Lawyer claims "Victim" implies a crime has been committed

 -the term should be "accuser"...

A lawyer for one of the two Ohio high school football players accused of raping a 16-year-old girl has sparked outrage by claiming she should not be called a 'victim,' it was revealed today.
Walter Madison, who is representing Ma’lik Richmond, has asked Judge Thomas Lipps to order all parties to refer to the teenage girl as the 'accuser' and not the 'victim.'
'The ultimate question in this case is whether a crime was committed. Only after any such determination can a person be declared a 'victim,' Madison wrote in papers that were filed on Friday in Steubenville.

 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2266520/Ohio-rape-case-trial-Lawyers-object-calling-girl-16-victim.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Excellent NZ article on Expert Witnesses

 - and the comprehensibility of expert evidence.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/8094133/How-effective-are-expert-witnesses

In a Christchurch courtroom in May, prosecutor Brent Stanaway reminded those tasked with deciding the guilt or innocence of murder-accused George Gwaze that this was not a trial by experts but a trial by jury.
They could have been forgiven for thinking otherwise, and for being bamboozled by the complex scientific and medical argument advanced by both sides. Did the Zimbabwean vet's -year-old niece, Charlene Makaza, die from asphyxiation or overwhelming HIV infection and systemic shock following massive diarrhoea-related fluid loss? Did the traces of Gwaze's sperm get into Charlene's underpants by sinister means, or was it transferred in the wash?
The Crown called a slew of doctors and pathologists who maintained the only explanation for Charlene's death was sodomy and suffocation. The defence countered with four international experts supporting its contention she died from the HIV ravaging her body.
The one critical question the jury did not have to decide, was how 12 people with no scientific credentials could be expected to weigh conflicting evidence and agree on a conclusion when experts could not. And what would have happened to Gwaze had the defence not doggedly questioned evidence often regarded as unimpeachable?

SMSs influencing Croatian language

http://blog.ciklopea.com/2013/01/text-messages-and-their-influence-on.html

Covert surveillance WW2 style

The Nazis prisoners bugged by Germans

Carefully listening in on their conversations were fellow Germans of Jewish origin who had fled from the Nazis.
The bugged prisoners were kept in three locations - Latimer House near Amersham, Wilton Park near Beaconsfield, both in Buckinghamshire, and Trent Park near Cockfosters in north London. The first two held captured U-Boat submarine crews and Luftwaffe pilots, who were bugged for a week or two before being moved on to conventional captivity.
The generals, whose numbers eventually reached a peak of 59 as the war progressed, resided in Trent Park until the war ended.
Hidden nearby in each of the three stately-homes-turned-prisons were the pro-British Germans, listening in a place known as the "M room" - the "m" stood for microphoned - where "secret listeners" were glued to the bugging devices.
Historian Helen Fry, who has written a book called The M Room: Secret Listeners who bugged the Nazis., says the information gleaned by the eavesdropping of the German generals was vitally important to the war effort - so much so that it was given an unlimited budget by the government.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20698098

 

Fingerprints and other evidence

This is a UK (EWCA) Appeal Court Judgment which includes some interesting discussion on the reliability of fingerprint evidence. The relevance to forensic linguistics evidence is clear.

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2011/1296.html

Hopefully a case for forensic phonetics

Hate speech voice not mine: Akbaruddin Owaisi

 ADILABAD: Police questioned MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday. Arrested on January 8 for delivering hate speeches, the MLA was granted police custody for five days beginning January 12. The police custody will end on Wednesday.

According to sources, Akbaruddin contested police claim that it was his voice in the video recording of the alleged meeting at Nirmal on December 22, 2012, that was aired on Youtube. Akbaruddin was said to have told investigators that he had not made any inflammatory speech and that his voice was doctored by someone with an ulterior motive to tarnish his image. The MLA reportedly made these comments after police showed him a video CD of the speech.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com//articleshow/18039476.cms?intenttarget=no

'Insulting words' crime ditched (UK)

The crime of "insulting" someone through words or behaviour, which once led to the arrest of a student for asking a police officer whether his horse was gay, is to be dropped.

Home Secretary Theresa May confirmed to MPs that the government would not seek to overturn a Lords amendment scrapping the ban.
The director of public prosecutions has said it will not hinder his work.
But Labour warned that it could remove protections for minority groups.
Section 5 of the 1986 Public Order Act currently means that "threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour" might be deemed a criminal offence.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21020737

European Cybercrime Centre

Brussels to open Europol cybercrime hub

A European hub designed to help fight cybercrime will officially begin operations this week.

