Category: Testimony

It’s time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly romp through the newly published peer-reviewed literature. Nothing brief about this month’s (is there ever?), but a few things stood out, including our colleagues over at Physicians for Human Rights (Mishori, et al) and their article on training non-forensic experts on conducting medical-forensic exams, and our Australian colleagues (Williamson, et al) and their lack of vascular injury findings in nonfatal strangulation. Lots of good reads, as always, although fair warning–very few free full text articles. Please let me know if you need assistance getting a hold of articles, and I will see what I can do to assist.

This is going live a day early because tomorrow evening starts Passover, and I will spend tomorrow prepping and cooking for a significant crowd. This weekend many of you will be doing the same, many more of you will be enjoying Easter celebrations, and of course, some of my readers are already in the midst of what I hope is a peaceful and blessed Ramadan. Whatever your tradition, including simply enjoying a spring (or fall–I see you Australia and Brazil) weekend, I hope it is a relaxing one, and that somewhere along the way it includes a great meal and some people you adore.

More next month, where more likely than not, I will be posting from Italy. Until then, happy reading…

Don’t forget to visit the FHO store where our most recent monograph Forensic Nursing Testimony is now available, along with our other research compilations, which can be bought as a set or individually.

[Photo by TOMOKO UJI on Unsplash]

Good morning from Parris Island, SC where I am working this week. I am in the midst of a very long travel stretch, with little time to read, so my (virtual) stack of articles is growing fairly unwieldy. This month’s list finds many familiar names among them (including yours truly); the work of friends and colleagues always gets bumped to the top of the heap. Looking forward to sitting down with several of these. As always, links lead to PubMed unless otherwise indicated. If you’re having trouble getting your hands on something, let me know and I’ll see if I can help you out.

Don’t forget to visit the FHO store where our most recent monograph Forensic Nursing Testimony is now available, along with our other research compilations, which can be bought as a set or individually.

[Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel on Unsplash]

Greetings from Ft. Lee, VA where I am working this week. It’s the beginning of a very long stretch on the road, and I am up early putting the finishing touches on this post before my attention turns to a lot of other matters. First things first–congratulations Erin Pollitt! You are the winner of the Bookshop.org $100 gift card. Please email me with the email address you’d like that to go to and I will make that happen this week.

So it’s time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly romp through the peer-reviewed literature. As always, it’s not an exhaustive review (although it’s lengthy), but what I found to be new and noteworthy. Links lead to PubMed abstracts except where noted. Please let me know if you’re having trouble getting your hands on something and I will see what I can do to assist.

Don’t forget to visit the FHO store where our most recent monograph Forensic Nursing Testimony is now available, along with our other research compilations, which can be bought as a set or individually.

[Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash]

Articles of Note

Good morning and happy new year! A new year and our 13th anniversary here at FHO– 13 years of nerdiness on our little site. Amazing how many of you have been with us from the beginning. This year in honor of that, and in honor of the fact that we are heading into year 3 of the pandemic, a new giveaway. But first, here’s our monthly overview of what’s new and relevant (at least to me) in the monthly peer-reviewed literature. It’s full this month, my friends, so put aside ample time for this one. Allow me to point out there are a few different articles specific to SANE training. Plus the Journal of Head Trauma and Rehabilitation has a special issue on IPV, so you’ll find multiple articles related to TBI and IPV. As always, links take you to PubMed abstracts. No free ones this month, sadly. If you have challenges getting your hands on something, let me know and I’ll see if I can assist.

Giveaway

So that giveaway–I’m giving away a $100 gift card to Bookshop.org for one reader*. Bookshop.org is an online bookstore that supports independent booksellers and you can find pretty much anything you’re looking for through their site. Pick up books for work, books for cooking, books for escape–whatever works for you. To be eligible: just leave me a comment in this post about what you’re doing to take care of yourself right now in these challenging times because I am all about the self-care right now. I’ll choose one response at random and announce the winner with next month’s Articles of Note post. You have until Valentine’s Day (2/14) to respond.

*Readers not in the US, UK or Spain–if I choose you, I will convert that to a $100 gift card to an independent bookstore in your country since Bookshop.org doesn’t operate outside the aforementioned countries.

