1. Expert Witness Testimony
Frye 1923:
Relates to the admissibility of scientific evidence in court.
Stresses OBJECTIVITY in forensic testimony
Conclusion:
Any scientific evidence presented in court MUST HAVE GAINED GENERAL ACCEPTANCE IN THE PARTICULAR FIELD IN WHICH IT BELONGS.

2. Expert Witness Testimony
Federal Rules of Evidence 1975
Set of evidentiary rules for civil and criminal cases
Rule 702 specifically addresses witness testimony:
Witness qualifies as expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, and education

3. Expert Witness testimony
1993 Daubert vs. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals
Court determined standards for admitting EXPERT TESTIMONY in federal court

4. Expert Witness Testimony
Court determined that Federal Rules of Evidence Overturned the Frye standards
Standards:
Should be SCIENTYIFICALLY valid, that is to say knowledge should be grounded in methods and procedures of science
Should be RELEVANT, that is to say have a valid scientific connection to the pertinent inquiry (full moon)
So the Daubert Test or Guidelines were produced

5. Daubert Guidelines
1) Content of forensic scientific testimony must be testable by scientific method
2) Opinion of expert must have been peer reviewed (published)
3) Association of established reliability and known error ranges
4) Requires that methods or opinions presented in scientific testimony have achieved general acceptance within the relevant scientific community

6. ESTIMATING SEX IN SKELETAL REMAINS

7. Sex is not gender
Sexual dimorphism is a physical secondary sexual characteristic conferred by hormones on the maturing mammal; and is usually discrete physiologically and chromosomally
Gender is a sexual identity chosen by an individual or conferred by society and marked by extra-somatic artifacts.

8. Determining sex of skeletal material
Be aware that, typically, only 30% of missing persons are female.
Also, determination of sex from intact, often clothed, skeletons is not usually too problematic.
Osteologists usually determine only the biological sex of an individual, not gender which is a socially-acquired or conferred identity.

9. Beware personal bias in sex assignment to skeletal remains
Most missing persons are male
Most murder victims are male
Healed nasal fractures are twice as common in males (but do occur distressingly often in females)
Adolescent crania are difficult to sex and teenage male prostitutes do exist

10. Determination of Sex: essentials
1. Pelvic girdle and especially pubic area (Phenice’s criteria) are best (>95%)
2. Skull form is pretty reliable (but beware masculine looking females in forensic work)
Long bone metrics are also fairly reliable
Amelogenin = protein found in developing tooth enamel.

11. Categories of Sex Assessment

12. Determining Sex from Crania
Daubert acceptable

13. Supraorbital Torus / Glabella
Male
Female

14. Supraorbital Margins
FEMALES: sharp
MALES: rounded

15. Mastoid Process
Female
Male

16. Nuchal Line Development
Male

17. Chin Shape
Male - bilobate
Female - prominent

18. Determining Sex from Innominates

19. Phenice’s criteria are considered the most reliable sex markers

20. Ventral Arch
Male
Female

21. Ischiopubic Ramus
Female
Male

22. Subpubic Concavity
Female
Male

23. Preauricular Sulcus
Present in females
Absent in males

24. Length of the Pubic Bone
Male
Female

25. Sciatic Notch
Not too reliable: 75%
Female

26. Acetabular Size Correlates to Size of femoral head
Cannot use strict translation
Of max. femoral head standards
Usually larger in males and differ in males due to body size and weight bearing.
male

27. Sexing a Sacrum
male
female

28. Determining Sex Metrically
Vertical Femoral Head Diameter
Females: <41.5 mm
Females (?): 41-5 to 43.5 mm
Ambiguous: 43.5 to 44.5 mm
Males (?): 44.5 to 45.5 mm
Males: >45.5 mm

29. Vertical Diameter Humeral head Female: <43 mm
Ambiguous: 43 a 47 mm
Masculine: >47 mm

30. In extremis
There are dozens of osteometric techniques for sex determination
Typically, they successfully assign unknowns correctly 80-90% of the time.