Court Reports Research Articles

Sexual Murderers With Adult or Child Victims: Are They Different?

This study investigates characteristics differentiating sexually motivated murderers targeting child victims (CV; n = 35) from those with only adult victims (AV; n = 100). In the initial phase, psychiatric court reports were evaluated using standardized instruments (SCID-II, PCL-R, HCR-20, SVR-20, Static-99). In the second phase, data on duration of detention and reconviction rates were obtained from German federal criminal records. The CV group showed more often diagnostic criteria of pedophilia (43% vs. 4%) and less often alcohol abuse and drug dependency (31% vs. 55%), sexual dysfunctions (9% vs. 29%) and narcissistic personality disorder (0% vs. 13%). No significant differences were found regarding PCL-R and total risk assessment scores. Child victim perpetrators were more likely to have committed acts of sexual child abuse before the sexual homicide (46% vs. 16%) but were less likely to have committed rape or sexual assault (17% vs. 42%) or caused bodily injury (26% vs. 50%). The CV group was detained more frequently in forensic psychiatric hospitals (59% vs. 26%), but the two groups showed the same rates of release and reconviction for sexual (22% for both groups), nonsexual violent (CV 25% vs. AV 15%) and nonviolent offenses (CV 63% vs. AV 59%). Although well-known differences between nonhomicidal sexual child abusers and rapists were replicated in this study on sexual homicide perpetrators, the groups showed more similarities than differences. The high prevalence of violence and antisocial personality disorder in both groups seem to be important risk factors for committing a (sexual) homicide and might have outweighed other differences.

Child health: general practitioners (GPs) and the care of children and young people.

Child health: general practitioners (GPs) and the care of children and young people.

A Database of Persons Convicted of Felonies in Washtenaw County, Michigan, 1990-2007

This study is a database of information from Washtenaw County, Michigan, court records of approximately one-fourth of its convicted felons from 1990 to 2007. It includes 3,123 sentencing appearances for 3,992 crimes committed by 2,495 defendants. It includes 1126 probation violation resentencings for a total of 5,118 sentences. It contains demographics of defendants and the dynamics of their crimes and the sentencing process. Several official court reports in each case were examined. Preliminary descriptive and frequency analyses are reported to describe the database in detail and lay the groundwork for future sophisticated regression and other analyzes. Special attention is given to issues of racial and gender disparities. Suggestions for future research based on this data are included. To the extent that this research and these analyzes add to our knowledge of offenders, offenses, and sentencing, they may contribute to more knowledgeable criminal justice policy decisions.

Application of a Firearm Seizure Law Aimed at Dangerous Persons: Outcomes From the First Two Years

Application of a Firearm Seizure Law Aimed at Dangerous Persons: Outcomes From the First Two Years

The Impact of Epidemic Outbreak

Previous studies revealed that there was a significant increase in suicide deaths among those aged 65 and over in 2003. The peak coincided with the majority of SARS cases being reported in April 2003. In this paper we examine the mechanism of how the SARS outbreak resulted in a higher completed suicide rate especially among older adults in Hong Kong. We used Qualitative data analysis to uncover the association between the occurrence of SARS and older adult suicide. Furthermore, we used a qualitative study based on the Coroner Court reports to provide empirical evidence about the relationship between SARS and the excessive number of suicide deaths among the elderly. SARS-related older adult suicide victims were more likely to be afraid of contracting the disease and had fears of disconnection. The suicide motives among SARS-related suicide deaths were more closely associated with stress over fears of being a burden to their families during the negative impact of the epidemic. Social disengagement, mental stress, and anxiety at the time of the SARS epidemic among a certain group of older adults resulted in an exceptionally high rate of suicide deaths. We recommend that the mental and psychological well-being of the community, in particular older adults, be taken into careful account when developing epidemic control measures to combat the future outbreak of diseases in the community. In addition, it is important to alert family members to vulnerable individuals who are at potential risk because of their illnesses or anxieties.

Characteristics of mentally ill offenders from 100 psychiatric court reports.

BackgroundThere is an increasing probability that the psychiatrist will, willingly or not, come into contact with mentally ill offenders in the course of their practice. There are increasing rates of violence, substance abuse and other psychiatric disorders that are of legal importance. Therefore, the aim of this work was to investigate the rates of different mental disorders in 100 court reports and to investigate the characteristics of mentally ill offenders.MethodsAll cases referred from different departments of the legal system to the forensic committee for assessment of legal accountability over 13-months duration were included. A specially designed form was prepared for data collection. Cases were classified into five groups: murder, robbery, financial offences, violent and simple offences and a group for other offences. Data were subjected to statistical analysis and comparisons between different groups of subjects were performed by analysis of variance (ANOVA).ResultsMen constituted 93% of cases. In all, 73% of offenders were younger than 40 years old. Schizophrenia cases made up 13% of the total, substance related cases constituted 56% and amphetamine cases alone made up 21%; 10% of cases were antisocial personality disorders, and 51% of cases were classified as having a low education level. Unemployment was found in 34% of cases. The final decision of the forensic committee was full responsibility in 46% of cases and partial responsibility in 11% of cases, with 33% considered non-responsible. A total of 58% of cases had had contact with psychiatric healthcare prior to the offence and in 9% of cases contact had been in the previous 12 weeks. A history of similar offences was found in 32% of cases. In all, 14% of the offences were murders, 8% were sexual crimes, and 31% were violent/simple crimes.ConclusionsThe ability of the legal system to detect cases was good, while the ability of the healthcare system to predict crimes and offences was weak, as 58% of cases had had previous contact with the healthcare system previously. Substance abuse, especially amphetamine abuse, played an important role.

Quantifying the accuracy of forensic examiners in the absence of a “gold standard”.

This study asked whether latent class modeling methods and multiple ratings of the same cases might permit quantification of the accuracy of forensic assessments. Five evaluators examined 156 redacted court reports concerning criminal defendants who had undergone hospitalization for evaluation or restoration of their adjudicative competence. Evaluators rated each defendant's Dusky-defined competence to stand trial on a five-point scale as well as each defendant's understanding of, appreciation of, and reasoning about criminal proceedings. Having multiple ratings per defendant made it possible to estimate accuracy parameters using maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches, despite the absence of any "gold standard" for the defendants' true competence status. Evaluators appeared to be very accurate, though this finding should be viewed with caution.

YSW01-02 - Forensic telepsychiatry in UK

Having developed the first Forensic Tele-psychiatry Service in UK in 2005 the presenter would like to share this experience with the attendees of the symposia. Recommendations under Part III of the Mental Health Act 1983 have also been made. They have been accepted by both the Magistrates’ as well as Crown Courts. Assessments were primarily undertaken using the already existent video-link facilities within local Magistrates’/Crown courts and HM Prisons. The above experience supports the view that this saves time, cost and improves access to psychiatric services.The presenter has also developed a Forensic Telepsychiatry Steering Group, with a research sub-committee, based in Nottingham. They are coordinating several research projects, exploring the use of teleconferencing facilities within forensic psychiatry. The session will discuss how the above is relevant to Forensic Psychiatrists and also address its importance to the training of forensic psychiatrists.Tele-psychiatry has been used by other services in UK in Forensic settings albeit in a narrow remit not involving actual gate keeping assessments, preparation of Court Reports etc. The session will discuss how it is crucial for services across the UK and beyond to share experiences and promote innovative practices. It will aim to explore ways to succeed with regard to delivering timely, easily accessible and clinically sound psychiatric services, with the additional spotlight on cost-efficiency, saving valuable professional time and ‘going green’ with respect to health service delivery.

Fieldnotes: a forensic

This poetic investigation probes the linguistic and epistemological effects of the increasingly widespread circulation of forensic discourses in the media and popular culture. Further consideration is given to the disproportionate availability of forensic expertise and technologies when the bodies under investigation are White and located in industrialized nations. A brief preface, “Notes on an Investigation,” situates this project in relationship to the tradition of investigative poetics. The selection of poems that follow features four scenes of forensic investigation explored from various standpoints, including the standpoints of the ethnographer, forensic anthropologist, victim, and perpetrator of violence. The poems reflect their disarticulated content, incorporating fragments of texts collected and reassembled from anthropology textbooks, newspaper articles, court reports, crime novels, and CSI scripts.

Do we know the legal framework in child and adolescent mental health services? Survey of specialist registrars

Aims and MethodThis survey was conducted as part of the baseline assessment of trainees' needs concerning the legal aspects of child care and to evaluate the implications for the regional academic programme. A group of specialist registrars in child and adolescent psychiatry in the North Western Deanery completed a questionnaire-based survey.ResultsNone of the specialist registrars had experience in forensic child and adolescent psychiatry. With regard to the legislation: 13 (100%) mentioned the Mental Health Act 1983; 12 (92.3%) the Children Act 1989; 7 (53.8%) the Human Rights Act 1998. of those surveyed, 13 (100%) were aware of parental responsibility; 10 (76.9%) identified the Children Act as being less stigmatising as compared to the Mental Health Act. Five (38.4%) had written court reports, and eight (61.5%) felt fairly confident after the 1-day training course. Overall interest in becoming an expert witness was 69.2% (n=9).Clinical ImplicationsDeficits in knowledge about the legal framework, limited experience in forensic placements and lack of interest in becoming an expert witness need to be further explored.

Street‐Level Bureaucracy, Interprofessional Relations, and Coping Mechanisms: A Study of Criminal Justice Social Workers in the Sentencing Process

This article builds on the work of Michael Lipsky and develops an argument about the significance of interprofessional working for street‐level bureaucracy. It presents an ethnographic analysis of criminal justice social workers writing presentence reports for the Scottish courts. Social workers' report writing for judges brought into relief issues of relative professional status. Social workers were uncertain of their place within the legal domain and concerned about their credibility as criminal justice professionals. Reports were written, in part at least, as a way of seeking esteem and credibility in the eyes of judges—a motivation that undermined the policy objectives of social enquiry in sentencing. Applying the conceptual tools of Bourdieu to our findings, we argue that street‐level bureaucrats who have to work across bureaucratic “fields” may find, or fear, that the cultural and symbolic “capital” they retained within their own field is undervalued in the symbolic economy of new fields, putting them in a position of relative inferiority. This issue of relative professional status, and how officials respond to it, is significant for our understanding of street‐level bureaucracy.

Homicide et schizophrénie : à propos de 14 cas de schizophrénie issus d’une série de 210 dossiers d’expertises psychiatriques pénales pour homicide

A few murders, which received saturated media coverage, obviously raises questions about the dangerous and violent nature of the mentally-ill, which can sometimes culminate in homicide. Firmly rooted in the collective consciousness is the popular idea that someone who kills an unknown person in the street is mentally-ill. On the contrary, the epidemiological data are reassuring; only 5% of such murders are committed by the persons suffered of schizophrenia. Aim To establish the social, clinical and forensic differences between murderers suffering of schizophrenia disorder and murderers who are immune of psychiatric disorder, and especially to compare their respective records of psychiatrics disorder and their respective relationship with their victims. Method We studied the cases of 210 murderers, the offences related to the murders, and the social and clinical information collected from psychiatric court reports on persons convicted of homicide. Firstly, we identified the sociodemographic, clinical and criminological profiles of a group of 210 murderers from which were distinguished the schizophrenia murderers. Then, we compared the profiles of murderers suffering from schizophrenia ( n = 14), with 73 persons without any mental disorder. Results The profile of schizophrenic murderers of our series is characterized by a specific socioprofessional status (single, without child and jobless) and by more frequent records of psychiatrist troubles (this characteristic is always found with criminals that are schizophrenics) and violence against human beings than murderers’ immune of mental disorder. With the exception of these variables and of the clinic of schizophrenia, there is no noticeable difference of sociodemographic profile between schizophrenic murderers and murderers without psychiatric troubles. In addition to the similarities, between the two groups of murderers, in the temporal, location and operating characteristics of the commitment of the homicide (in the evening, at the house of the victim, with three classical means (firearms, knife and knocks), having drunk alcohol), schizophrenic murderers generally commit, alone, a non-premeditated murder. They often strangle their victim in a sudden attack, whereas murderers without a known pathology often premeditate their crime. Therefore, it is possible to talk about a state of emotional violence. In 86% of cases, a delirious psychopathology was at the root of the homicide act of the schizophrenic person. Four criminological themes predominate: persecution, syndrome of influence, mysticism and megalomania. Among the victims of schizophrenic murderers, closest persons to and acquaintance of the murderers are over-represented; in 25% of cases the murder takes place within the family. Finally, penal irresponsibility or mitigation of penal responsibility of the schizophrenic murderer was generally recognized. Conclusion Differences between murderers affected with and unaffected with schizophrenia lie on the psychopathology of the morbid process which underlies the homicide of the mentally-ill person.

Challenges at the interface of working between mental health services and the criminal justice system

Provision of mental health reports for defendants in contact with the criminal justice system is problematic. This paper explores factors that facilitate the flow of information on a defendant between the courts and the mental health services. It identifies key challenges to this information transfer from a court worker's perspective. It also explores potential mismatches in the expectations held by the criminal justice system and the mental health services of the timeframes in which reports should be delivered and examines the perceived usefulness of reports. In Part 1, questionnaires were distributed to a population of 2107 court workers. In Part 2, monitoring forms were completed by court and health professionals on each report request made over a seven month period. Three key challenges to information transfer were identified: delays in report production, perceived inadequacies in the report content and report funding. Perceived timelines within which respondents believed reports should be delivered varied and there is a mismatch between the expectations of the two services. Perceptions on the usefulness of court reports also varied. Poor inter-agency communications are caused by lack of a clear, shared protocol outlining agreed timelines, report content and lines of responsibility relating to resource provision. Clear service level agreements are required between services to achieve clarity.

Juvenile Justice in Austria and the United States: Similarities and Differences

This article compares juvenile justice practices in Austria and the United States. The sources of information include statistics provided by public agencies, interviews, analyses of legislation and data from juvenile court reports. The legal structures of the juvenile justice systems of the two countries are compared and the effects of the adoption of community policing on the manner in which the police respond to youth deviance are considered, particularly in regard to the diversion of youths from official processing through the juvenile justice system by the police or the courts. The article describes the evolution of the juvenile justice systems in Austria and the United States, the changes in the forms of juvenile justice procedures in recent years mandated by legislation, and the expected consequences of these changes for both countries.

Psychiatric recommendations to the court as regards homicide perpetrators

Background: Psychiatric reports can be prepared in homicide cases, pretrial, to determine the mental state of the offender at the time of the offence and to make recommendations to the court. Objective: To explore the recommendations and agreement between authors in the psychiatric court reports of homicide offenders and to establish the affect these have on court outcome. Method: Analysis of a five-year (1996–2001) consecutive national sample of homicide perpetrators in England and Wales. Results: The agreement between prosecution and defence report writers regarding diagnosis was moderate (56%, κ = .49), but rose to very good levels between authors for the same party (prosecution: 89%, κ = .87; defence: 95%, κ = .94). Report writers for the defence were more likely to diagnose a mental illness at the time of the offence (127 cases, 50% v. 136 cases, 28%) and to state that the perpetrator had an ‘impairment of responsibility’ (36 cases, 28% v. 23 cases, 17%). Conclusions: There is at best a moderate agreement between psychiatric report writers regarding diagnosis, abnormality of mind, and impairment of responsibility. A focus on symptoms would result in improved agreement between report authors which, in turn, would assist court in reaching verdicts.

Restricted patient appeal against initial mental health disposal

This paper describes the recent decision of the Scottish Court of Criminal Appeal in the case of a restricted patient convicted of homicide by reason of diminished responsibility in 1967. Mr Reid had initially been detained under a hospital order with restrictions under the legal category of mental deficiency. The appellant was contesting this initial mental health disposal as it had since become clear he did not have a learning disability and was subsequently detained by virtue of a personality disorder diagnosis. It was put to the Court of Appeal that the original disposal was not informed by proper expert opinion, as evidenced by the court reports, and that a criminal justice disposal should be substituted. Reid believed he was more likely to be eventually released into the community from an indeterminate prison sentence than from a restricted hospital order. The court rejected the appeal, finding that the court reports presented at the time of disposal may not have reflected the full assessment of the experts who may also have given further explanation of their views in oral evidence.

Psychiatrische Begutachtung bei zivilrechtlichen Fragestellungen

Psychiatric reports in German civil law cases are required if questions are raised of legal capacity, capacity to express a testamentary will, ability to sue or be sued, capacity to marry, ability of mentally disordered patients to consent to treatment, and when custody or hospital orders of these patients is considered or compensation is due for mental disorders resulting from accidents. Many reports must decide whether the ability to decide using sound reason or motives is or was impaired by a mental disorder. This capability is attributed to every adult person; only if incapability is claimed must it be proven by psychiatric assessment. As in most psychiatric court reports, such assessments must be structured in several steps. First a clinical diagnosis has to be established which must then be translated into legal terminology. After this has been accomplished, the psychiatrist must describe the functional impairments caused by the disorder and define the probability with which these impairments might affect the legal act in question. Most reports are prepared in the context of custody law, which centers on helping those patients who, due to a mental disorder, cannot manage their own legal matters.

Who are sexual offenders? A survey of pre-trial psychiatric reports

Sexual offending is a serious and growing problem in our society. The aim of the study was to investigate the main characteristics of people charged with sexual offences who presented before the criminal courts. The survey was conducted retrospectively between August 2001 and August 2006 on pre-trial court reports stored in a computer database shared by forensic psychiatrists using The Grange consulting rooms in West Yorkshire. A data collection form was used to gather the characteristics of sexual offenders. The data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics. Our survey revealed the following results. Out of 78 cases evaluated, the commonest sexual offence was against children (68.8%). Thirty-two per cent of those with paedophilic behaviour had a history of childhood sexual abuse. Rape was alleged as the main sexual offence in 27.27% cases. Substance abuse (30.76%) and sexual motivation (42.30%) were the predominant motives for offending behaviour. Low rates of sexual fantasy and sadistic behaviour (8.97%) in our sample could be due to the non-disclosure by sexual offenders. Mental disorder was observed in 7.69% cases. Significant personality factors were observed in 14.10% of the sample. A sexual offending treatment programme was recommended in 57.69% cases. A very high risk of re-offending was recorded in 32.25% cases. Of the total sample, 93.50% were deemed fit to plead.

50 Years Ago in CORR: The Expert Medical Witness Patrick C. Doran MD CORR 1956;8:254–258

Medicolegal issues have long been important to society and the medical and legal professions, as suggested by this month’s Classic, “Report of the Committee on Suits for Malpractice” [6] by Eugene F. Sanger and an earlier report by the same author [5]. (Google Scholar lists 92 entries antedating 1800.) We highlight this month an article, “The Expert Medical Witness” by Dr. Patrick Doran published in 1956 [3]. A few years later, in 1964 under the guest editorship of Drs. Earl McBride and William Deyerle, CORR published its first of several symposia on medicolegal issues (readers may refer to Volumes 32, 406, and 433) as is this month’s symposium. A key part of medicolegal proceedings is the expert witness. Sanger [6] expressed concerns about expert witnesses over 100 years ago, including those who were inadequately trained, those who provide testimony only to support an otherwise unjustified suit just for pay, and those who would disappear after testimony so they could not again be contacted. Doran noted three types of witnesses in the State of Ohio [3]: (1) a witness of fact, (2) a professional medical witness, and (3) a medical expert witness. A doctor can, of course, be asked (or subpoenaed) to serve as a witness of fact as can any other citizen: doctors observe many events that can be subject to subsequent litigation or criminal proceedings. A professional medical witness could be called to describe the facts of a case, including a description of care, disability, expenses, etc., but need not be an expert. An expert medical witness, on the other hand, had added qualifications and experience to address matters of compensation or (I suspect) testimony of standard of care. Doran [3] conducted a small and informal survey of “judges, industrial commission referees, adjusters, trial lawyers (both reputed plaintiff and defending types), court reporters and jurors.” He asked four questions: Question 1. Do doctors (orthopaedists) impress you as wholly honest and sincere in their court testimony and in the medicolegal relations? Question 2. What is your reaction when diametrically opposed testimony is offered by opposing experts (plaintiff’s expert versus defendant’s expert)? Question 3. What qualities and/or characteristics of the experts are most effective? Question 4. Could you suggest any improvements? Based on the answers, Doran concluded the response to medical witnesses was generally favorable. However, the industrial commission referees were “…the least impressed by the doctor’s integrity. At times, the fantastic connections made by testimony regarding the aggravating factors and the causes of some well-known disease of spontaneous onset probably were responsible for their derogatory attitude” [3]. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons introduced in 2004 an Expert Witness Program [1] designed to maintain “the high ethical standards contained in the AAOS Code of Medical Ethics and Professionalism and the Advisory Statement on Orthopaedic Medical Testimony.” Clearly, ethical standards have evolved since the time of Sanger [5] and Doran [3]. Interested readers should review current standards of the AAOS in the Expert Witness program and associated documents [2, 4].

Assessing fitness to plead in Scotland's learning disabled

The authors reviewed 139 pre-trial psychiatric court reports from learning disability services within Scotland to consider the appropriate application of case law in determining fitness to plead. Of the reports in the sample, 40% correctly applied the test. Fitness to plead was not discussed at all in 9.3%. Almost 8% of the sample were assessed as unfit to plead, with all of this sub-group having had both criteria considered to determine their fitness to plead. This sub-group all had a mild or moderate learning disability with only one dual diagnosis. This would seem to indicate that evidence of a learning disability is in itself sufficient to require consideration of the accused's fitness to plead as directed by Scottish case law.