Getting away with murder? Dissociative states and criminal responsibility

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry

Volumn 21, Issue 2, 1998, Pages 163-176

  McSherry, Bernadette ^a  

^a MONASH UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AMNESIA; AUSTRALIA; CANADA; COURT; CRIME; DEPERSONALIZATION; FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY; HOMICIDE; HUMAN; IDENTITY; LAW; MENTAL DISEASE; MULTIPLE PERSONALITY; PSYCHIATRIST; PSYCHOLOGIST; RESPONSIBILITY; REVIEW;

EID: 0032029922     PISSN: 01602527     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0160-2527(98)00006-5     Document Type: Article

References (57)

1. 1 R v. Mansfield, unreported, Supreme Court of Victoria, Hampel J. The accused was acquitted on 5 May, 1994. I am grateful to Mr. Justice Hampel and Dr. Allen Bartholomew for giving me access to the Jury Direction and other material relevant to this trial.
2. 2 Answer to question 152, recorded statement of interview between Detective Sergeant Swindells and Craig Lawrence Mansfield conducted on Monday, 24 May, 1993.
3. 3 In the answer to question 193, of the police interview conducted on 24 May, 1993, Craig mentions an episode where he held Darlene very tightly, but says "it wasn't rape." He was holding her on the bed, and there must have been some form of struggle as Craig states that Darlene bit him on his left arm.
4. 4 Interview between Sergeant Kim Zurek and Craig Lawrence Mansfield conducted at Reservoir Police Station on 23 May, 1993, Question and Answers 182-185.
5. 5 I would like to thank Lorenz Berner, Legal Research Officer, Court of Appeal, Calgary, for providing me with a copy of Lutz J.'s charge to the jury in this case: R v Joudrie, unreported, No. 9501-1280-C6, Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta. The charge was made on 7 May, 1996, and most of the narrative derives from this and newspaper reports of the trial.
6. 6 Lutz J.'s charge to the jury, p. 89.
7. 7 Ibid. at 27-28.
8. 8 Ibid. at 51.
9. 9 B. Hutchison, "Till death us do part." Saturday Night, July 1996, Vol 111(6), p. 38ff.
10. 10 Lutz J.'s charge to the jury, p. 60.
11. 11 Ibid. at 64.
12. 12 Ibid. at 19-20.
13. 13 B. Hutchinson, supra, note 9.
14. 14 Id.
15. 15 R v. K [1971] 3 C.C.C. (2d) 84; R v. Cullum [1973] 14 C.C.C. (2d) 294; R v. Sproule [1975] 30 C.R.N.S. 56; The Queen v. R [1977] 37 C.C.C. (2d) 461 ; Rabey v. R [1981] 54 C.C.C. (2d) 1; Cf. R v. Berger [1975] 27 C.C.C. (2d) 357.
16. 15 R v. K [1971] 3 C.C.C. (2d) 84; R v. Cullum [1973] 14 C.C.C. (2d) 294; R v. Sproule [1975] 30 C.R.N.S. 56; The Queen v. R [1977] 37 C.C.C. (2d) 461 ; Rabey v. R [1981] 54 C.C.C. (2d) 1; Cf. R v. Berger [1975] 27 C.C.C. (2d) 357.
17. 15 R v. K [1971] 3 C.C.C. (2d) 84; R v. Cullum [1973] 14 C.C.C. (2d) 294; R v. Sproule [1975] 30 C.R.N.S. 56; The Queen v. R [1977] 37 C.C.C. (2d) 461 ; Rabey v. R [1981] 54 C.C.C. (2d) 1; Cf. R v. Berger [1975] 27 C.C.C. (2d) 357.
18. 15 R v. K [1971] 3 C.C.C. (2d) 84; R v. Cullum [1973] 14 C.C.C. (2d) 294; R v. Sproule [1975] 30 C.R.N.S. 56; The Queen v. R [1977] 37 C.C.C. (2d) 461 ; Rabey v. R [1981] 54 C.C.C. (2d) 1; Cf. R v. Berger [1975] 27 C.C.C. (2d) 357.
