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Kelly Couzens discusses the career and life of Scottish police surgeon—Henry Duncan Littlejohn

Image courtesy of interviewee. May 23, 2024

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This video video discusses a research project stemming from the author's doctoral thesis at the University of Western Australia, which focused on the history of forensic medicine in 19th century Edinburgh, particularly the contributions of Professor Henry Littlejohn. Littlejohn, a prominent figure, served as a police surgeon for over five decades, a role that intertwined his medical expertise with law enforcement and public health. The narrative describes his significant involvement in criminal cases, public health reports, and his eventual rise to a knighthood and a prestigious faculty position at the University of Edinburgh. Despite his influential role, Littlejohn remains somewhat overlooked in the history of forensic medicine. The author highlights how Littlejohn's work exemplified the practical aspects of forensic medicine, emphasizing his collaborations with police and legal professionals, as well as the challenges he faced in addressing forensic matters within the evolving legal context of the time. The author aims to explore more about the intricate relationships between forensic medicine and law enforcement, particularly how these connections shaped criminal investigations and prosecution processes. The research reveals that forensic work during this period was not highly specialized but heavily reliant on practical experience and collaboration among various medical and legal practitioners. In summary, the text outlines the author’s ongoing research into Henry Littlejohn’s career, aiming to shed light on the development of forensic medicine and its relationship with the legal system in 19th century Edinburgh, while emphasizing the importance of understanding historical practices through detailed case records and collaborations.

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Here are some key quotes extracted from the video you , which reflects the speaker’s exploration of Henry Littlejohn’s contributions to forensic medicine in 19th century Edinburgh:

1. **Introduction to the Research**:
- "The broad convideo of this research came out of my doctoral thesis that I started in 2014... I was really interested in exploring...the history of forensic medicine in 19th century Edinburgh."

2. **Discovering Littlejohn**:
- "What I discovered when I was doing my thesis was just how prolific an expert he was."

3. **Littlejohn's Role**:
- "I think what I learned through doing that research and...digging into Littlejohn was just how much of his profile was linked in with his role as a police surgeon."

4. **Littlejohn's Influence**:
- "In 1865, he published this really influential report on the sanitary health of Edinburgh... scholars have really sort of borne out that sort of side of things."

5. **Career Overview**:
- "He first becomes police surgeon and applies for this job in his late twenties in 1855."

6. **The Demands of the Role**:
- "This is a very demanding role... he works as the surgeon who not only attends to any complaints that police might have as to their physical health and fitness... but he also attends to a massive number of things."

7. **Longevity of Service**:
- "He actually does this position for over five decades."

8. **Professional Development**:
- "He uses this position very successfully... he becomes a prolific medical expert testifying in criminal courts."

9. **Training for Medical Students**:
- "His key emphasis is on the practice of forensic medicine...to be good at it as a medical student, you have to be exposed to it."

10. **Interplay between Professions**:
- "One of the things that's really interesting in this period...increasing numbers of medical experts being called into courtrooms."

11. **Collaboration**:
- "He builds these collaborations with lots of different groups... this person's doing this and this having this impact."

12. **Key Insights on Forensic Work**:
- "Forensic work was done... it's not an atomized activity that...to bring something from when a body is discovered... to a prosecution at trial is quite a long process."

13. **Future Research Directions**:
- "I hope...to excavate these relationships more...and hopefully just maybe even find new things."

These quotes encapsulate the speaker's exploration of Henry Littlejohn's impact on forensic medicine, his career as a police surgeon, and the complexities of his role within the medical and legal communities of 19th century Edinburgh.

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X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

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The broad context of this research came out

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of my doctoral thesis that I started in 2014,

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back at the University of Western Australia.

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And I was really interested in exploring, the history

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of forensic medicine in 19th century Edinburgh.

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And that involved looking at, a number of sort

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of leading medical experts that had hold, held the position

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of medical, chair

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of medical jurisprudence at the University of Edinburgh.

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And one of these was Professor Henry Littlejohn.

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And that was sort of how I started

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to find out a little bit about him and about his research.

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And what I discovered when I was doing my thesis was just

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how prolific an expert he was.

