An avenue to miscarriage: a case report.

Two men were wrongfully convicted of murder in 2017 and sentenced to life imprisonment. After a physical altercation inside a flat, the victim (A) was found dead approximately 60 m away outside a residential address. He had sustained a number of injuries including a stab wound to the left side of his neck which was found to have divided the right carotid artery. The location where A was found was not regarded as a crime scene and not subjected to a specialist forensic examination by scientists as it was assumed that the fatal injury was sustained in the flat. The pathologist, who subsequently carried out the autopsy on A, was not asked to attend the scene. A review of the blood distribution at the scene in conjunction with the pathology findings indicated however that the fatal neck wound had been inflicted outside the flat, near to where the victim was found. An appeal against the convictions for murder was upheld in 2021 and a re-trial ordered. Following this second trial, both accused were acquitted of murder and released from custody. The new pathology and blood pattern evidence introduced at the second trial was a major part of the defense strategy which led to the acquittal of the accused. The case illustrates that a more inclusive and detailed crime scene strategy had been undertaken, including an assessment of the bloodstains present, in conjunction with discussion with the pathologist, then the likelihood is that the two men subsequently charged with murder would have been eliminated as suspects and a miscarriage of justice would have been avoided.

Histological examination of the pituitary glands in cases of fatal hypothermia.

Besides typical macroscopical findings in cases of death due to hypothermia (frost erythema, haemorrhagic gastric erosions) there are some histological changes (e.g. lipid accumulation in epithelial cells of renal proximal tubules) which can help to determine the cause of death. In the literature some changes of the pituitary gland are described in case of hypothermia, e.g. haemorrhage and hyperaemia of the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland (adenohypophysis) or a vacuolization of cells in the anterior pituitary. The validity of these morphological changes as hypothermia marker should be proved in our autopsy material. 17 pituitary glands in cases with verified fatal accidental hypothermia were examined histologically and immunohistochemically (HE, Ferric, Azan, LCA, C5b9) and compared with 61 pituitary glands of a matching control group (cases of natural and non-natural death without trauma and long agonal period). Autolytical changes complicated an evaluation but in 5.9% of the study group and 1.6% of the control group a vacuolization of cells could be verified. In none of the examined cases a distinct haemorrhage into the glandular tissue was detected. Histopathological characteristics which are described in the literature as pathogenetic for hypothermia could not be found. Differences concerning histological characteristics of the pituitary glands between cases of fatal hypothermia and the control group were not observed.