Syndromes and politics in criminal trials and evidence law

Duke Law Journal

Volumn 46, Issue 3, 1996, Pages 461-

  Mosteller, Robert P ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0042221205     PISSN: 00127086     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/1372940     Document Type: Article

References (7)

1. According to some critics, defendants or victims appear to claim that a legally relevant syndrome exists for every imaginable social malady. See, e.g., ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ, THE ABUSE EXCUSE AND OTHER COP-OUTS, SOB STORIES, AND EVASIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY 18-19 (1994). I believe that, generally, claims regarding the widespread misuse of syndromes and abuse defenses are vastly overstated. See generally infra notes 113-49 and accompanying text; see also Peter Arenella, Demystifying the Abuse Excuse: Is There One?, 3 HARV. J.L. & PUB. POL'Y 703 (1996) ; Richard J. Bonnie, Excusing and Punishing in Criminal Adjudication: A Reality Check, 5 CORNELL J.L. & PUB. POL'Y 1 (1995).
2. According to some critics, defendants or victims appear to claim that a legally relevant syndrome exists for every imaginable social malady. See, e.g., ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ, THE ABUSE EXCUSE AND OTHER COP-OUTS, SOB STORIES, AND EVASIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY 18-19 (1994). I believe that, generally, claims regarding the widespread misuse of syndromes and abuse defenses are vastly overstated. See generally infra notes 113-49 and accompanying text; see also Peter Arenella, Demystifying the Abuse Excuse: Is There One?, 3 HARV. J.L. & PUB. POL'Y 703 (1996) ; Richard J. Bonnie, Excusing and Punishing in Criminal Adjudication: A Reality Check, 5 CORNELL J.L. & PUB. POL'Y 1 (1995).
3. According to some critics, defendants or victims appear to claim that a legally relevant syndrome exists for every imaginable social malady. See, e.g., ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ, THE ABUSE EXCUSE AND OTHER COP-OUTS, SOB STORIES, AND EVASIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY 18-19 (1994). I believe that, generally, claims regarding the widespread misuse of syndromes and abuse defenses are vastly overstated. See generally infra notes 113-49 and accompanying text; see also Peter Arenella, Demystifying the Abuse Excuse: Is There One?, 3 HARV. J.L. & PUB. POL'Y 703 (1996) ; Richard J. Bonnie, Excusing and Punishing in Criminal Adjudication: A Reality Check, 5 CORNELL J.L. & PUB. POL'Y 1 (1995).
4. See, e.g., Jacquielynn Floyd, Fort Worth Jury Deadlocks on Killings: 'Survival' Defense Prompts Questions, DALLAS MORNING NEWS, Apr. 20, 1994, at 21A; Lori Montgomery, Teen Killer Blames Fear of Other Blacks: His Survival Defense Troubles Neighbors as well as Legal Experts, DETROIT FREE PRESS, Oct. 22, 1994, at 1A (describing "Urban Survival Syndrome" as an intense fear or "a heightened sense of danger created in areas where the cops don't come when you call and you better look out for yourself").
5. See, e.g., Jacquielynn Floyd, Fort Worth Jury Deadlocks on Killings: 'Survival' Defense Prompts Questions, DALLAS MORNING NEWS, Apr. 20, 1994, at 21A; Lori Montgomery, Teen Killer Blames Fear of Other Blacks: His Survival Defense Troubles Neighbors as well as Legal Experts, DETROIT FREE PRESS, Oct. 22, 1994, at 1A (describing "Urban Survival Syndrome" as an intense fear or "a heightened sense of danger created in areas where the cops don't come when you call and you better look out for yourself").
6. Although the defense at both Menendez trials was based on abuse, the claim was more effectively and fully presented at the first, which ended in a mistrial, than at the second. See Ann W. O'Neill, Menendez Retrial Plays Differently, L.A. TIMES, Mar. 3, 1996, at A1. The second criminal murder trial ended with guilty verdicts for both brothers. See Kenneth B. Noble, Menendez Brothers Found Guilty of Killing their Parents, N.Y. TIMES, Mar. 21, 1996, at A1.
7. Although the defense at both Menendez trials was based on abuse, the claim was more effectively and fully presented at the first, which ended in a mistrial, than at the second. See Ann W. O'Neill, Menendez Retrial Plays Differently, L.A. TIMES, Mar. 3, 1996, at A1. The second criminal murder trial ended with guilty verdicts for both brothers. See Kenneth B. Noble, Menendez Brothers Found Guilty of Killing their Parents, N.Y. TIMES, Mar. 21, 1996, at A1.