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So he was in so many criminal cases,

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he was constantly in the press.

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Um, almost every day there'd be reports about his work,

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whether it was to do with public health criminal cases

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or his involvement on some sort of organizational group.

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And so I became really sort of intrigued

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by this man through that way.

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Um, and I think what I learned through doing that research

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and through sort of digging into Littlejohn was just

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how much of his profile was linked in

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with his role as a police surgeon.

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And that's sort of what I really talk about in the book

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and sort of, or in the book chapter rather,

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and I try to bring out through discussion is sort of how,

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how that role was really central with what he was doing.

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And about Little John himself.

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So Little John was, he's a very interesting sort

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of enigmatic fit figure,

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but in a lot of ways I think he's been quite sort of,

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forgotten in some ways in the history of forensics,

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or certainly neglected, we would say.

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Um, a lot of the sort of leaning, leading work that is sort

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of looked at his contribution to Edinburgh medicine

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has really explored his role within public health.

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And, in 1865,

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he published this really influential report on the

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sanitary health of Edinburgh.

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And so scholars like Paul, Paul, Paul Laxton,

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Richard Rogers, Brenda White, you know,

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and Ann Crowler have really sort of born out

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that sort of side of thing.

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But I was quite interested to see, you know, given how

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how important he was as a forensic expert was coming through

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so strongly for me, that side of that side of

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that career and sort of flagged that up.

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And, you know,

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he had quite an interesting career in the sense of,

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you know, he was your typical Edinburgh doctor, you know,

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born and bred in the city.

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Um, you know, had a father

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who was a bakery confectioner in the city.

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He was educated at the university, did the typical jaunt

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that so many medical students do off the continent

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to get further training after he qualified.

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And then he came back

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and he wasn't necessarily going to become a forensic doctor.

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He came back and he went to one of the border towns

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and, border towns called,

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to take up private practice for some unknown reason.

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It's not really clear why he seems to sort

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of change very early in his career

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and decides that he's gonna actually move back to the city

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of Edinburgh and pursue post public based posts.

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So whether that's police, surgeon, medical roles,

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affiliations with ho hospitals, et cetera, et cetera.

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And so he first becomes police surgeon

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and applies for this job in his late twenties in 1855.

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And as I sort of bear out in the article,

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there's a little bit of sort of scandal around this

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and about whether there was a degree of nepotism

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and family connections that got him into this role.

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Um, and that probably is highly likely

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because one

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of the things you really learn about Enbr medicine in this

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period is, is how much connection,

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in the learned professions mattered

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and who you knew really mattered in, in shaping career.

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But he takes up this role of police surgeon,

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and this is a very demanding role.

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This is, again, something I really try to pick up in this,

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in this chapter is, is what was sort of the practical work

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of doing police work.

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And that's something I'm really interested in.

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So he's literally employed by the police.

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He's the sort of employed by, the police commission,

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and he works as the, the surgeon who not only attends

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to any complaints that, police might have as

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to their physical health and fitness,

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so say if they're injured on the job or assaulted

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or attacked or things like that.

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But he also attends to a massive number of things.

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Um, everything from if there's a call for a sudden

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or suspicious death, he's the medical man in city

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of Edinburgh to go on board, examining,

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people who may be mentally unsound,

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check their mental competency, examining women,

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so, in women in case cases of sexual assault as well.

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Um, so he's just got a really broad remit of what he does,

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and it's even more broad

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and more kind of interesting when you sort

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of dig into sources and cases

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and you kind of get a sense of, of what

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that work was like in a sort of daily sense.

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So he actually does this position for over five decades,

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which I've never heard of it being from pit anywhere else.

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Right. And that's one of the curiosities about him is

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because, a lot of roles like, you know, a lot

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of police surgeons in, in England

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and elsewhere, they tend to be really short term posts.

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And the job is not something

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that people really wanna stay in

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because it's not pleasant, it's not high prestige,

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it's dealing with, you know, criminals.

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It's dealing with dead bodies.

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It's not something where you're going

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to traditionally have a very lucrative career

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in the medical profession.