Don’t forget to visit the FHO store where our most recent monograph Forensic Nursing Testimony is now available, along with our other research compilations, which can be bought as a set or individually.

[Photo by Richard Burlton on Unsplash]

First of all, how is it even possible it’s November already? Secondly, have you signed up for our Virtual Gift Exchange yet? Because we have an unbelievable group participating this year–diverse, with a ton of new (to me) faces joining in the festivities. You still have time to sign up if you’d like to be part of the merriment. Rules of engagement are on the website, and last year’s was so much fun. Last day to register is 11/21, so don’t wait too long…

And now, time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly review of what’s new and notable in the peer-reviewed literature. Please remember this isn’t meant to be comprehensive–I’m just one woman with a laptop and very specific interests, so that’s what you see reflected here. I would like to point out there are a couple of new articles specifically focused on sexual assault and HIV nPEP, for those of you working in that realm. And a very fascinating article for the child abuse folx on examining cases of abusive head trauma that have been overturned by the courts. Most links lead to PubMed abstracts except where otherwise indicated. Please let me know if you’re having trouble finding an article–I may be able to assist.

For my US readers, I hope you’ll be getting some face time with loved ones for the Thanksgiving holiday. And for all my readers, happy reading, don’t forget to sign up for the gift exchange, and we’ll talk again next month. Stay safe and be well.

Don’t forget to visit the FHO store where our most recent monograph Forensic Nursing Testimony is now available, along with our other research compilations, which can be bought as a set or individually.

[Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash]

Greetings from Eagle, CO, where I am working for a few days (that photo is the view when I wake up). I’m in Monterey, CA, Garmisch, Germany, Ft. Lee, VA, and Salt Lake City, UT, before we chat again, so I guess work travel is back for real for real. I’ll take it, rude travelers, COVID tests, and constant masking notwithstanding. It’s nice to not just be at my dining room table writing (although I am doing that too).

For all of you who sent approving emails liking the idea of a cocktail-laced testimony webinar series, thanks for the feedback. I think we will kick it off in the new year when several of these writing projects will be done(ish), and I can devote time to launching the series properly. If anyone has a suggestion for a clever name for the series, though, I’d love to hear it. I am not good at coming up with these sorts of things.

And now, of course, for the reason you’re really here–this month’s Articles of Note, our regular romp through the peer-reviewed literature. Included are some articles looking at grip impact and strangulation; the impact of sexual assault on the brain; peer-review for child abuse documentation; and the use of toluidine blue dye after consensual and nonconsensual sex, to tease you with just a few topics. But really there’s so much that’s good this month (as always). Most links lead to PubMed abstracts, except where otherwise indicated. Happy reading!

Don’t forget to visit the FHO store where our most recent monograph Forensic Nursing Testimony is now available, along with our other research compilations, which can be bought as a set or individually.

Greetings from PDX, where I am finishing a delightful long weekend away with my girlchild. We stole a few days together before she goes back for her 3rd year of college and I return to the road for teaching and trials. As of now, things are still in person, but my hunch is a lot is about to radically change…sigh.

It’s time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly romp through the peer-reviewed literature. And I need to remind readers, as I do on occasion, just because I include an article, doesn’t mean I endorse it. Everything on the list is included because I find it interesting, for better or worse, and I think you might too. Noteworthy doesn’t necessarily speak to quality, so please don’t cite an article’s inclusion on one of my lists as a reason to buy its conclusions wholesale. Please read the articles for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

There are multiple full free text articles noted; everything else leads to PubMed abstracts. As many of you know, I’m working on a fairly large IPV project, so the list is skewing heavily in that direction these days, but there’s plenty of other forensic content here. Please let me know if you have trouble finding articles–I can usually help folx connect with content in a pinch.

Don’t forget to visit the FHO store where our most recent monograph Forensic Nursing Testimony is now available, along with our other research compilations, which can be bought as a set or individually.

[Photo by Zack Spear on Unsplash]

It’s time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly romp through the peer-reviewed literature. Just a reminder–this is not an exhaustive list; rather one that is filled with articles that have captured my attention and also may be relevant to the practice of my readers (based on what part of the world everyone’s logging in from and the general tenor of questions I field).

