Despite a clear global downward trend, homicides still account for a relatively high proportion of all violent deaths, making them a serious problem both in Poland and worldwide. The discrepancy in available data prompted the authors of the study to analyse the numbers and rates of homicides and the characteristics of the homicide victims in the Tri-City area of northern Poland. The study was based on data from autopsy reports, supplemented by information from prosecutor's files on all homicides in the Tri-City area between 2010 and 2019. A total of 107 homicides were statistically analysed for age, sex, blood alcohol concentration at the time of death, time and place of death. The annual homicide rate was 1.24 per 100,000 inhabitants, with a clear downward trend over the period analysed. The average age of victims was about 48 years, and the majority of victims were male (70.1%). 92.5% of homicides were committed in the Tri-City, with a clear predominance of Gdansk (49.5%) over other, mostly rural, areas of the analysed agglomeration. The majority of victims (57.8%) whose blood alcohol concentration was measured were intoxicated, with a clear predominance of males in this group (70.9%). Victim characteristics and the homicide rates obtained from the analysed material were similar to other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, which may be related to historical, cultural, and demographic similarities. The study highlights the significant impact of alcohol abuse on the risk of homicide. 

The purpose of this paper is to formulate recommendations for the disclosure of biological traces in the laboratory and the handling of forensic evidence submitted for identification tests, recommended by the Polish Speaking Working Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics. The paper organizes the knowledge of the most relevant stages of preliminary analysis of biological traces based on both literature sources and those resulting from years of research practice. Recommendations formulated in the course of multi-stage expert consultations contained in this study should be used in the development of laboratory procedures applied during the execution.

The aim of the study was to determine the components of measurement uncertainty in the concentration of alcohol in exhaled breath and to determine the state of sobriety at the time of incident. Based on the literature review and the authors’ experience in providing opinions for law enforcement and the judiciary, the influence of various factors on the final interpretation of sobriety state is described on the basis of measurement uncertainty of breath analyzers, uncertainty of retrospective and prospective calculations, and uncertainty related to the conversion of alcohol concentrations detected during breath and blood tests. The paper pays particular attention to interpreting the concentrations of ethanol in exhaled breath close to the legal limits of the state of sobriety and the state after alcohol use, or the state after alcohol use and the state of insobriety.

Analyzing the results of an exhaled breath test concerning concentrations close to the values of 0.1 mg/dm3 and 0.25 mg/dm3, it is necessary to take into account the factors affecting the measurements obtained, including the measurement uncertainty of the determination of alcohol in exhaled breath, the processes of absorption, distribution and metabolism of ethyl alcohol, and the possibility of the presence of alcohol lingering in the oral cavity. The incorrect execution of measurements of the tested person’s alcohol concentration is also a problematic issue. When determining sobriety state by means of retrospective and prospective calculations, it is important to remember that the uncertainty of the result is affected by a number of factors and depends, among other things, on the information provided by the suspect. Hence, the expert should draw conclusions particularly cautiously and any overestimation or underestimation of the components of uncertainty can lead to erroneous conclusions. Awareness of the uncertainties inherent in the results of a sobriety test or alcohol calculation allows for meaningful interpretation of test results and determination of the sobriety state of the person tested.

This publication reveals the origins of forensic psychiatry in tsarist Russia during a selected historical period. The article reveals the first forensic and medical examinations of the mental state of defendants, as well as the first major legal regulations in this area. The issue of the participation of a medical expert (usually physicians) as an expert witness in court proceedings in the examination of the mental state is discussed from legal and historical, as well as historical and medical aspects. 

The need for medical assessment of murder victims and the establishment of rules for this assessment became the driving force behind the creation of forensic medicine, while the non-medical area of crime assessment, including crime scene examination, became the driving force behind the creation and development of criminalistics. Polish forensic medicine has been developing for over 200 years, and the Kraków Chair of Forensic Medicine is the oldest unit of this type. It is therefore not surprising that the archive which collects protocols of expert and scientific research is quite extensive. This material is a valuable foundation for scientific work including not only numerous publications in national and international journals, but also books. The author of the work selected several books on medical and forensic topics that appeared in recent decades on the Polish publishing market, indicating the value and importance of archival material in the literature of this area of science.

The use of an electric drill to commit suicide is rare in forensic practice. The aim of the work is to present the first case of this kind from the Upper Silesia. The results of post-mortem examinations and the results of prosecutor’s examination of case files containing medical documentation from the patient’s treatment were analyzed. People with mental disorders and diseases may choose unusual methods of taking their own lives, such as using an electric drill. This may cause investigators a lot of doubt as to whether the event was really a suicide. In addition to full post-mortem diagnostics, it is particularly important in such cases to assess the medical history of the deceased, often with the participation of a psychiatrist as a consultant.

American forensic medicine is about 100 years younger than the European one. It was in Europe that at the beginning of the 20th century, American doctors were trained and gradually expanded the field of science and expertise in forensic medicine and criminalistics. This area, for several centuries under the English law, which was in force there, had been successively „mummified” by coroners who worked for years to earn their bad reputation. The outstanding American journalist Bruce Goldfarb writes about the emergence of forensic medicine and criminalistics in the reality of the United States of America and the pioneering role of the „forensic architect” Frances Glessner Lee in his book entitled „18 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics”. This is an extremely interesting book worth recommending to anyone interested in expanding their knowledge in this area of science.