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Um, but he uses this, uses his role within the,

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the Edinburgh, city police

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and uses all of the sort of, I suppose, networks

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that it opens up to him within medicine,

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but also also within the legal community in Edinburgh

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to kind of build a very dynamic

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and very influential career in the city.

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And I think when he retires, he's in his 80.

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So this is a man that is working

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for an exceptionally long time in his life.

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Um, and you know, he uses this position very successfully.

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So he become not only, you know,

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a prolific medical expert testifying in criminal courts,

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signing off on postmortem reports, but he

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Also, becomes a really important, sort of figure

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as a Scottish forensic medical teacher.

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And so sort of his key emphasis is on the practice

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of forensic medicine

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and highlighting the fact that to really do the work,

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to really understand it, to be good at it

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as a medical student, you have to be exposed to it.

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So that's something that he really anchors in his practice.

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And it, so much of that stems from his own beliefs about

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what his role as a police sergeant gives him

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because it's daily confronting him with forensic work

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and the pressures and demands

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that the criminal justice system is placing on people

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to be able to secure evidence

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and build narratives that make sense

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around crimes and offense.

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So it's really fascinating work

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and that's what I really love about him.

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Um, yeah, and he uses this position, sorry, as well,

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to sort of go on to become, you know, one of the elite

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of the University of Ed Edinburgh.

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So, in 1897, he's already Sir Henry Littlejohn.

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So he is already got a knighthood two years before,

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but by 1897, he is also occupying the res chair

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of forensic medicine, which is quite an established sort

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of position and teaching to medical students, you know,

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that not only within Scotland,

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but medical students that come to the university to study

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and then go back home and teach and,

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and practice medicine throughout the world.

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So he has quite, you know,

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a significant influence I feel in sort

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of shaping forensic medical practice in this period.

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One of the things that's really interesting in this period

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in the 19th century, obviously you have increasing numbers

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of, of medical experts being called into courtrooms.

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And that's one of the thing, and by medical expert,

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I mean doctors, you know, this can be very,

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this is a very broad understanding of expertise,

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because the understanding is that if you've trained

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as a doctor, you have, you know, practical experience

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of working as a, as a medical practitioner, you know,

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you should have a competent enough medical education

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that if patient drops down dead,

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you can give a postmortem report

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or you can report on the case and, and deal with it.

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And what's quite interesting is,

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is obviously forensic medicine is just sort

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of starting in this period to sort of be a specialty

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and it's sort of, you know, in its infancy in this period.

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And what, what that means practically is

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that there are a lot of different types

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of medical practitioners that are called into courts

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with various different types of competency.

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Yeah. Some of them, you know, being exposed to courtrooms

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where they don't have a lot of expertise

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and so they get exposed to a great deal

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of public embarrassment under cross-examination like this.

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Yeah. So one of the things that's I suppose is quite

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distinct about his role is simply just purely by the,

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his connections with working with police

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and understanding what justice need,

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but also having a very close relationship

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with the Crown counsel, who are the ones

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that bring the prosecutions in Scotland.

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He gets very used to working in the legal system

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and he's constantly in the police court, the sheriff courts

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and the higher courts that deal with crimes like murder

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and sexual assault and the very worst kind of offenses.

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So he is constantly sort of being exposed to this,

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which is something that say your average general

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practitioner might,

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might only have a case like this once in their career.

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Um, and also part of this is also that he develops a lot

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of skill in how to, how to handle cross-examination.

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Yeah. How to sort of deal with what is being required

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of him, as well as also appreciating, I suppose,

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the specific context in which a crime has occurred

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and what those practitioners are looking, rather

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what prosecutors and police are.

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Yeah, people are. So that's kind of one of the things

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that I think is quite sort of distinctive about this.

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But he also, through his sort of post proximity

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working in some ways in an advisory capacity,

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but then also giving testimony

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and literally reporting on cases,

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he builds these collaborations with lots

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of different groups, and that's something

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I'm quite interested in.

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So it's everything from, when he might have

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to do a post-mortem report

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and Scottish procedure established that in case

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of a sudden homicide death, you needed at least two doctors

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to sign off on a medical report.