The European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) will pool information and skills to assist national police in cross-border cybercrime investigations.
The Europol-funded hub will focus on the activities of organised crime and other cyber-attackers.
The centre will provide technical, analytical and forensic help in European joint investigations.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20962355

 

Deaf man stabbed repeatedly after sign language mistaken for gang signs - forensic semiotics?

North Carolina deaf man stabbed repeatedly after sign language mistaken for gang signs: police

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/deaf-man-stabbed-sign-language-mistaken-gang-signs-police-article-1.1238749#ixzz2HqAZT2aj

SMSs and cyber-bullying - NZ case

Cyber bullying case used in call for more female Police recruits

New Zealand Police are hoping to inspire more young women to apply for a police career through sharing the extraordinary story of Constable Penni Eggleton.
Constable Eggleton’s extraordinary story is at the centre of the latest installation of a NZ Police recruitment drive. Constable Eggleton helped a woman in her early 20s who was receiving hundreds of threatening text messages from an ex-boyfriend – a man with a history of violent behaviour towards women.
The new street art has been installed at Massey University in Wellington and includes hundreds of real TXT messages sent by the victim’s ex-boyfriend. The launch of this iteration of the NZ Police campaign coincides with White Ribbon month which asks men to pledge to never commit, condone, or remain silent about violence towards women.
Constable Eggleton, who now works in the Wellington Family Violence Team, says, "Over the course of just two days, the victim received over 100 TXTs. These ranged from being affectionate in nature, through to vicious threats. I worked through the messages and realised the immense danger the young woman was in. I created a safety plan to ensure the situation did not escalate into physical violence and got the offender locked up.
"In our team, we deal with a significant number of cases involving TXT and cyber bullying. When relationships break down it can cause a rollercoaster of psychological violence. Many young women find themselves receiving violent TXTs and they need to understand that this is a crime and can be a precursor to physical harm," she says.

https://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/33356.html

Whistling languages - more forensic semiotics?

 This method of communication, in which the Spanish language is replaced by two whistled vowels and four consonants, has a peculiarity perfectly suited to this landscape of deep valleys and steep ravines. It has the ability to travel up to two miles, much further and with less effort than shouting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20953138

... There are no certainties about its origins. It is known that when the first European settlers arrived at La Gomera in the 15th Century, the inhabitants of the island - of North African origin - communicated with whistles.

These whistles reproduced the indigenous language. With the arrival of the Spanish, the locals adapted the whistling language to Spanish.

So the most likely theory is that the whistle came with the settlers from Africa, where there are records of other whistled languages.

Some locals recall its widespread use in the 1940s and 50s.

"In the old days, when the mountain caught fire, something that happens quite frequently in the island, the Guardia Civil came to pick us up," says Lino Rodriguez.

Aristotle’s concept of “virtuous anger” - in the courtrrom

Are angry judges better than ‘robots’?

 Interesting article on judges and their anger and other feelings:

http://www.futurity.org/society-culture/are-angry-judges-better-than-robots?

Burma Spitfire hunters discover crate

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20957162

British experts looking for a cache of World War II Spitfire planes believed to be buried in Burma say they have discovered a crate.

The team has lowered a camera into the crate in the Kachin state capital Myitkyina, but says muddy water has stopped them identifying the contents.
Project leader David Cundall described the development as "very encouraging".

The team believes that more than 120 unused Spitfires could be buried in sites across Burma.

Why we offer "Forensics for Writers" courses

Sherlock to CSI: Mystery writers seek science accuracy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20918398

Suspending one's belief is one thing, and the most far-fetched plots can sometimes be outweighed by good writing. I read a Kindle book recently which was slated by other readers for providing a highly inaccurate  and fanciful investigation. But the blurb sounded quite interesting so I downloaded it and more or less enjoyed it. If only the author had checked a few facts though ...

 

Japanese Hacker Taunts Police With Riddles Including A Memory Card On A Cat's Collar

Japanese Hacker Taunts Police With Riddles Including A Memory Card On A Cat's Collar

A computer hacker who taunted Japanese police for months with a string of vexing cyber riddles launched the campaign as part of a grudge against authorities, media reports said Tuesday. After cracking a set of riddles, police in Tokyo reportedly found a digital memory card attached to a cat's collar which revealed a message saying "a past experience in a criminal case" had caused the hacker to act

This is a cat (in case you do not know what one is). This is cat from the original article. I don't know if it is the  accomplice cat or just some reasonably photogenic creature that Business Insider had in its files. It is not (as far as I am aware) the Brazilian gaol-contraband cat. It is not my cat who is far too lazy to get himself involved in anything like this.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/japanese-hacker-befuddles-police-with-chase-for-memory-card-on-cats-collar-2013-1#ixzz2HSThS2yJ

Obvious but nevertheless interesting ...

