The defendant was 16 years old and was doing graffiti and was also charged with possession of tobacco. The defendant had been diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome.
The following articles may be of interest:
Mela, M., & Luther, G. (2013). Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: Can diminished responsibility diminish criminal behaviour? International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 36(1), 46-54. doi:10.1016/j.ijlp.2012.11.007
Case studies included in citing below.
Wartnik, A. P., & Carlson, S. S. (2011). A judicial perspective on Issues Impacting the trial courts related to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. The Journal of Psychiatry & Law, 39(1), 73-119. doi:10.1177/009318531103900104
Empirical quantitative study included in citing below.
Stinson, J. D. (2014). Characteristics of people with intellectual disabilities in a secure U.S. forensic hospital. Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 7(4), 337-337. doi:10.1080/19315864.2014.930549
I hope these are of value to your research!
The following articles may be of interest:
Mela, M., & Luther, G. (2013). Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: Can diminished responsibility diminish criminal behaviour? International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 36(1), 46-54. doi:10.1016/j.ijlp.2012.11.007
Case studies included in citing below.
Wartnik, A. P., & Carlson, S. S. (2011). A judicial perspective on Issues Impacting the trial courts related to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. The Journal of Psychiatry & Law, 39(1), 73-119. doi:10.1177/009318531103900104
Empirical quantitative study included in citing below.
Stinson, J. D. (2014). Characteristics of people with intellectual disabilities in a secure U.S. forensic hospital. Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 7(4), 337-337. doi:10.1080/19315864.2014.930549
I hope these are of value to your research!
Is the case in juvenile court or adult criminal court? FAS would certainly be of interest to a juvenile court that is seeking to determine the appropriate treatment for the individual, even though it would probably not be a defense to a misdemeanor in criminal court. It might be relevant, however, at sentencing, when some sort of treatment might be ordered as part of a probation order.
This would depend on the the Jurisdiction of the Court, the severity of the crime and the level of disability FAS has caused. There is no doubt that this may well be mitigated during the hearing and in sentencing as FAS can cause serious cognitive problems.
Unfortunately, minimal attention is given to individual mitigating factors in misdemeanor courts in the U.S. Most misdemeanor courts in large urban jurisdictions confront mass case processing dilemmas in the administration of justice. As a consequence, principles of individualized justice are rarely implemented, which contributes to varying forms of unequal impact on individuals with clear evidence of personally mitigating considerations. Some efforts are now made to divert special need or special status groups (veterans, mentally ill offenders) to specialized problem solving courts, but rarely are indigent individuals with mild cognitive impairments or fetal alcohol syndrome identified for diversion to these problem solving courts. There is a clear need for developing ways of reforming how misdemeanor courts in the U.S. assess needs and risks in these mass case processing contexts.
Forget research journals for this one, it all depends on state laws, what state is the defendant residing in/ alleged crime committed?
As for being found not guilty due to impairment, I would not bank on it. However the possibility to get into a community rehabilitation treatment program is there, as Michigan is making an effort to provide treatment as opposed to incarceration for people in her position.
This is an aspect of as much wider issue: "Is mental illness an explanation for some crimes, and, if so, should any allowance be made for it?" Professionals and some courts take this into account, but generally the public does not on principle accept the relevance of mental illness. For example, some US states execute schizophrenics who clearly would not have killed someone if they had not had schizophrenia, and the public and media hardly seem to notice, let alone care about this.
HI Dawn,
You might want to look at Raine and Yang (2006), Yang, Raine, Colletti, Toga, and Narr (2010), and Yang, Raine, Colletti, Toga, and Narr (2011). Although they looked at brain regions associated with functional and structural abnormalities that might account for psychopathic disorders (features necessary for moral reasoning such as self-referential thinking and emotion regulation), fetal alcohol syndrome could very easily be looked at as a brain abnormality. The authors found structural differences in cortical thickness, brain size, brain activities, and other abnormalities such as lesions. The functional differences were a reduction in blood flow and metabolism, activation deficits, and abnormal glucose metabolism. Overall, there were notable asymmetries for amygdala functioning as well as mild mental retardation. I mention this as there has been at least one case where this information was used in court as an attempt to introduce mitigating factors for a crime.
Lee
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