As always, there’s something for just about all forensic clinicians, with a particular emphasis this month on sexual assault, and a few less commonly discussed topics that I think are worthy of your attention scattered about. Also, thanks for all of the lovely notes about the editorial in JFN–I am pleased with the response I have heard from many of you at this point. If you are going to Orlando in September, we will be discussing testimony in-depth–I hope to see you at one (or more) of those sessions.

Links lead to PubMed abstracts unless otherwise noted. Let me know if you’re challenged in getting copies of an article and we’ll see if we can’t assist on that front. Happy reading!

Don’t forget to visit the FHO store where our brand new monograph Forensic Nursing Testimony is now available, along with our other research compilations, which can be bought as a set or individually.

[Photo by vnwayne fan on Unsplash]

Happy Pride, friends–not sure how it’s already halfway through June, but here we are. I’m splitting my time this month between DC and Charlottesville, so it feels relatively luxurious. Time with my girlchild, who lives in Cville, and a relatively calm month after what has been a wild ride in my household for the last few months. My biggest project still has me tethered to my laptop, writing on IPV, although I am pleased to announce that if you have seen the latest issue of JFN, you also noticed that I wrote a love letter to the courtroom, which appears as the guest editorial in the current issue. I hope you’ll read it. It’s one of the most enjoyable pieces of writing I have done in some time.

Of course, we’re here because it’s time for Articles of Note, our monthly romp through the peer-reviewed literature. For the folx doing IPV work, in particular, it feels like a really rich month. There are also several pieces on sexual assault victims and believability by law enforcement, not all of which are in the same journal, so just an interesting mini-thread there this month. As always, most links go to PubMed, unless otherwise specified as free full-text. Please let me know if there’s something you’re looking for that you can’t get your hands on–I’ll see what I can do to assist.

One other thing–several of you have asked about the absence of the monthly newsletter. Sorry about that, it’s super time-consuming and with everything opening back up, I just haven’t been able to get to them lately. We’ll see if they reappear in the future…

Don’t forget to visit the FHO store where our brand new monograph Forensic Nursing Testimony is now available, along with our other research compilations, which can be bought as a set or individually.

[Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash]

Good morning from San Antonio, TX where I will be working all week. It feels like an age since I’ve hopped on the site, but that’s because life is starting to resemble the before times, and I have been in multiple time zones this past month. Happily, this means I am actually starting to see people in person, rather than over screens, and that does my heart good. I actually had the opportunity to share a bit of bourbon with a colleague and friend who was on the road herself last week, and my god, it’s so good to just laugh with people sitting right next to them. I hope you all are having similar experiences.

As you know, it’s time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly romp through the peer-reviewed literature. There are a few free, full-text articles available, but most links take you to the PubMed abstracts. Let me know if you are having trouble finding articles you really want and I will try and help you run them down. As I say every month, there’s plenty here–I am mired in the IPV literature right now because of a project I am working on, but there’s a good selection for those of you working with most other types of living forensic patients, as well. Always nice to see colleagues in forensic nursing publishing and this month doesn’t disappoint.

Speaking of which, the IAFN conference is a few months away, and I will be teaching several sessions, all on some aspect of testimony, including some half-day workshops, so I hope I am going to get the chance to see many of you in September. It really is one of my very favorite weeks of the year.

Don’t forget to visit the FHO store where our brand new monograph Forensic Nursing Testimony is now available, along with our other research compilations, which can be bought as a set or individually.

[Photo by Paul Melki on Unsplash]

Apologies for getting this month’s edition of Articles of Note out late, but I was a bit preoccupied with the launch of the testimony monograph–many thanks to everyone who has already purchased it. To say I am overwhelmed by the response would be an understatement. I really appreciate the enthusiasm for this particular piece, and look forward to getting feedback and hearing how folx are using it.