Traders' email messages give frauds away, study shows 

 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/traders-email-messages-give-frauds-away-study-shows-8441797.html 

...  Software developed by accountancy firm Ernst & Young together with the FBI has identified 3,000 examples of the potentially incriminating phrases which if identified early enough could save companies millions of pounds in lost profits.
Those who fear being caught may also give themselves away by using phrases such as “do not volunteer information”. Traders under pressure can signal danger by telling colleagues they “want no part of this” or are “not comfortable”. The system can also be applied to SMS and instant messaging. ...

For those who analyse textspeak ...

Letter to Winston Churchill May Contain First Known Use of ‘OMG’

 http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2012/08/letter-to-churchill-may-contain-first-omg.html 

 

 

 

Letters of Note curator Shaun Usher has pointed out what might be the first known usage of O.M.G., in a September 1917 missive from British admiral John Arbuthnot "Jacky" Fisher (or Lord Fisher) to Sir Winston Churchill. In a letter to Churchill about some "utterly [upsetting]" World War I–era newspaper headlines, Fisher wrote, "I hear that a new order of Knighthood is on the tapis — O.M.G (Oh! My! God!)— Shower it on the Admiralty!!" To which we assume Churchill replied, "Oh Dear Fisher! I am laughing heartily out loud!!"

I especially like the comment of DRBOB:

Wow--and he also pioneered the ultra-annoying "string of three one-word sentences" thing, in the very same letter, though he did it with exclamation points rather than periods (Oh! My! God!). An astonishing document; to call the Admiral a man ahead of his time would be to damn him with faint praise. Go. Jacky. Go.

 

Cat 'arrested' for break-in at Brazilian prison

 Poor cat!

Arapiraquenses estão preocupados com o gato capturado em presídio

A cat has been detained in the grounds of a jail in Brazil with contraband goods for prisoners strapped to its body with tape.

The white cat was apprehended crossing the main prison gate.
The incident took place at a jail in Arapiraca city, 250km (155 miles) south-west of Recife in Alagoas state.
The confiscated items included drill bits, files, a mobile phone and charger, plus earphones The cat was taken to a local animal centre.

A prison spokesperson was quoted by local paper Estado de S. Paulo as saying: "It's tough to find out who's responsible for the action as the cat doesn't speak."


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-20920848

 An excellent source of court cases involving social media provided by X1 Discovery

Published Cases

Involving Social Media Evidence (First Half 2012)

Click here to see cases covering 2010 to 2011.

The torrent of social media evidence continues to grow and X1 Discovery continues to monitor online legal databases of state and federal court decisions across the United States, where evidence from social networking sites played a significant role. Now, with over 320 published cases in the first half of 2012, not counting de minimis entries (defined as cases with merely cursory or passing mentions of social media) we are sharing the list here for our readers. For more detailed analysis on many of these cases below, please also visit our blog, Next Generation eDiscovery Law & Tech Blog or view our webinar on Social Media Ethics.

http://www.x1discovery.com/social_media_cases.html

More on Interpreters in Court

Following on from my "pet dog counted on translators' database" blog last week, this is the Dossier of Evidence produced by Involvis, an independent consultancy, on the embattled Applied Linguistic Solutions:

http://www.eulita.eu/sites/default/files/Dossier%20of%20Evidence_%20ALS%20Failings_10-05-12.pdf

Oops ...

Sandy Flooding Makes NYPD Evidence Inaccessible - but you can still use it (apparently)

Nothing like drowning the evidence:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/nyregion/hurricane-destroyed-evidence-held-by-new-york-police.html?_r=1&

Perched on a narrow crook of land jutting into New York Harbor, the Erie Basin auto pound and evidence warehouse seems a logical place to store hundreds of seized cars, thousands of guns and 9,846 barrels of evidence containing sensitive DNA material.[  ]

As Hurricane Sandy lashed the city, the surge breached the warehouse’s roll-top doors and hurtled hundreds — perhaps thousands — of its barrels into the wet muck. The storm wreaked similar havoc at another Police Department warehouse by the water, along Kingsland Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Now, the damage is having an impact on the courts.

