NCJ Number
189058
Journal
Forensic Examiner Volume: 10 Issue: 1/2 Dated: January/February 2001 Pages: 32-34
Date Published
2001
Length
3 pages
Annotation
After presenting a case study of the use and findings of electroencephalogram (EEG) testing with a 14-year-old boy accused of killing an 8-year-old, this article reviews the use and acceptability of EEG findings in legal contexts and offers recommendations regarding the usefulness of EEG findings as evidence of exculpatory mental states.
Abstract
In the case at issue, the initial EEG, which records the electrical activity of the brain, was conducted at the request of the defense psychiatrist in the evaluation process of the then accused murderer. The EEG showed episodic spikes to the right frontal area and bilateral frontal abnormality. A clinical consideration of possible seizure disorder was undertaken by the neurologist evaluating the EEG for the defense. Separate individual neurological examinations of the accused did not disclose any neurological disorder. An EEG done by the authors of this article also showed anomalous electrographic findings more on the right frontal area. A child psychiatrist who examined the patient for the State did not find any significant psychopathology. The trial jury found the 15-year-old guilty of murder in the first degree. A 1973 study of EEG's done on delinquent adolescents with special reference to childhood murder involved 186 male juvenile and non-epileptic delinquents in a juvenile classification center. Diencephalicictal abnormalities with neuroendocrine-vegetative nervous dysfunction was offered as a possible reason for their murderous acts. The researchers theorized that childhood murder could be a manifestation of the "fighting instinct" and a heightened aggressive drive based on the aforementioned EEG studies. Regarding the legal implications of EEG findings, the authors of this article conclude that if an accused has the ability to tell "right from wrong," understands the consequences of his acts, and has no significant ongoing neurological or major psychiatric disorder -- with the EEG being normal, borderline, or abnormal -- then the EEG alone is of no help in the determination of the cause of the murder. 2 figures and 30 references