I’m extra excited for this month’s Articles of Note–it has some research in it that has the potential to really change the way we understand what we see in our practices (if you see adult sexual assault patients). I don’t drop that nugget lightly–I point you to the Sommers and Fargo article. Mind you–their findings haven’t been replicated so don’t lose your minds, my friends. But still–it’s the kind of research we’ve been waiting for in some circles. It’s moving the needle. Don’t sleep on the rest of this list, either–I know I say that every month, but that’s seriously why I continue to publish Articles of Note as a monthly offering and not quarterly or even less frequently. Our profession is a young one and the science is always changing. It’s important to keep up. I had a reader complain to me last month it was too much to read. I get it, but it doesn’t have to all fall on you. Rotate that job amongst your team so someone different is responsible for doing it every month–that person can go through the list and see what’s relevant by reading through the abstracts and ordering the articles they want from the hospital or university library (or reaching out to me if they can’t get them elsewhere).

Toying with doing a virtual journal club to discuss the Sommers and Fargo article, btw. Probably via Zoom. Probably one evening. Probably with cocktails. I’d love to know if people would be interested.

Don’t forget to visit the FHO store where our brand new monograph Forensic Nursing Testimony is now available, along with our other research compilations, which can be bought as a set or individually.

[Photo by freestocks on Unsplash]

It’s time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly romp through the peer-reviewed literature. Nice to see friends and frequent collaborators with pubs this month, so that makes me smile. Plenty to read for those of us working with patients presenting after intimate partner violence. And an interesting ethics read [for everyone really] at the intersection of child maltreatment, genetics, practice standards and expert testimony. So all in all, a good round-up for this wet and dreary morning in the US capital region.

Links take you to PubMed abstracts unless noted otherwise. Let me know if you’re having trouble getting your hands on an article or two and I’ll tap some sources and see if we can’t help you run them down.

I’m back on a plane at the end of the week, and the Spring travel season picks up in earnest next month, so more and more of these dispatches will resume from the road. Here’s hoping this means life is starting to regain some sense of normalcy. Stay safe and healthy and enjoy the reading…

Don’t forget to visit our FHO Store where you’ll find a complete list of our offerings, perfect to help prep for your next court date or educational offering, including the latest: Applying the Strangulation Research to Expert Testimony. And coming soon (I promise): Testimony and the Forensic Nurse Expert.

[Photo by Brandi Redd on Unsplash]

It’s time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly romp through the peer-reviewed literature. There is plenty to occupy your time here, so settle in folx. Plus, it’s FHO’s 12th anniversary–happy anniversary to us! In honor of this momentous occasion, we’re giving away a registration to this year’s IAFN conference in Orlando. To be eligible, all you have to do is tell me in the comments what you are most looking forward to about attending an in-person conference this year (after being benched in 2020-whew, I can think of about 10 right off the top of my head). The registration is good for you or you can gift it–it just has to be decided prior to the time of early registration. You have until January 29th at noon ET to enter. I’ll choose one person at random and announce it on the FHO Facebook page and in the January newsletter at the end of the month.

Links take you to PubMed abstracts except when indicated by Free Full Text. If you’re having trouble running down an article, hit me up–we can get some of these through various library resources as needed if you aren’t connected to your own hospital or university.

Happy to report I just joined the vaccine club, so I’m feeling more optimistic about where things are headed. Now if we can get through the inaugeration here without burning the whole joint to the ground…Stay safe, my friends. Better days are ahead [fingers crossed].

Don’t forget to visit our FHO Store where you’ll find a complete list of our offerings, perfect to help prep for your next court date or educational offering, including the latest: Applying the Strangulation Research to Expert Testimony. And coming soon: Testimony and the Forensic Nurse Expert.

[Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash]

It’s time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly romp through the peer-reviewed literature. It’s a long one this month–there’s a lot that is worth your time, and maybe a few that are worth noticing, even if not very good (because sometimes it’s as important to know what isn’t worth factoring into your evidence base). That’s basically to remind you that just because an article makes my monthly list doesn’t mean you should assume it’s excellent science–articles that appear on this site need to be evaluated by each reader for themselves. And even if you believe an article is good science, is it relevant to your practice? Is it generalizable to the patient populations that you see? There are several good resources for evaluating science, if you’re not sure where to start: here’s an easy graphic on spotting bad science; NSVRC has quite a bit on their site about evaluating research that I would recommend checking out. And for those of you who would like a worksheet to use as a template to work off of while reviewing articles, here’s something I created that you are welcome to use:

Links mainly go to PubMed abstracts, except where noted. If you’re having trouble finding articles let me know–we have access to full-text through a couple of different avenues for those of you who aren’t blessed with hospital librarians or university medical libraries. We are continuing with the single download link (for those of you who like to print it off), instead of the embedded doc, since I got rave reviews (and no one emailed me telling me they missed the old way). And the link comes through in the email, so bonus points for that.