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So that meant that he was always collaborating

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with another doctor in a case.

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And some of these doctors were very well known,

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very famous doctors.

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Um, in the book chapter I mentioned,

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Andrew Douglas McLagan, who becomes quite a well-known,

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Scottish toxicologist

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and is kind of very influential in a lot

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of famous cases like TR Eugene, Matt Marie Charell for,

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the poisoning of his wife.

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So he's also mixing with elite

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and influential practitioners that help build his career.

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So it's an interesting kind of nexus

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of relationship in that way.

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Um, as well as that he's also dealing

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with people that are inexperienced.

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And, one of the things I sort of talk about in the case

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of the, in, in the chapter is a collaboration,

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that he has between the Crown Council

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and also, the procurator fiscal in a case of a,

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a rape case in, 1882.

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And in that case, what occurs is there is a sexual assault

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on a female, down in the border, in a border town,

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and she's allegedly raped by her doctor.

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And there's debate within, within the,

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the investigative process over whether this is possible,

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whether she could be raped while undergoing a medical

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procedure, but also, you know,

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what evidence can we establish

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that will prove that this has happened?

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And Little John, you know, it's 1882 by this time,

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he is worked as a medical advisor for the Crown.

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And that in that capacity, he sort of helps

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to problem solve cases where they're challenging.

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So in this case, the local doctors give very sort

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of unsatisfactory medical reports on

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what they saw when they examined the rape complainant's

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body, and procurator fiscal, who is the legal, legal,

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who was the lawyer, who is assessing whether this case is

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good enough for prosecution

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and liaising with Crown Counsel who are also trying

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to make these assessments

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and try to build enough information to progress

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or either drop the case, you know, he's liaising

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with this procurator fiscal is saying, you know,

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we need more, we need more answers here.

11:57.775 --> 12:00.875
And so Littlejohn is literally brought in to

12:01.505 --> 12:02.715
read their initial reports

12:02.815 --> 12:05.755
and then sort of write questions to ask these local doctors

12:06.415 --> 12:09.795
so that then when they're recognized within Scottish context

12:09.895 --> 12:12.715
or interviewed again by Scottish authorities,

12:12.785 --> 12:14.275
they can answer the question.

12:15.015 --> 12:19.465
And in that way, that actually help build up the case

12:19.525 --> 12:22.465
and decide whether the case is something go to trial.

12:22.565 --> 12:24.825
And that essentially is something that's completely hidden,

12:25.095 --> 12:28.065
something you wouldn't see reading newspaper reports

12:28.525 --> 12:31.785
or, it doesn't come into the public domain.

12:31.785 --> 12:32.785
And that's one of those sort

12:32.785 --> 12:35.265
of interesting peculiarities about Scottish procedure

12:35.325 --> 12:37.505
as well, is that work that's going on

12:37.505 --> 12:39.585
behind the scene within private investigation.

12:40.285 --> 12:42.665
So that's something I, I really sort of try

12:42.665 --> 12:45.465
to bear out at these collaborations and these nuances and,

12:45.885 --> 12:49.385
and the, the extent to which, you know, medical practice

12:49.545 --> 12:53.395
and forensic medical practice is so embedded within

12:54.605 --> 12:55.915
other allied professions.

12:56.335 --> 12:59.435
So for example, you know, Littlejohn, you know,

12:59.435 --> 13:02.475
he keeps similar hours to police officers, you know, he has

13:02.475 --> 13:04.715
to be called out at all sorts of hours, you know,

13:04.715 --> 13:06.875
and he has to go, he has to attend, you know,

13:06.905 --> 13:08.355
violent, horrible things.

13:08.505 --> 13:11.475
He's gotta go to nefarious parts of, you know,

13:11.475 --> 13:13.635
the Edinburgh old town where there are all sorts

13:13.635 --> 13:15.875
of criminal, criminal doings going on.

