Can 'Robocop' improve Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony?

Erroneous eyewitness testimony accounts for more wrongful convictions than any other cause.  Juries love eyewitnesses; after all, what could be better than the testimony of the person who actually witnessed the crime taking place?  Well, solid forensic evidence, for one thing.

 

Numerous studies have been carried out which demonstrate that eyewitness testimony is unreliable.  It can be particularly inaccurate when the eyewitness is 'identifying' a person of a different race from themeselves. 

Here is a video showing just how wrong eyewitnesses can be.

 

 

 

Were you a better eyewitness than these students?  I was okay on the clothes but poor on the facial details.

So can anything be done to make eyewitness testimony more reliable?  Maybe.

 

Forensic psychologists have been researching eyewitness memory and eyewitness testimony for decades.  There are three stages of eyewitness memory: 

1. Witnessing the incident
2. Waiting to provide testimony about the incident
3. Providing testimony about the incident

You can read about the three stages in more detail here. This is a good website (although the design is a bit messy), where you'll find a variety of useful resources.

As you would expect, the length of time between the incident taking place and providing testimony about it affects the ability of the witness to recall the events accurately.  Furthermore, the language used to question the witness can also influence their testimony.

 

What if a robot asked the eyewitness questions about the incident instead of a human interrogator?  Researchers at Mississippi State University have carried out experiments using both robot and human interrogators.  As part of the study, the robots and humans introduced false information into their questioning.  They all asked identical questions, using the same script.  Only the human interrogators elicited erroneous information from the witnesses.

Here is a link to an article about this research.

 

 http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21729036.100-robot-inquisition-keeps-witnesses-on-the-right-track.html

I'm sure it will be quite some time before 'Robocop' is routinely questioning eyewitnesses but it is an interesting proposition.  Any improvement on the current system has to be welcomed.  It's not working well at the moment.

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Images of Death; the Virtual Autopsy

When a person dies in suspicious circumstances, a forensic pathologist will be called on to perform an autopsy on the deceased.  The purpose of the forensic autopsy is to determine:

• the cause of death e.g. blunt force trauma, gunshot, etc., 
 
• the mechanism of death i.e. what was actually used to bring about death e.g. baseball bat, gun etc.,
 
• the manner of death e.g. homicide.

 

The forensic autopsy may also provide valuable evidence on the size, shape and features of the murder weapon, as well as give an indication of the time of death.  However, a  forensic autopsy cannot discover why the victim died. 

 

Police officers may rely heavily on the autopsy findings in the early days of a criminal enquiry to determine the direction of their investigations.

 

However, sometimes, the body may be so decomposed that the pathologist cannot give any sort of opinion as to the cause of death.  Furthermore, the act of cutting into a badly decomposed body can create further damage, leaving the pathologist with even less to examine.

 

Fortunately, there is now an alternative method of obtaining evidence from decomposed and badly damaged bodies, which is gradually being adopted around the world.  It is also used on 'fresh' bodies. 

 

The Virtual Autopsy or 'Virtopsy' is the brainchild of Michael Thali and his team from the University of Bern, Switzerland.  The initial research project arose from a need to solve a high-profile homicide.  A possible murder weapon had to be compared with the impression in the skull of the victim with a view to identifying the weapon with a high level of certainty.  The Virtopsy developed from this research.  

Essentially, the Virtopsy uses modern, cross-sectional imaging techniques to supplement and partially replace traditional autopsy.  The results of the Virtopsy are presented as a permanent 3-D digital record.  You may be familiar with two of the processes used in the Virtopsy process from hospital visits, namely CT and MRI.

 

Computed Tomography or CT is an imaging method that uses X-rays to create pictures of cross-sections of the body.  A computer creates separate images of the body, which are called 'slices'.  In a Virtopsy, CT scans can be used to detect air embolisms and the effects of decomposition, for example.

 

The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique uses magnetic and radio waves to create high quality images of tissues and organs within the body.  It is used to detect soft tissue injury and organ trauma, for example.

 

In addition, angiography may be used to address any circulatory questions.  Here,.a liquid dye is injected into the body to make the blood vessels easy to visualise.