I’ll be doing a virtual testimony training on Monday the 19th for the OH chapter of IAFN, so looking forward to seeing folks through my computer screen. Reach out if you’d like to host one of your own. I have some time on my calendar for a few more virtual events as several trials have pled out and I am able to do more and more via Zoom and Microsoft Teams (including court appearances–it’s a brave new world, kids).

Hope everyone is hanging in there– is healthy, is protecting their mental well-being. If you’re a US reader and you can vote, please do. If you can help others get to the polls and vote, bonus points for you. I have already voted myself, and plan to volunteer with Chefs for the Polls since the trial I had that week has now gone away. Whatever you can do to support folx being able to exercise their right to vote in this election is a mitzvah. Let’s see how we’re all doing this time next month.

Don’t forget to visit our FHO Store where you’ll find a complete list of our offerings, perfect to help prep for your next court date or educational offering, including the latest: Applying the Strangulation Research to Expert Testimony. And coming soon: Testimony and the Forensic Nurse Expert.

Photo by Syd Wachs on Unsplash

It’s time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly romp through the newly published peer-reviewed literature. As always, there’s plenty this month, particularly on campus sexual assault–fitting as I type this from the campus of Michigan State University, where I am finishing up an almost 2-year project. I hope folx will spend some time working through (at least some of) the research because I need to get real here–I’m 26 years in this field now, and I am having some of the same conversations today I was having 20 years ago–namely, reading science is part of the job of a forensic clinician. If you are a program manager, hi–allow time for reading–and analyzing science–for your team. I am handing you a monthly menu to make it easy (and if you don’t like mine, there are plenty of others–just sign up for Online First Alerts from journals like Violence Against Women, for instance, or peruse the Journal of Forensic Nursing table of contents every quarter and pick something that looks relevant). Level up your testimony, people. Make sure there’s science to support those opinions. Understand the evidence base behind the work we do. Analyze the clinical decisions we make to ensure they’re (still) appropriate. That happens through reading. Level. Up.

Links mainly go to PubMed abstracts, except where noted. If you’re having trouble finding articles let me know–we have access to full-text through a couple of different avenues for those of you who aren’t blessed with hospital librarians or university medical libraries. Something new this month: for the first time, I have included a single download link (for those of you who like to print it off), instead of the usual embedded doc. I have heard from a lot of you that the embedded doc is sluggish, so let’s try this and you can let me know if this works better [BTW: if you’re getting this update in your email, you may need to go to the website to access the download link–I’m not certain it will come through in the condensed email].

As always, thanks for reading, thanks for striving to do better by our patients. I hope some of you will be joining me virtually for my sessions at this year’s Virtual IAFN conference. You’ll note some familiar themes in my sessions 🙂

Don’t forget to visit our FHO Store where you’ll find a complete list of our offerings, perfect to help prep for your next court date or educational offering, including the latest: Applying the Strangulation Research to Expert Testimony. And coming soon: Testimony and the Forensic Nurse Expert.

{Photo by Mahendra Kumar on Unsplash}

It’s time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly romp through the newly published scientific articles. Just like last month, those citations in red are COVID-related forensic pubs; everything else is your non-pandemic forensic healthcare-associated research or clinical literature. You’ll notice there’s less red this month which is–better? Not sure. Here in the US we’re being awfully cavalier about this virus, so I guess we shall have to see.

As always, links take you to PubMed abstracts unless you see the words FREE FULL TEXT–those take you to the full article. Do let me know if you have trouble getting your hands on a particular article, in case you are not blessed with hospital librarians, or located within actual academic institutions. We have connections here at FHO 🙂 Happy reading, everyone…

[If you have trouble seeing the embedded document on your page below please refresh–sometimes it doesn’t show up the 1st time, for reasons no one can explain to me.]

