Chapter 31: Forensic Psychology and Psychiatry

Jackson v. Indiana

• the legal case that sets the precedent for the defendant to be committed to a civil hospital.

• If a person is found incompetent, all criminal proceedings are put on hold until the person is treated and rendered competent.

  • It would be a violation of 5th and 14th Amendments if person is incompetent and stands trial.

Dusky v. United States (1960)

• The landmark case if a person is competence to stand trial

1843 M’Naghten’s Case

• Only focused on cognitive test—whether defendant knew what he was doing

• did not discuss control/volition test

• lacked capacity to understand wrongfulness of act

• The M’Naghten rule requires that the defendant’s mental defect existed at the time of the crime, affecting their ability to understand the nature or wrongfulness of their actions.

Frye v. United States

• Court ruled that expert testimony in the novel scientific evidence is admissible if it is sufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in the popular field to which it belongs

Kansas v. Hendricks

• Stated that the civil commitment of sex offenders deemed at risk for recidivism after completion of their prison term violated neither the double jeopardy nor the ex post facto clauses of the Constitution. This decision further encourages states to enact sexual predator statutes.

• Sexual Psychopath Laws →laws that mandate the evaluation and treatment of sex offenders

• A forensic psychiatrists certification valid for ten years