxicated by carbamate. Necropsy helps to uncover causes mortis, were verified cardiac respiratory insufficiency and hypovolemic shock in all cases. Histopathology exam of liver, kidney and brain described the main lesions like congestion, degeneration and haemorrhage. Organs show signs of autolysis and putrefaction. Therefore, diagnostic techniques helps veterinarian to make reports for litigation in animal criminal intoxication.

Objective: To determine the frequency and reliability of cervical soft tissue emphysema and pneumomediastinum in autopsy cases of hanging.

Material and Method: We prospectively studied 30 autopsy cases of hanging including 18 males and 12 females with age ranging from 19 to 65 years. The control group consisted of age and sex matched 30 cases that died due to various natural pathologies. Along with this, a small group of five cases consisting of homicidal asphyxial deaths from ligature and manual strangulation was also studied for this purpose. Various other known vital phenomenon in hanging were also recorded in the form of hemorrhages in the subcutaneous tissues, laryngeal hyoid skeleton fractures, conjunctival and facial petechial hemorrhages, hemorrhages over clavicular origin of sternocleidomastoid muscle, carotid intimal tears (Amussat’s sign), Simon’s bleeding and hemorrhages in the respiratory auxiliary muscles of respiration. The dissection and preparation of the neck was done in layers. None of the cases underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Signs of putrefaction were absent.

Results: The soft tissue emphysema was seen in 22 cases (73.3%) of hanging as fine soapy air bubbles in the mediastinum that could be traced further in the superficial and deep tissues of the neck up to the level of ligature mark beyond which it was missing. Among two other groups, 3 controls depicted this finding while no traces of emphysema were seen in any of the strangulation cases.

Conclusion: Cervical soft tissue emphysema along with pneumomediastinum is a frequent and important vital finding in cases of death due to hanging. Whenever possible, the vitality of the sign should be considered in conjunction with other known vital signs of hanging. However a proper care should be taken during dissection of cervical and thoracic structures to avoid artefactual introduction of air in the soft tissues. The interpretation must be based on sound medical grounds and observations.

This article addresses the scope of the potential applications of an analogical argument in the domain of statutory law. The author thus shows how analogy leads to the liquidation of different sorts of legal gaps: extra legem, intra legem, contra legem, technical, logical and constructional. He also highlights the role which analogy can play as a universal method of applying particular statutory provisions in concrete cases, the way of coping with obsolete statutes with the help of an analogical inference, or the clarification of the wordings of statutory rules by recourse to reasoning from similarity. In the article, allowance has also been made for the linking of an analogical pattern of thinking with specific legislative techniques such as the ‘ejusdem generis canon of construction’ and ‘pertinent application of statutory law.’ In addition, the analogical basis of comparative arguments, the possibility of expanding the domain of statutory law with the use of analogy at the expense of the room reserved for customary and precedential law as well as special forms of analogical reasoning: argumentum a fortiori and analogia iuris have been discussed.

Blood micro-circulation within the placental villous system still raises a large number of problems of functional anatomy concerning the angio-structure of terminal villi, the communication between arterioles and venules of the umbilical vascular system, the spatial extension of the “extra-vascular contractile system” and, last but not least, the existence of the pre-sinusoid arteriole sphincters. The authors make a micro-anatomic analysis of the spatial distribution of the collagen fibres type III (reticulin) as markers of the pre-sinusoid arteriole sphincters. The study was performed on 20 human placentae of gestation age between 25 and 35 weeks. After paraffin embedding, 10 serial sections were obtained from each paraffin block. They were stained in Hematoxilin Eosin, or silver-impregnated according to Gömöri method. We had two objectives: to evaluate the spatial distribution of post arteriole sinusoid blood vessels within the terminal villi in the placenta, on the one hand, and the visualization of the location of a presinusoid arteriole sphincter system, on the other. The authors believe that umbilical arterioles and venules are connected “serially” at the level of terminal villi through arteriole-venule sinusoid blood vessels. The location of the trajectory of collagen type III (reticulin) bundles enveloping pre-sinusoid arterioles are markers of the existence of a pre-sinusoid arteriole sphincter at this level.

Objective: To investigate the authenticity of infant Rhino horn sample from morphometric, microscopic, genetic and phylogenetic studies.

Methods: A suspected rhino horn sample (11 cm × 13 cm) was sent to the laboratory for identification. Relevant morphometric data of sample were taken. Similarly, established methods for microscopic examination of rhino horn were adopted. Using standard universal primer, a part of Cytochrome b (Cyt b) and 12S rRNA was amplified from sample, sequenced and aligned using BLAST of the GenBank (NCBI) and in-house reference database available at Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India for decisive confirmation of species.

Results: Morphometric analysis showed the sample was oval, dome shaped with a bony part which was supported by upper skin. Presence of filamentous units is the microscopic identifying feature of genuine rhino horn. However, microscopic examination showed very unclear filamentous units because of the immature nature of sample. Mitochondrial sequence data revealed the source of suspected sample was of a one-horn Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). Similarly, NJ method for phylogenetic analysis for both Cytb and 12S rRNA identified sequence similarity with Rhinoceros unicornis.

Conclusion: Even though the morphometric and microscopic data do not reveal much about the infant rhino horn, mtDNA sequencing used in this pioneer study can be applied in the wildlife forensic for identification of such parts in future and data used as evidence against the poachers in the court of law.