In at least six criminal trials in recent weeks, a police official has had to testify that evidence was inaccessible, but still existed, said Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the Police Department.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers said they were concerned that many more cases could emerge. “This is likely to be the tip of the iceberg,” said Steven Banks, chief lawyer for the Legal Aid Society.

A defendant in Brooklyn, Manuel Castro, was one of the first people convicted of a crime based, in part, on DNA evidence destroyed during Hurricane Sandy. A jury found him guilty of robbery and attempted assault after a judge allowed testimony on evidence — a jacket and boots — that could not be produced in court because both articles had been at the Greenpoint warehouse, Mr. Banks said.

“We believe the ruling that permitted the evidence to come in was incorrect and we are appealing,” Mr. Banks said, adding that the situation was “a recipe for wrongful convictions.”

Keep Calm and Carry On Battling

Keep Calm and Carry On trademark battle enters new year

from The Guardian:   http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2013/jan/02/keep-calm-and-carry-on-trademark-books-poster-copyright

 

"It sounds like something out of Rumpole or A.P.Herbert's Misleading Cases. But the curious story of Northumberland booksellers, a famous slogan and copyright law is real, and taking a long time.

Barter Books in Alnwick railway station is a beloved institution in the north of England, with an extraordinary extra claim to fame. Follow their story at http://www.barterbooks.co.uk/

Its owners Stuart and Mary Manley began events which have led to a tide of variants on the slogan 'Keep Calm and Carry On' prepared in 1939 by the wartime Government in case of German invasion but never used.
The saga started in 2001 when the Manleys found one of the posters, which had survived Government recall and destruction, in a box of books bought at an auction for their vast emporium. More than 100,000 copies have since been sold by the shop, along with mouse mats, postcards, T-shirts and much else."

False confessions - Japan

Japan crime: Why do innocent people confess?

Japan has a conviction rate of more than 99%. But in recent months there has been a public outcry over a number of wrongful arrests where innocent people confessed to crimes.

It started with a threat posted on the city of Yokohama's website in late June: "I'll attack a primary school and kill all the children before the summer."
In the months that followed, there were a number of similar threats posted on the internet - some threatening famous people, including the Emperor's grandchildren.
After a police investigation, four people were arrested. Two, including a 19-year-old student, confessed while in custody.
But on 9 October, the real perpetrator sent an email to a lawyer - Yoji Ochiai - and local media, explaining how he or she made those threats by taking control of innocent internet users' computers with a virus.

Read the whole article at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20810572

Interesting article on communication in Court (France)

"The Role of Communication in the French Judicial System", by Emmanuel Jeuland and Anastasia Sotiropoulou


http://www.iaca.ws/files//ijca_2012_special_issue/jeuland_sotiropoulou-french_judicial_system.pdf

Two forensics updates from India

1. Gandhi drives India’s first pvt forensic lab

The Gandhi theme keeps returning during conversations with Dr Gandhi P C Kaza. He was born on January 30, 1948, the day Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated; a student of Gandhian philosophy, he chose the anniversary of the Dandi March day to push the idea of his business in March 2007; and an image of Mahatma Gandhi peering into a microscope figures prominently in posters and brochures for his venture.
His business itself, he says, is the search for truth through India’s first private forensic science laboratory, Truth Labs.
A forensic scientist by training with a masters degree in arts from the reputed John Jay College of Human Justice in New York and an early, path-breaking director of the Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory, Kaza started Truth Labs in Hyderabad in 2007 with a corpus of Rs 2 crore.

 Read the whole article at:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/gandhi-drives-india-s-first-pvt-forensic-lab/1043482/

2. Jundal's voice samples match with terror tape

Mumbai: In a crucial evidence in Mumbai 26/11 terror attack case, the voice samples of arrested LeT operative Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal have matched with ones on the terror tapes intercepted during the strike. "City's Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL), where Jundal's voice samples were sent to match, has submitted a report to Mumbai police crime branch concluding that one of the voices in the 26/11 intercepts was his," a crime branch said on Monday.

 Read the whole article at:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/prime-conspirator-jundals-voice-samples-match-with-ones-on-terror-tapes-police/312080-3.html

Happy New Year

Wishing you a happy and peaceful 2013.

May all your good resolutions be accomplished and all the not-so-good ones quickly forgotten ...