Psychiatric-Legal Analysis of Criminal Defendants Charged With Murder: A Sample Without Major Mental Disorder

• NCJ Number: 158071
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 40 Issue: 5 Dated: (September 1995) Pages: 858-861
• Author(s): G B Leong; J A Silva
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 4 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article presents a psychiatric-legal analysis of 31 criminal defendants accused of having committed murder and suffering from no diagnosable major mental disorder.

Abstract

The typical murder suspect included in the sample was a young, married, adult male; about half the sample was born in the U.S. More than 61 percent of the sample met criteria for a diagnosis of substance abuse; 48 percent had a prior criminal history and 32 percent had committed previous acts of physical violence. In 62.5 percent of the cases, the defendant knew his or her alleged victim. Guns were used in 50 percent of these crimes, and knives in another 28 percent. In 51 percent of the cases, the defendant had consumed alcohol or other drugs preceding or near the time of the alleged murder. 32 references