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Neuropsychology & Law all articles task 1-6 summary
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Task 1Literature:
· De Kogel, C.H. & Westgeest, E.J.M.C. (2015). Neuroscientific and behavioral genetic
information in criminal cases in the Netherlands. Journal of Law and Biosciences, 2, 580- 605.
· Glenn, A.L. & Raine, A. (2014). Neurocriminology: Implications for the punishment, prediction
and prevention of criminal behaviour. Nature Reviews: Neuroscience, 15, 54-63.
· Ling, S., Umbach, R. & Raine, A. (2019). Biological explanations of criminal behavior.
Psychology, Crime, and Law, 6, 626-640.
Murder = when someone had a plan to kill someone beforehand and does it afterwards
Manslaughter/manslaughter = someone is intentionally murdered, but this is not planned in advance
Guilty death = when someone else dies because of your act or omission
Article De Kogel, CH & Westgeest , EJMC (2015).
Neuroscientific and behavioral genetic information in
criminal cases in the Netherlands. Journal of Law and
Biosciences , 2, 580-605.
* Describes criminal cases and investigates for which legal questions neuroscientific information is
sought and whether it is used in a mitigating / moderating or aggravating (aggravating) / irritating
( exasperating ) way.
- prefrontal brain damage
- Neurocognitive deficits in addiction
Case: Mother kills her 4 children during/after birth
- Found cerebral organic damage in the sense of a frontal syndrome personality disorder
o This would have influenced her decisions making experts believe in reduced
liability
SEARCHING AND SELECTING CRIMINAL CASES IN WHICH NEUROSCIENTIFIC OR
BEHAVIORAL GENETIC INFORMATION IS INTRODUCED
Cases that introduced neuroscientific of genetic information.
- Info should relate to:
1. Behavior (aggression, violence, addiction)
2. Brain function (memory, perception, cognition, self-control)
3. Mental state (consciousness, automatism, psychosis)
- Neuroscientific information= info from
1. Brain assessment using imaging techniques or EEG, neuroendocrinological
assessment (hormones or neuropeptides)
2. Neuropsychological Assessment
3. Neurobiological predisposition/damage to brain
- Behavioral genetic information= info from;
1. Heredity assessment (specific genes)
2. Genetic predisposition/family history indicating a biological origin of a type of
behavior.
,LEGAL QUESTIONS AND CASE EXAMPLES
Legal questions involving neuroscientific or behavioral genetic information is introduced :
a. Evidence for committing the offense (7)
b. Able to stand trial (4)
c. Setup (20)
d. Guilt/negligence (culpa) (14)
e. Premeditated advice (2)
f. Accountability/Responsibility (72)
g. Psychological force majeure (4)
h. Excessive self-defense (4)
i. Risk of recidivism (recurrence) (15)
Neuroscientific information /evidence used in;
- The question of whether the suspect can be seen as reduced liability (usually offenders with
mental disorders or defective development)
- Answers to the question to what extent the offender is a risk to society
- Answering whether the suspect committed the wrongful act with intent or was due to
guilt/negligence
- Whether there is sufficient evidence to show beyond reasonable doubt that the accused
committed the offence
- The question of whether the accused was authorized to stand trial
- Whether the accused was subject to coercion or excessive self-defense
- Whether the suspect committed the crime with premeditation
A: Evidence for committing the offense
- Victim may have brain damage, causing false evidence
Woman says she remembers being pushed down stairs after 3 years
Experts say retrograde amnesia (memory just before accident) cannot be
fully recovered
B: Able to stand trial
- Previous cerebral hemorrhage and infarction were considered to interfere with the suspect's
ability to understand the prosecution against him
C+D: intent or fault
- To see if the suspect was aware of committing the crime
o Fold killed someone during sleepwalking / dissociative state experts say this is
possible ( psycho-physiological sleep assessment) so not intentional
o Man drives on sidewalk and hits several pedestrians says he had a blackout
Expert finds a perfusion defect in the brain that was already there during the
accident , causing him to lose consciousness
Culpa in causa pricipe = used to indicate that someone has ended up in a
situation through his/her own fault that results in a wrongful act because of
his/her own fault and is therefore also responsible for it if loss or loss of
consciousness during the incident appears to have been probable, the
question is whether the suspect knew that there was a risk that he could
have a blackout, then there is indeed a question of guilt
F: responsibility
- Most of these cases use the neuroscientific or behavioral genetic info as mitigating info
- In legal they see the addict as a choice and in medicine they don't
- Consequences of prefrontal brain damage on the suspect's behavioral choices
o Man committed fornication with his 9-year-old girl next door Neurologist finds
incipient front-subcortical dementia in relation to Parkinson's Behavioral choices
, of suspect were undoubtedly influenced by organic brain dysfunction (such as
impulsivity and no self-reflection) Other expert says dementia is in early phase and
the suspect's behavior does not yet show complete disinhibition She says there is
a risk of recidivism by the suspect
o Man stabs woman expert says who suffers from mild frontal syndrome (damage
to frontal brain) has no impulse control and cannot stop his behavior once it has
started.