13:16.055 --> 13:18.835
So it's quite sort of a dynamic and exciting life,

13:18.855 --> 13:22.965
but also it's, it's quite, it also brings him, you know,

13:23.105 --> 13:26.045
in into, into the orbit of a various levels

13:26.145 --> 13:29.045
and various spectrums of Edinburgh society, good, bad, or

13:29.045 --> 13:30.565
otherwise, which is really interesting.

13:30.675 --> 13:32.165
Well, I would say one of the things

13:32.165 --> 13:33.365
that really interested me

13:33.365 --> 13:35.485
or that I felt was sort of absent within a lot

13:35.485 --> 13:38.915
of the research was how forensic work was done.

13:39.335 --> 13:42.195
And in the sense of that it's not an atomized activity that,

13:42.495 --> 13:46.235
you know, to bring something from when a body is discovered

13:46.255 --> 13:49.395
or somebody makes a complaint about an assault all the way

13:49.415 --> 13:51.595
to a, a prosecution at trial

13:51.815 --> 13:54.235
and potentially sentencings quite a long process.

13:55.045 --> 13:57.505
And I was really interested in that idea of, well,

13:57.925 --> 13:59.785
what's going on in that process and,

13:59.805 --> 14:03.185
and how are people negotiating competing demands

14:03.185 --> 14:05.585
for different, different thing, you know?

14:06.045 --> 14:07.865
Um, and so obviously, you know,

14:07.865 --> 14:11.745
doctors also have very different ideas, often around,

14:12.245 --> 14:13.945
you know, what constitutes assault,

14:14.095 --> 14:16.505
what constitutes something, what evidence can we gain?

14:17.125 --> 14:18.745
And that's different from say what lawyers

14:18.965 --> 14:20.265
or, the legal profession.

14:21.205 --> 14:22.425
And so in a way,

14:22.495 --> 14:24.705
what I found was really interesting was his role

14:24.705 --> 14:26.305
as almost this sort of middle point

14:26.405 --> 14:29.545
or middle man between these competing demands with sort

14:29.545 --> 14:32.225
of balancing the need to be able to,

14:32.245 --> 14:34.545
instrumentalize medical knowledge and medical

14:35.005 --> 14:38.505
and bring that into the court in a way that was effective

14:38.505 --> 14:41.795
for prosecution, but also not going

14:41.795 --> 14:43.355
to be an embarrassment for medicine.

14:43.375 --> 14:45.955
And if anything, would actually add esteem

14:46.175 --> 14:47.675
to the growing utility

14:47.695 --> 14:50.395
of the medical profession within 19th century society.

14:51.105 --> 14:53.685
So it, it has a lot of sort of benefits in that way.

14:54.425 --> 14:56.525
And I think also, you know, networking, it's one

14:56.525 --> 14:57.845
of those things that's quite hard to sort

14:57.845 --> 14:59.445
of excavate as well in records.

15:00.225 --> 15:01.685
Um, purely just

15:01.685 --> 15:04.525
because of the fact that often when you get,

15:04.595 --> 15:05.605
newspaper accounts

15:05.605 --> 15:08.965
or you're reading through, trial proceedings,

15:09.185 --> 15:11.845
or you're getting interview, recognition reports,

15:12.275 --> 15:14.005
they're all sort of single narratives.

15:14.005 --> 15:16.645
So you get a sense just by the records themselves

15:16.675 --> 15:18.605
that these are atomized processes,

15:19.475 --> 15:22.535
but when you read through them, you actually see the nuggets

15:22.535 --> 15:25.055
that point to the fact of this person's doing this

15:25.055 --> 15:26.535
and this having this impact.

15:26.595 --> 15:27.815
And that's having that effect.

15:28.635 --> 15:31.535
And that's something that I think is quite interesting is

15:31.535 --> 15:34.015
sort of how, how things are, how,

15:34.035 --> 15:35.895
how the decision making process is going,

15:36.345 --> 15:37.615
who's making discretion,

15:37.705 --> 15:42.375
who's making choices discretionally on at certain point and,

15:42.435 --> 15:45.335
and why that's being made and how that's being made and,

15:46.035 --> 15:50.575
and how basically we can, you know, the various professions

15:50.715 --> 15:51.855
and also the community.