A robotic system called a 'Virtobot' can be used in conjunction with the CT scanner to sample tissues from the body as well as documenting (recording details of) the surface of the body at high resolution.

To see how all this fits together, here is a Virtopsy video showing the 'workflow' of the process.  Here you will see all the equipment demonstrated, mainly on a dummy.

 

 

 

 

 I've also found this useful chart that lists the processes involved.

There are many advantages of a Virtopsy over a traditional forensic autopsy.  Here are a few:
 

• The technique is non-destructive.
 
• A permanent and easily retrievable digital record is available to allow consultation with other colleagues or when a second autopsy by another pathologist is requested by the opposing legal team. 
 
• A permanent 3-D image of the findings of the Virtopsy allows every pathologist to examine the same material, no matter how far advanced the investigation.
 
• The body is effectively preserved in digital form, so there is no need for an exhumation if new evdence comes to light in the future.  Also, no evidence has been lost if the body has been cremated.
 
• Trauma that would be impossible to see in a traditional autopsy may be detected by a Virtopsy.
 
• 2-D and 3-D post-processing of the Virtopsy images helps the pathologist to visualise the findings for presenting evidence in court.
 
• It is easy to examine bodies that are contaminated by infection, toxic substances or biohazards.
 
• The Virtopsy overcomes any religious or moral objections to autopsy. 

Here is a video showing the Virtopsy in casework in France.

 

 

 

Could the Virtopsy ever be a replacement for the traditional forensic autopsy?  At the moment, I suspect the answer is no.  It's primary use is as a tool to be used in cases where dissection is not feasible, such as a badly decomposed body, or where the forensic evidence is particularly hard to visualise, such as matching a weapon to an impression on the body.

 

I hope you found this blog post useful.  I welcome your comments. Please let me know if there is anything particular you would like me to write about.  I'll be glad to oblige.

 



DNA confirms skeleton as Richard III

Back in November, I wrote a  blog post about the scientific tests being carried out on a skeleton, which was found by a team of archaeologists while excavating the site of Grey Friars friary in Leicester.  Grey Friars was known to be the burial place of Richard III.  Could the skeleton actually be the remains of the English king? 

 

As soon as the skeleton was discovered, the bones were excavated under forensic conditions and a battery of tests was carried out to try and answer this question.

 

Last week, the results of the tests were made public.  They showed 'beyond reasonable doubt' that the skeleton was that of Richard III.  The clinching piece of evidence was the DNA match between the mitochondrial DNA (mt-DNA) of the descendants of the family of Richard III and the skeletal remains.  Fortunately, there was no degradation of the mt-DNA in the bones, so the scientists were able to obtain a useful profile.

 

So how does the evidence stack up?

 

• Radiocarbon dating revealed the date of death as being in the second half of the 15th century or the early 16th century.  Richard III died in 1485.

• Radiocarbon dating also revealed that the individual ate a high protein diet in life, which indicates a person of high status and wealth.

• The cause of death  was from one of two fatal injuries to the skull.  Altogether, ten wounds were discovered on the skeleton.  Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth.
• The skeleton revealed scoliosis (curvature of the spine).  Although 1.7m (5ft 8ins) tall, the individual would have stood significantly shorter and his right shoulder may have have been higher than his left.  Shakespeare portrays Richard III in this manner.
• The mt-DNA matches two of Richard III's maternal line relatives.  The family relationship has been verified by a genealogist.

Here is a link to the Unversity of Leicester website which has videos of the excavation, some of the tests and the press conference announcing the results.

 

The Search for Richard III

 

This was, clearly, exciting news for forensic science and history.  It was also very lucky that a DNA analysis was possible i.e. a profile could be obtained from the bones and a source of DNA was available from verifiable descendants.

 

Needless to say, the British press went into overdrive immediately after the results were announced.  However, I do want to share one particularly interesting article with you. It reveals how a team of scientists from Dundee University in Scotland went about the task of recreating the face of Richard III - without going anywhere near the skeleton.

The face of Richard III

 

I hope you enjoyed this blog post.  Please feel free to share it with your friends.  Do let me know if there are particular topics you would like me to blog about.  Perhaps I'll give bones a rest for a little while!