What a forensic psychiatrist evaluates in a sentencing or mitigation case
How psychiatric, developmental, cognitive, and treatment factors may inform sentencing and mitigation
Forensic Psychiatry Resources
Featured Resources
Does hearing voices make you legally insane?
Psychosis and legal insanity are related, but not interchangeable
How a forensic psychiatrist can assist in appeals and post-conviction cases
How psychiatric expertise may help clarify competency, prior expert work, and other mental health issues in appeals and post-conviction cases
Current Issues in Forensic Psychiatry
Selected commentary on cases, verdicts, and emerging questions in forensic psychiatry, including issues that were developing at the time of publication.
Prescription amphetamines, psychosis, and criminal responsibility: what United States v. Rainford illustrates
What Rainford illustrates about prescribed medication, intoxication, psychosis, and criminal responsibility
When mental illness isn't insanity: psychiatric evidence and the question of intent
What a new Michigan decision illustrates about psychiatric evidence, diminished capacity, and mens rea
The Meta verdict and what it actually means for psychiatric causation in social media cases
A jury verdict is not the same thing as individualized psychiatric causation
False confessions
A Fontana settlement sheds light on a serious forensic problem
Hearsay and Sanchez
A rules exception permits experts to use hearsay—for now, at least
Browse by Topic
Criminal Forensics
What a forensic psychiatrist evaluates in a sentencing or mitigation case
How psychiatric, developmental, cognitive, and treatment factors may inform sentencing and mitigation
Does hearing voices make you legally insane?
Psychosis and legal insanity are related, but not interchangeable
How a forensic psychiatrist can assist in appeals and post-conviction cases
How psychiatric expertise may help clarify competency, prior expert work, and other mental health issues in appeals and post-conviction cases
False confessions
A Fontana settlement sheds light on a serious forensic problem
Mental health diversion in California under PC § 1001.36
A new law encourages non-traditional criminal rehabilitation
Employment & Disability
Fitness-for-duty evaluations vs. threat assessments: understanding the difference
Safety and occupational functioning are related, but not the same
Diagnosis vs. functional impairment in psychiatric disability evaluations
In mental-health claims, the question is function, not symptoms
Civil & Medical-Legal Evaluations
Temporal causation in psychiatric injury: why timing matters
Timing informs causation, but context determines it
The Meta verdict and what it actually means for psychiatric causation in social media cases
A jury verdict is not the same thing as individualized psychiatric causation
Real-time evaluations of testamentary capacity
The role of a forensic psychiatrist
Neuro-psychological methods in the legal system
Careful use, cognizant of caveats, complements a patient's self-report
Forensic Practice & Emerging Issues
Retaining a psychiatric expert: what attorneys should know
Practical considerations for attorneys retaining a psychiatric expert
Professional fitness and licensing board evaluations: understanding current impairment and safe practice
Professional fitness depends on current functioning, not diagnosis alone
Artificial intelligence and expert judgment
Methodology, transparency, and professional judgment in forensic uses of artificial intelligence
Misconceptions about forensic psychiatry
Setting the record straight on some common mix-ups
Technology in the forensic psychiatric evaluation
New inventions are poised to drastically change physicians' methods for the better
Strengthening the forensic diagnosis
Forensic psychiatrists combine traditional diagnostic methods with an extra-rigorous investigative style
Hearsay and Sanchez
A rules exception permits experts to use hearsay—for now, at least
Mental health diagnoses and DSM-5 in the legal system
The ubiquitous guide leaves many psycho-legal questions unanswered
How do forensic psychiatrists come to a conclusion?
A traditional psychiatric exam is often insufficient
Is the evidence even admissible? Daubert and Frye
Different legal tests decide whether expert science gets through the courtroom door
Disclaimer: These materials are provided for general educational and informational purposes only and reflect discussion of forensic psychiatric issues, not legal or medical advice. The significance of psychiatric evidence depends on the facts of the individual case, the applicable legal standard, and the information available for review. Any forensic psychiatric opinion should be understood only in the context of the specific evaluation in which it is offered. Legal questions should be addressed by qualified counsel.