Don’t forget to visit our FHO Store where you’ll find a complete list of our offerings, perfect to help prep for your next court date or educational offering, including the latest: Applying the Strangulation Research to Expert Testimony. And coming soon: Testimony and the Forensic Nurse Expert.

{Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash}

It’s time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly romp through the newly published, peer-reviewed literature. Something different you may notice this month: articles specific to the intersection of COVID-19 and violence are delineated in red, for those of you looking for that content in particular. Otherwise, everything continues unchanged, even as we plug away, here at FHO headquarters, going on 9 weeks of lockdown (but healthy, knock wood, and still seeing patients Thursday nights, so there’s a break in the routine). Here’s hoping these articles find you healthy, as well, and able to continue feeding your brain and growing/strengthening your practice.

Links take you to PubMed abstracts, as always, except where noted as Full Text. Enjoy the reading–we’re heavy on sexual assault this month, but there are some interesting articles on the role of forensic nurses in here, too. [If the doc below doesn’t come up the first time, reload your page & see if that doesn’t do the trick.]

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Don’t forget to visit our FHO Store where you’ll find a complete list of our offerings, perfect to help prep for your next court date or educational offering, including the latest: Applying the Strangulation Research to Expert Testimony.

It’s time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly romp through what’s newly published in the peer-reviewed literature. A few items of interest for those of you who are educators, and a good bit of variety for everyone else in the field. Lots that is clinically relevant, not all of it from the US. Plus one or two familiar faces in the bunch, which I always like to see.

A note in response to a reader’s query about whether (essentially) posting=endorsing. The answer, of course, is no–I post what I think is interesting, what I think others may find interesting, and what I think is worth noticing, even if it isn’t particularly great. Please remember that not everything given space in a journal is actually good science. And just because we think it’s good science today doesn’t mean we might not revise that opinion a year or two down the road. So please read critically–pick apart hypotheses, consider whether what you read applies to your own patient populations or mirrors what you see in practice. I publish these compilations only to get folks to read. What you choose to do with that information is up to you.

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Don’t forget to visit our FHO Store where you’ll find a complete list of our offerings, perfect to help prep for your next court date or educational offering, including the latest: Applying the Strangulation Research to Expert Testimony.

It’s time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly romp through the newly published peer-reviewed literature, and our first edition here in our new home. There’s plenty to capture the attention, so take your time with the list.

I should also mention for those who didn’t see the initial newsletter or the announcement on social media, we’re giving away two IAFN conference registrations for this year’s meeting in Palm Springs. Last year, we gave away one, and we gave it to a reader. This year, it’s two, and it’s for someone a reader promotes. Why? Because people are out there doing good work. And because that good work needs to be shouted from the rooftops. And because there’s plenty of self-promotion in the world, but a paucity of lifting up of others. And we need to see forensic nurses shining in public. On social media in particular. So if you would like to participate, please tell us about a member of your crew who is doing great things. You can leave a comment here, email us–OR better yet, shout it from the social media rooftops on the FHO Facebook page or on Twitter. Please use the hashtag #ShineOnForensicRN so we can find your entries. Winners won’t be chosen at random so make those entries good. The giveaway will be live until January 22nd. All FHO readers are eligible, including international readers.

Anyway, back to this month’s articles–links lead to PubMed abstracts, excepts where indicated:

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Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find the newest research brief, Applying The Strangulation Research To Expert Testimony In Cases With Adult Victims. Or purchase the complete set of three (Strangulation, Aging Bruises, and Consensual Sex Injury) for a special price.

Time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly romp through the peer-reviewed literature. Plenty to read, plenty to consider this month (as always). Links lead to PubMed abstracts–please don’t stop there. Sift through the abstracts to decide what’s worth your time, and what doesn’t apply to your clinical life. Better yet, divide among your colleagues and get together for real-time discussion. What an excellent use of staff meeting time.

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Have you checked out the FHO store lately? You can find the newest research brief, Applying The Strangulation Research To Expert Testimony In Cases With Adult Victims. Or purchase the complete set of three (Strangulation, Aging Bruises, and Consensual Sex Injury) for a special price.