19. 15 R v. K [1971] 3 C.C.C. (2d) 84; R v. Cullum [1973] 14 C.C.C. (2d) 294; R v. Sproule [1975] 30 C.R.N.S. 56; The Queen v. R [1977] 37 C.C.C. (2d) 461 ; Rabey v. R [1981] 54 C.C.C. (2d) 1; Cf. R v. Berger [1975] 27 C.C.C. (2d) 357.
20. 15 R v. K [1971] 3 C.C.C. (2d) 84; R v. Cullum [1973] 14 C.C.C. (2d) 294; R v. Sproule [1975] 30 C.R.N.S. 56; The Queen v. R [1977] 37 C.C.C. (2d) 461 ; Rabey v. R [1981] 54 C.C.C. (2d) 1; Cf. R v. Berger [1975] 27 C.C.C. (2d) 357.
21. 16 (1977) 37 C.C.C. (2d) 461 (C.A. of Ont); (1981) 54 C.C.C. 1 (S.C).
22. 16 (1977) 37 C.C.C. (2d) 461 (C.A. of Ont); (1981) 54 C.C.C. 1 (S.C).
23. 17 (1990) 171 C.L.R. 30.
24. 18 American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Washington, DC: APA, 1994, 4th edition revised) at 477.
25. 19 M. Steinberg, Handbook for the Assessment of Dissociation: A Clinical Guide (Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, 1995) at x.
26. 20 Ibid. at 8-13.
27. 21 M. Steinberg, Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders (Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, 1994, revised edition).
28. 22 T. A. Kiersch, "Amenesia: A Clinical Study of Ninety-eight Cases" (1962) 119 American Journal of Psychiatry 57-60.
29. 23 (1979) 23 S.A.S.R. 161.
30. 24 A. Ligertwood, Australian Evidence (Sydney: Butterworths, 1993) at 58.
31. 25 R v. Mansfield, Jury Direction at 1082.
32. 26 J. McCarten, "The trauma of divorce triggered shooting spree: psychiatrist" The Calgary Sun. 30 April, 1996.
33. 27 (1843) 10 Cl. & Fin. 200 at 210; 8 E.R. 718 at 722.
34. 27 (1843) 10 Cl. & Fin. 200 at 210; 8 E.R. 718 at 722.
35. 28 (1977) 37 C.C.C. (2d) 461. Approved by a majority of the Supreme Court in R v. Rabey (1981) 54 C.C.C. 1.
36. 29 (1977) 37 C.C.C. (2d) 461 at 477.
37. 30 R v. Quick [1973] 1 Q.B. 910.
38. 31 R v. Hennessy [1989] 1 W.L.R. 287.
39. 32 (1990) 171 C.L.R. 30.
40. 33 (1989) 46 A. Crim. R. 83 at 100.
41. 34 Falconer v. R (1989) 46 A. Crim. R. 83 at 109.
42. 35 (1985) 42 S.A.S.R. 266.
43. 36 (1987) 11 Crim. L.J. 231.
44. 37 Ibid. at 276.
45. 38 (1990) 171 C.L.R. 30 at 85.
46. 39 Ibid. at 55.
47. 40 (1995) 183 C.L.R. 58; 129 A.L.R. 575; 69 A.L.J.R. 598.
48. 40 (1995) 183 C.L.R. 58; 129 A.L.R. 575; 69 A.L.J.R. 598.
49. 40 (1995) 183 C.L.R. 58; 129 A.L.R. 575; 69 A.L.J.R. 598.
50. 41 See, for example, the case of M, unreported, No 74 of 1993, Court of Criminal Appeal, Victoria, 14th October, 1994, which is referred to in B. McSherry, "Automatism in Australia Since Falconer's Case" (1996) International Bulletin of Law and Mental Health 3-8.
51. 42 (1987) 11 Crim. L.J. 231. Commentary by P. Fiarall at 232-233.
52. 43 Ibid. at 232.
53. 44 Canadian Psychiatric Association, Brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and the Solicitor General, Subcommittee on the Reform of the General Part of the Criminal Code, 9 November, 1992.
54. 45 See, for example, B. McSherry, "What is a Disease of the Mind? The Untenability of Current Legal Interpretations" (1993) 1 Journal of Law and Medicine 76-90.
55. 46 Section 16(2) Canadian Criminal Code.
56. 47 [1972] 8 C. C. C. (2d) 407.
57. 48 Ibid. at 413.