Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T06:42:39.511Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Brain Images as Legal Evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2012

Walter Sinnott-Armstrong ,
Adina Roskies ,
Teneille Brown  and
Emily Murphy
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper explores whether brain images may be admitted as evidence in criminal trials under Federal Rule of Evidence 403, which weighs probative value against the danger of being prejudicial, confusing, or misleading to fact finders. The paper summarizes and evaluates recent empirical research relevant to these issues. We argue that currently the probative value of neuroimages for criminal responsibility is minimal, and there is some evidence of their potential to be prejudicial or misleading. We also propose experiments that will directly assess how jurors are influenced by brain images.

Type
Research Article
Information
Episteme , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , October 2008 , pp. 359 - 373
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Allen, R. J., Kuhns, R. B., Swift, E., & Schwartz, D. S.. 2006. Evidence: Texts, Problems, and Cases. 4th ed. New York: Aspen.Google Scholar
Bornstein, B. H. 1999. “The Ecological Validity of Jury Simulations: Is the Jury Still Out?” Law and Human Behavior 23: 75–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bright, D. A. & Goodman-Delahunty, J.. 2006. “Gruesome Evidence and Emotion: Anger, Blame, and Jury Decision-Making.” Law and Human Behavior 30: 183–202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brower, M. C. & Price, B. H.. 2001. “Neuropsychiatry of Frontal Lobe Dysfunction in Violent and Criminal Behavior: A Critical Review.” Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry 71: 720–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bufkin, J. L. & Luttrell, V. R.. 2005. “Neuroimaging Studies of Aggressive and Violent Behavior: Current Findings and Implications for Criminology and Criminal Justice.” Trauma, Violence and Abuse 6: 176–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burns, J. M. & Swerdlow, R. H.. 2003. “Right Orbitofrontal Tumor with Pedophilia Symptom and Constructional Apraxia Sign.” Archives of Neurology 60: 437–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dumit, J. 2004. Picturing Personhood: Brain Scans and Biomedical Identity. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feigenson, Neal. 2006. “Brain Imaging and Courtroom Evidence: On the Admissibility and Persuasiveness of fMRI.” International Journal of Law in Context 2: 233–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grafman, J., Schwab, K., Warden, D., Pridgen, A., Brown, H. R., & Salazar, A.M.. 1996. “Frontal Lobe Injuries, Violence, and Aggression: A Report of the Vietnam Head Injury Study.” Neurology 46: 1231–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gurley, J. R. & Marcus, D. K.. 2008. “The Effects of Neuroimaging and Brain Injury on Insanity Defenses.” Behavioral Sciences and the Law 26: 85–97.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haynes, J-D. and Rees, G.. 2006. “Decoding Mental States from Brain Activity Humans.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience 7: 523–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCabe, D. P. & Castel, A. D.. 2008. “Seeing is Believing: The Effect of Brain Images on Judgments of Scientific Reasoning.” Cognition 107: 343–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, M., Van Horn, J. D., Wolford, G., Handy, T. C., Valsangkar-Smyth, M., Inati, S., Grafton, S., & Gazzaniga, M.. 2002. “Extensive Individual Differences in Brain Activations with Episodic Retrieval are Reliable Over Time.” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 14: 1200–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roskies, A. L. 2007. “Are Neuroimages Like Photographs of the Brain?” Philosophy of Science 74: 860–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roskies, A. L. 2008. “Neuroimaging and Inferential Distance.” Neuroethics 1: 19–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weisberg, D. S., Keil, F. C., Goodstein, J., Rawson, E., & Gray, J. R.. 2008. “The Seductive Allure of Neuroscience Explanations.” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 20: 470–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed