On October 1, 2003, Dawna Cantrell was arrested and charged with the murder of her husband and two counts of tampering with evidence. Ms. Cantrell’s competency was questioned after evaluation by the defense expert, Dr. Eric Westfried. After subsequent evaluation by the state’s expert, Dr. Edward Siegel, both experts found that Ms. Cantrell had a “persecutory delusional disorder” and that her mental illness precluded her from assisting her attorney in her defense. The trial court found her incompetent to stand trial and ordered a dangerousness evaluation.
The defendant wife’s friend, Menarco stated that Linda had an argument earlier in the day with her husband, Elward Roe Wanoskia. Linda later on headed home and argued with Wanoskia and after all that, Linda was shot. The defendant testified that his wife shot herself after the argument. At trial, the government sought to show by expert testimony and a demonstration that the defendant’s wife didn’t shoot herself. The demonstration was all based in the length of an individual’s arm to see how far away your arm can be to shoot yourself in the head.
Casey had been found not guilty of murdering her two year old daughter. She was convicted guilty of false information to law enforcement. (Lohr David, paragraph
Therefore the defendant was capable to premeditated and intentionally followed through with killing the victim’s. The defendant was evaluated by Dr. Roland Levy the day of the shooting once he turned himself in. Dr. Levy had analyzed the defendant’s psychiatrist’s opinions and concluded the defendant had no mental
In regards to the Kip Kinkel case, Quindlen criticizes the judge who scolded Kinkel in court. She explains that the judge was extremely ignorant in the subject of mental health when he told Kinkel, “you know the difference between what’s right and wrong, don’t you,” (5). Quindlen believes that these mentally ill children who commit atrocities don’t need to be prosecuted, instead, they need help with their state of mind. In this quote Quindlen hopes to guilt ignorance regarding mental health issues, and that it’s not all about knowing what’s “right and wrong”. Additionally, she often cites general scenarios throughout her article, like when she writes, “And there’s still plenty of that useless adult ‘what in the world does a 16-year-old have to be depressed about’ mindset to keep depressed 16-year-olds from getting help,” (3).
The case of R. v. Schoenborn is a troubling case involving the death of three children and the defence of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. This defence must be critically analyzed along with the evidence and expert opinions as it could absolve the accused of the charges. As well, the precedent that the verdict provides is critical to the legal system and its future implication and thus give the decision more importance. After a thorough examination of the facts, it is evident that the verdict of the Supreme Court of British Columbia is correct and reflects the administration’s objectives and beliefs. This will be demonstrated through the application of legal principles and elements.
This week’s topic was very interesting to learn about how important eyewitnesses can be when a crime and accidents do occur. In the case that was presented in the 60-minute segment of Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson is exactly how legal system can fail us when it comes to the eyewitnesses’ identification testimony and how a person’s perception and memory can be altered. The aspect of psychology and law research from this week’s course material is most relevant to the topic of perception and memory. The memory has different stages the first is encoding the process of entering perception into memory.
The legal guideline aims to remind psychologists about their primary obligations as well as rational “precautions to respect the confidentiality rights of those with whom they work or consult, recognizing that confidentiality may be established by law, institutional rules, or professional or scientific relationships.” Maintaining privacy and confidentiality of the defendant facilitate their openness assisting them to recall and relate “pertinent facts and events, including his motives and actions at the time of the offense, and be able to testify in his behalf and to challenge prosecution witnesses.”
In the documentary Making a Murder, Brendan Dassey, nephew of Stephen Avery, gave a testimony that implicated himself and Avery in the murder of Teresa Halback (Demos, Ricciardi, 2015). Among one of the many issues presented within the documentary was the treatment that Dassey received. Dassey had an IQ of 70 and was taking special education classes (Demos, Ricciardi, 2015). Dassey’s IQ was lower than average but almost on the edge of intellectual disability (Dassey v Dittman, 2016, p.5). After giving the confession, he asked if he would be able to get back to class by a certain time to turn in a project (Demos, Ricciardi, 2015).
In Roper v. Simmons there are two issues that must be addressed, the first being the issue of moral maturity and culpability. The defense in the trial phase of this case argued that Mr. Simmons was an at an age where he was not responsible enough to fully understand the effects and consequences of his actions. The majority draws on Atkins v. Virginia to argue that this specific precedent supports their case that the death penalty should not be imposed on the mentally immature or impaired. However, an important point to be made is that the Atkins v. Virginia decision is geared towards the clinical definition of mental retardation: significant limitations that limit adaptive skills. Also, another important question to consider is the competency and premeditation of Mr. Simmons’ crime in this case.
Casey Anthony was one of the only things people could talk about in 2008. Casey Anthony blew the news up about the killing of her daughter, the case lasted for about three years before the court finally reached a non- guilty verdict. The media and people all around America continued to speculate on reasons why they thought the verdict should have been guilty. After examining the case, two theories connect to the case. Casey Anthony has allowed me to further explore and examine all the theories so that I could explain the reasoning behind Anthony’s actions.
Blumberg writes, "Several of the accused had close ties to one another and a long-standing grudge against the Putnams" (Blumberg, 1). This quote highlights the personal vendettas that drove the accusations and underscores how easily societal norms can be weaponized against individuals through manipulation and coercion. The trials resulted in significant harm to the accused and their families due to unchecked hostility. Harrison Bergeron portrays how poor leadership can lead to a loss of individuality and personal choice.
Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 2(4), i-109. Greene, E., & Heilbrun, K. (2011). Wrightsmans psychology and the legal system (7th ed.). 20 Davis Drive Belmont, CA 94002 USA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Thompson-Cannino, J., Cotton, R., & Torneo, E. (2010).
The Articles of Confederation and the Constitution were both recognized and followed by the same group of people. Even though the same group of people followed these two documents, these documents are very different. One example is the writing style of each document. The Articles of Confederation were repetitive, less direct and less certified for quoting than the Constitution. The two documents have a different approach towards the type of government and its control over the matters.
The issue of the case was to determine Dahmer’s mental stability, and whether he suffered from a personality disorder/illness. The defense argued that Dahmer was driven to his hateful acts as a result of an obsession that he could not control due to a mental disease. Through numerous trials, expert doctors and psychiatrists were brought in to testify and diagnose Dahmer. On both sides, there were doctors that diagnose Dahmer in correlation to their argument. For example, the final defense expert diagnosed Dahmer with schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, alcohol dependency, etc.
