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Abstract
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This review paper covers the advances in scientific methods and general discussions concerning firearm examination, published from 2019 until and including 2021. A literature search was conducted covering articles on this topic published in the main forensic journals:
- AFTE Journal
- American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology
- Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences
- Forensic Science International
- Forensic Science International: Synergy
- Forensic Sciences Research
- International Journal of Legal Medicine
- Journal of Forensic Identification
- Journal of Forensic Sciences
- Science and Justice
1.2. Current topics
The forensic firearm examination literature of 2019, 2020 and 2021 covers a broad number of topics. These include topics such as firearm examination itself, but also technical examination, shooting incident reconstruction, and wound ballistics. Within these topics, specific effort has been spent on some areas of research. Recent work within the topic of firearm examination has focused on gaining more insight in the validity and reliability of firearm examiners' source judgments and how these can be affected by bias. Furthermore, considerable efforts have been spent on the development of computer-based methods for the comparison of striation and impression patterns. These combined efforts are in line with the recommendations of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) report "Forensic Science in Criminal Courts: Ensuring Scientific Validity of Feature-Comparison Methods" [1] and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report "Strengthening Forensic Science in the USA: A Path Forward" [2].
Similarly, efforts within the topic of shooting scene reconstruction have focused on the validity and reliability of estimated bullet trajectories, as well as on the implementation of newer techniques to facilitate firearm examiners with these reconstructions. In addition to what can be examined at the crime scene itself, researchers have also focused on the application of forensic radiology to assess intra-corporeal bullet trajectories and on the use of soft tissue or skull and bone simulants in studies on bullet behavior.
The published articles related to these topics are addressed in the subsections "Validation studies and statistical foundations", "Proficiency testing", and "Development of computer-based methods" of the "Firearm examination" section; subsection "Bias, reporting and quality assurance" of the "Firearms and ammunition miscellaneous reports" section; subsections "Research" and "Methods" of the "Shooting incident reconstruction" section; and the "Research" subsection of the "Wound ballistics" section.
In addition to the current research topics which can be derived from recent literature, the ENFSI Firearms/GSR Working Group has published a white paper concerning their future perspectives [3]. They discuss the development of computer-based methods for the comparison of striation and impression patterns and highlight the need for the development of sizeable reference databases to be able to calculate the evidential value of a comparison, according to the Bayesian approach. The use of the. x3p file format as a standard for surface topography data will enable global exchange and interoperability of data. Furthermore, they address the potential of 3D crime scene reconstruction techniques for capturing and documenting crime scenes and later on presenting evaluations. These efforts can be combined with the application of forensic radiology (computerized tomography) to visualize intra-corporeal bullet trajectories. Additionally, they mention the need to manage contextual information to minimize the occurrence of bias in casework, the need to keep up to date with novel manufacturing techniques, and the emerging trend of 3D printed firearms.
2. Firearm examination
In accordance with the 2009 NAS [2] and 2016 PCAST [1] reports' recommendations several studies have been performed with the aim to strengthen both the foundational validity of firearm examination as well as to provide insight into the validity as applied.
Language: en |