Knox trial in Italy
by Andrew E. Whittington PhD FRES*
From an armchair view point, the conviction of Amanda Knox and boyfriend (Raffaele Sollecito) with a sentence of 26 and 25 years imprisonment respectively, plus severe financial penalties, appears to be a miscarriage of justice.
The DNA evidence, described in NewScientist [...]
Oliver Grundmann sent us a very interesting article based on a recent laboratory accident (see below). Thanks Oliver!
In a recent incident at an Onteora High school, a teacher and seven students were injured and had to be taken to hospitals for treatment of burns and removal of glass particles. The teacher was [...]
(Source: Forensic Science International)
Drug overdose vs. pre-existing health problems: Physicians disagree
According to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, actress Brittany Murphy’s cause of death was pneumonia and her death was ruled accidental. Her family stated that she had flu-like symptoms and that she was taking prescription medication. The combination of her health condition, anemia and [...]
Abstract: Differentiation between external contamination and incorporation of drugs or their metabolites from inside the body via blood, sweat or sebum is a general issue in hair analysis and of high concern when interpreting analytical results. In hair analysis for cannabinoids the most common target is Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), sometimes cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabinol (CBN) are determined additionally. After repeated external contamination by cannabis smoke these analytes are known to be found in hair even after performing multiple washing steps. A widely accepted strategy to unequivocally prove active cannabis consumption is the analysis of hair extracts for the oxidative metabolite 11-nor-9-carboxy-THC (THC-COOH). Although the acidic nature of this metabolite suggests a lower r...
Abstract: The authors present 3 cases that demonstrate a return to DFC following periods of inactivity. The offences occurred in Paris and its suburbs and in each of the cases there were two distinct periods of activity by the offenders with 2, 8 and 22 victims attributed to each of the perpetrators.To 20mg of decontaminated and cut hair, 100pg/mg of clonazepam-d4 was added as internal standard. Hair specimens were extracted with CH2Cl2/ether after incubation overnight at 56°C in pH 7.6 buffer. Extractions were performed on blood and urine using Toxi-tube A® with 5ng/mL of clonazepam-d4. The residues were analyzed by LC–ESI-MS/MS. Calibration curves in blood and urine (0.5–500ng/mL) were prepared by spiking aliquots of blank fluids (r2>0.9816 for all drugs). LOD in body fluids ranged...
(Source: Forensic Science International)
Thirty-six years ago, on September 11, 1973, Augusto Pinochet ascended to power in Chile in a military coup. Within days, thousands of citizens were arrested, tortured and summarily executed. A Chilean folk singer named Victor Jara, was held prisoner in Santiago’s soccer stadium, a place used as a detention and torture center.
According to the testimony [...]
Abstract: On March 2007, a police officer (46-year-old man) and a clerk (37-year-old woman) were arrested and subjected to investigation on the charges of drugs of abuse trafficking. The loving couple was exploiting their administrative positions to make money with the resale of seized drugs. The laboratory was requested to analyse their hair for drugs of abuse. Hair of the 2 subjects tested positive for heroin by GC–MS. A few days later, analysis of hair obtained from 11 other police officers of the same unit was requested, in order to compare the results, as external contamination was proposed to account for the positive results. The aim of the investigations was to demonstrate that passive contamination could not occur for persons dealing every day with drugs of abuse with minimal cau...
We report the excretion profile of MHP and its metabolite ritalinic acid (RA) in oral fluid and sweat from a 12-year-old boy treated with the extended release drug formulation.Concentrations of MPH and RA in oral fluid, sweat and plasma were measured by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. Oral fluid-to-plasma ratio at each time interval was calculated at the start of the treatment and correlated with salivary pH. Excretion of MPH in sweat patches, collected up to 24h with PharmChek patches was also investigated.MPH and RA were both detected in oral fluid with a pharmacokinetic profile similar to that in plasma. Oral fluid peak concentrations of MPH ranged between 13.5 and 30.9ng/mL at 3.0h after drug intake. Oral fluid-to-plasma MPH ratio between 13.1 and 3.2 demonstrated an accumul...