I: risk of recidivism
- Neurobiological deficiencies may also contribute to recidivism risk
o Stalker gets 3 months in jail had personality change due to brain damage expert
says suspiciously emotionally unstable and dependent severe intellectual disability
and impulse ability is limited recurrence (recurrence) risk is high
- Brain injury and cognitive impairment are immutable and the source of recidivism risk , yet
behavioral experts and the courts see opportunities for improvement that can lead to a
reduction in the risk of recidivism
Addiction and Responsibility
- Culpa in causa pricipe = used to indicate that someone has ended up in a situation through
his/her own fault that results in a wrongful act because of his/her own fault and is therefore
also responsible for it
criminal law sees addiction as a choice medical sector sees it as a (brain) disease
o Chronic use causes permanent changes in brain function that affect the person's
control over drug use ( brain dissease model);
Only a small proportion develop an addiction, a proportion that does
become addicted more quickly can be identified on the basis of genetic risk
factors
Neuroimaging studies reveal structural changes in reward circuitry and in
brain circuits involved in cognitive control
according to brain disease model , these brain changes explain
maladaptive cognitive processes in addict (e.g., increased attention to drug
addict, impaired ability to control strong emotions, inhibition of intentional
actions, difficulty making adaptive decisions
o Someone who committed murder during amphetamine psychosis the suspect long
ago free to choose to use amphetamine but a long-standing addiction has
irreversible effects on the brain that limit the freedom to determine whether they
use substances
Neuroimaging and neuropsychological testing can be objective measures for
identifying addicts who have severe problems with hyper-responsiveness to
substance-related stimuli, self-control and decision making and thus reduced
responsibility
H: Coercion or excessive self-defense
- Suspect who is extra vulnerable to coercion due to head trauma or brain damage
o Case: Suspect charged with assault say excessive self-defense from concussion (by
victim) and got into a strong emotional mental state consequence of this is hitting
victim back
o Case: Suspect with brain- damaged homicide lawyer says he used excessive self-
defense due to physical and mental frailty and weakened impulse control in
combination with the threatening situation
- In summary: Defendant's neurocognitive impairments were used as mitigating information
This was unsuccessful in court because the allegation that the suspect was extra
vulnerable was not further substantiated by mental capacity testing or other evidence
, They say that neurobiological assessments (eg MRI) are sensitive to :
- Pathology bias is the tendency of clinicians to see abnormalities because it is suggested by
the context
- Allegiance bias = the assessments are biased in a certain direction depending on the party
that hired the expert
- Malingering = the falsification of test results by the defendant
Solve by;
- Blinding the experts to context variables (e.g. about the background of the suspect)
- Testing symptom validity (to test malingering )
Behavior genetic information
- Usually in hereditary factors of mental disorders (schizophrenia/psychosis, autism spectrum
disorders, personality disorder)
o Case: suspect has hereditary neurological disorder; Huntington sets his girlfriend's
house on fire He finds it difficult to deal with daily life and problem situations, he
reacts with impulsive aggression High risk of recidivism so goes to a psychiatric
hospital
- Genetic factors contribute 40-60% to the risk of developing addiction
o Case: man commits aggravated assault and threatens to kill his father, say genetic
factor (developing alcohol dependence) passed down by his father played a role
psychiator says no and that it is mainly due to alcohol dependence judge says
there is a chance it was not of free will due to genetic component
- Influence of MAOA ( warrior gene) gene on aggression
o Case: man with schizophrenia stabbed a man to death did not take medication and
was psychotic received less punishment because he tested positive for genetic
variant that made him susceptible to aggression under stressful circumstances
o Morse is against this; states that someone should not be judged on the basis of risk
factors for developing certain behavior, but on the basis of mental capacity at the
time of the offense
Pedophilia is genetic or congenital offender cannot be held responsible for
his pedophilic orientation, but can be held responsible for his pedophilic
actions (experts also showed that impulse control was normal with him)
NL courtroom is not that interested in MAOA gen
CONCLUSION
- Behavioral genetics information is rare especially neuroscientific information is used
- In most cases, the neuroscientific information is used as mitigating information during
sentencing but can also serve as a double-edged knife;
o On the one hand, mitigating info works as a reduction of responsibility (reduction of
punishment) on the other hand, the info can contribute to how much the suspect
is seen as a risk to society (e.g. if neurobiological damage cannot be treated TBS)
Huntington case follows this line of reasoning
Stalker's case not – think reoffending risk can be reduced despite untreatable
neurobiological limitations
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