15:52.295 --> 15:54.535
'cause naturally they're the ones that are impacted by

15:55.115 --> 15:59.415
and brought into it how they also can be sort of interacted

15:59.595 --> 16:00.855
and involved within this process

16:01.035 --> 16:02.655
or sometimes, you know, sometimes

16:02.655 --> 16:04.975
as it may be excluded from this process as well.

16:05.075 --> 16:07.535
So that's something I, I find really fascinating is sort

16:07.535 --> 16:09.095
of digging into the workings.

16:09.295 --> 16:11.815
I think probably one of the, the key conclusions I think

16:11.815 --> 16:13.735
to come away, come away is, is a

16:13.755 --> 16:15.335
how much more work there is to do.

16:15.875 --> 16:18.455
Um, you know, I I think it's sort of, it's, it's one

16:18.455 --> 16:20.335
of those things that is quite hard to research as well

16:20.335 --> 16:23.135
because it's something that you get glimpses of

16:23.135 --> 16:24.855
through one case, but maybe not another.

16:25.155 --> 16:27.895
So you have to sort of go through quite a lot of material

16:27.995 --> 16:30.335
to get a sense of, you know, what is going on,

16:30.335 --> 16:31.735
what these relationships are.

16:31.875 --> 16:34.735
So it's, it's not, I don't think easy to research this kind

16:34.735 --> 16:36.775
of stuff, but at the same time, that's

16:36.775 --> 16:37.815
what makes it so fascinating.

16:38.035 --> 16:39.695
And when you find these wonderful nuggets,

16:39.695 --> 16:42.175
which I hope comes through in the, in the book chapter

16:42.835 --> 16:45.055
of these really fascinating collaborations

16:45.055 --> 16:48.815
between say the police and, you know, and, and Little John

16:48.815 --> 16:50.935
and there, you know, they're wondering has this woman

16:51.035 --> 16:52.335
for example, poisoned her son?

16:52.335 --> 16:53.375
And how can we prove that?

16:54.045 --> 16:55.575
That I find really fascinating

16:55.575 --> 16:57.175
and it's something that I think is something I,

16:57.235 --> 16:59.335
I'm really keen to develop and I'm, I'm looking

16:59.355 --> 17:02.975
to develop in my current research, I'm working on a book

17:02.975 --> 17:04.375
that's focused on Little John

17:04.375 --> 17:05.815
and looking at his forensic career.

17:06.515 --> 17:09.255
So I'm hoping as a result of that I'll get the chance

17:09.315 --> 17:11.735
to sort of excavate these relationships more

17:12.395 --> 17:14.735
and hopefully just maybe even find, find new things.

17:14.835 --> 17:16.495
You know, there are a lot of sort

17:16.495 --> 17:18.735
of unknowns within this as well and

17:19.355 --> 17:22.495
and certainly for example, I'd be interested to trace,

17:22.595 --> 17:25.055
how his relationship with the police force changes over

17:25.055 --> 17:27.575
time, for example, because that idea

17:27.575 --> 17:30.935
that these relationships don't ma remain static is something

17:30.935 --> 17:32.215
I'm really interested to look at.

17:33.085 --> 17:35.025
Um, but really I think, you know, sort

17:35.025 --> 17:37.385
of the key conclusions is that, you know,

17:37.385 --> 17:39.425
this forensic work in this period

17:39.965 --> 17:42.625
was certainly far from being specialized in a lot of ways,

17:42.725 --> 17:45.305
but so much of it was just built upon practice.

17:45.445 --> 17:47.705
So much of it. In order to understand

17:47.705 --> 17:48.745
that, I really feel you

17:48.745 --> 17:51.485
Have to, to, you have to go to the case records, you have

17:51.485 --> 17:53.845
to go to the criminal, the criminal case files

17:53.985 --> 17:55.885
and sort of see what it was like to do it.

17:55.885 --> 18:00.085
And the police surgeon is such a great, intellect

18:00.105 --> 18:02.085
or route in understanding that history

18:02.105 --> 18:04.205
and understanding various pressures to do it,

18:04.205 --> 18:05.965
which is why I really find it fascinating.

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