NCJ Number
157480
Journal
Journal of Forensic Psychiatry Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (September 1994) Pages: 232-236
Date Published
1994
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This paper argues against Fenwick's view, presented in the November 1993 British Journal of Psychiatry in an analysis of criminal intent, that recognition of a biological basis for schizophrenia would allow violent offenders with the disease to walk free from court.
Abstract
Fenwick also argued that recent advances in neuropsychiatry and, in particular, in neuroimaging, would render obsolete much of the criminal law in that descriptions of brain pathology would enable the courts to apportion blame in a more precise manner than has been possible before. However, analyzing mental states defenses on the basis of mens rea is of doubtful usefulness due to the variations in the term's meanings over the years and because not everyone agrees that psychiatric defenses operate by addressing mens rea at all. In addition, the existence of an observable brain condition would not eliminate the role of mens rea in court. Medical evidence will continue to be relevant, not to determine whether the defendant was responsible but to indicate whether the defendant suffered from a disorder that impaired the ability to choose. 18 references and list of 6 law reports