A review of the new provisions for sanctioning mentally disordered offenders in China, in a broader historical context.

Reforms of the criminal justice system in China in recent years have included the 2012 Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP), which resulted in new disposals for mentally disordered offenders. From a Western perspective, changes in Chinese criminal law are sometimes clichéd as toothless window dressing, but they may represent a genuine step forward in safeguarding human rights. Taking a historical perspective, this paper reveals that in the East, as much as in the West, there is a 'moral tradition' of not punishing mentally disordered offenders who are not considered responsible for their acts. There are clear differences in disposal for those acquitted having been found 'not guilty by reason of insanity'. Whereas Western jurisdictions have offered (criminal) courts the opportunity for commitment in (forensic) mental hospitals from the early 19th Century, in China, disposal has remained, until the recent changes, the responsibility of the administration (mainly the police) or the family of the offender. A few high profile cases brought to light the inadequacy of these arrangements and the general disregard of obvious mental health issues when sentencing offenders. There was lack of clarity regarding who would take responsibility for treatment and issues of future public protection arising from a mental disorder. The 2012 CCP introduces the power of mental health commitment by the judiciary for those found non-responsible for an offense because of a mental disorder. Similar to provisions in Western jurisdictions there remain human rights concerns regarding aspects of 2012 CCP and the role of 'preventive detention' for mentally disordered offenders on indeterminate secure mental health detention. Nevertheless, the shift to judicial decision making in such cases and the possibility of mental health commitment are welcome steps in improving the human rights of this vulnerable population.

Mitochondrial DNA analysis of the presumptive remains of Jesse James.

We report here the results of mtDNA analysis of remains exhumed in July, 1995 from Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Kearney, Nebraska, that are thought to be those of Jesse James. The remains were poorly preserved, presumably due to wet and slightly acidic soil conditions, and insufficient DNA for analysis was obtained from two bone samples. However, two of four teeth, and two hairs recovered in 1978 from the original burial site on the James Farm, did yield reproducible mtDNA sequences. These mtDNA sequences from the teeth and hairs were all identical, suggesting that they came from the same individual; furthermore, this mtDNA sequence was identical to mtDNA sequences determined from blood samples from two maternal relatives of Jesse James. Therefore, either the remains are indeed those of Jesse James, or they are from an unrelated individual who, by chance, happens to have the same mtDNA sequence. To assess the probability that an unrelated individual would have the same sequence, we searched the forensic mtDNA database, and found that this sequence does not appear among the 2426 mtDNA sequences therein. Hence, the mtDNA analysis supports the identification of the exhumed remains from Mt. Olivet Cemetery as those of Jesse James.

The Ripper Project. Modern science solving mysteries of history.

Modern scientific techniques may be applied to solve historical--even ancient--mysteries. Many such mysteries have been studied by forensic scientists, including anthropologists. One example is the recent examination of the artifacts and grave sites at the Little Bighorn in Montana, the scene of the battle between General George A. Custer's troops and the Northern Plains Indian tribes. Similarly, skeleton remains of the Indian tribes of the Pre-Columbian and Columbian periods have been studied to answer many questions regarding life and death in those early civilizations. The Ripper Project began as a research activity of the Milton Helpern International Center for the Forensic Sciences at Wichita State University Wichita, Kansas, in 1981, after the concept had been discussed in a night session during the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in Los Angeles. These century-old serial murders of five prostitutes--The Whitechapel Murders--in London in 1888 were discussed in great detail from the standpoints of the forensic pathologist, the forensic psychiatrist, the criminalist, the forensic historian, and the forensic dentist. The information gained during this phase of the project plus the advances made possible by the development of criminal personality profiling by the FBI led to the present status of this project, which was recently discussed in a live telecast, and which is the subject of this article.