Entomology and the Law—Flies as Forensic Indicators

Author(s): Robert D. Hall

Source: Journal of Medical Entomology, 42(5):922-922.
Published By: Entomological Society of America
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1603/0022-2585(2005)042[0922:EATLAF]2.0.CO;2
URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/
full/10.1603/0022-2585%282005%29042%5B0922%3AEATLAF%5D2.0.CO
%3B2

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critical research.
 BOOK REVIEW
Entomology and the Law—Flies as Forensic Indicators
Bernard Greenberg and John Charles Kunich
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United
Kingdom, 2002
356 pp., $120.00 (hardcover)
ISBN: 0-521-80915-0
THE AUTHORS STATE THAT “[t]he primary purpose of
this book is to provide both the entomologist and the
trial lawyer with the information necessary to navigate
successfully the hazards that threaten forensic ento-
mology evidence.” To a large extent, they have ac-
complished their goal. However, their effort falls short
on covering the entire subject of “forensic” entomol-
ogy because part I of the book, capably written by
accepted entomology expert Bernard Greenberg, lim-
its itself almost exclusively to the subdiscipline that
most forensic entomologists call “medicocriminal” en-
tomologyÑthe use of insect evidence to estimate the
time, and occasionally the site, of human death. Al-
though the authors acknowledge the existence of food
contamination cases, they essentially ignore the mul-
titude of civil cases wherein forensic entomologists
play a fundamental role: private nuisance actions
(most often involving ßies in an agricultural setting),
alleged spider bites, frequent fraud-and-abuse of the
fast-food industry by those anxious to threaten law-
suits over supposed “contamination” of food products
by maggots and other insects, myiasis in child- or
elder-abuse cases and nursing home neglect, and lit-
igation involving structural pests. Therefore, although
the subtitle “Flies as Forensic Indicators” provides
some clariÞcation, the subject matter of this book
might have been better reßected by a title such as
“Entomology and Criminal Law.”
That shortcoming accepted, this is a well-written,
fairly easy read of 306 pages that will ultimately be
most useful to trial lawyers confronting entomology
evidence for the Þrst time. It should impart sufÞcient
knowledge in short order to make counsel savvy
enough to ask the proper questions or to anticipate
them being asked. Part II, authored by law professor
(and entomology graduate) John Kunich, provides an
interesting overview of admissibility issues in relation
to scientiÞc evidence. This part should be useful to
attorneys and entomologists alike, because excluding
evidence from the courtroom, on any of a number of
legal theories, is perhaps the most effective way to see
that such evidence does not inßuence the result at
trial. Therefore, Kunich does a nice job of covering
pretrial motions and explaining to the uninitiated why
they are so important.
This book will not enable nonentomologists to be-
come forensic experts, nor to identify the Diptera taxa
covered, nor to analyze forensic entomology evi-
dence. It will, however, serve as a useful reference for
the experienced medical and veterinary entomologist
who is asked for an opinion in the medicocriminal
context or who wishes to know more about the sub-
ject. Notable are the excellent historical overview that
Greenberg provides and the various keys intended to
cover Holarctic, South American, Oriental, European
and Australian blow ßy species, supplemented with
good line drawings or scanning electron microscope
photographs. That most of these keys have been pub-
lished before is not a shortcoming; indeed, those who
are not reprint hounds will Þnd the compendium very
helpful.
Published by Cambridge University Press, the sam-
ple I received was copyrighted in 2002, well-bound,
and set in a very legible Utopia 9/13 point typeface.
The language was generally error-free, except that the
proofreaders not surprisingly ignored throughout the
American entomological convention whereby com-
mon names of true ßies are written as two separate
words (e.g., blow ßy rather than blowßy). Further-
more, and unfortunately for the QueenÕs English and
the proofreaders as well, the distinction between “af-
fect” and “effect” was frequently misconstrued. As a
minor point, the greenbottle ßy Phaenicia coeruleiviri-
dis had the speciÞc name misspelled as caeruleiviridis.
The case histories recounted by Greenberg demon-
strate the analytical arguments often encountered in
forensic entomology litigation as well as the depth of
feeling that can be engendered by this sort of court-
room experience. YouÕve got to live it to understand
fully, but this book gets close.
Robert D. Hall
Associate Vice Provost for Research
University of Missouri, Columbia
E-mail: hallr@missouri.edu