Recent Cases in Law and Neuroscience, Curated by the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior and the Shen Neurolaw Lab with support from the Dana Foundation — Kevin Taylor was convicted of second degree arson and second degree-felony murder in Washington after killing his wife. Taylor did not dispute killing his wife, but offered a diminished capacity defense, and the central issue during trial was whether Taylor possessed the necessary mental state to convict him of the…

Recent Cases in Law and Neuroscience, Curated by the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior and the Shen Neurolaw Lab with support from the Dana Foundation — In this 2021 case the Kansas Supreme Court affirmed a district court’s decision to deny Richard Quillen’s petition for transitional release from civil commitment. …

Recent Cases in Law and Neuroscience, Curated by the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior and the Shen Neurolaw Lab with support from the Dana Foundation — In this 2021 case, an Ohio Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s denial of death-row inmate Andre Williams’ petition for postconviction relief based on intellectual disability and remanded the matter for further proceedings. In 1989, 22-year-old Williams was convicted of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, robbery, and attempted rape and…

Recent Cases in Law and Neuroscience, Curated by the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior and the Shen Neurolaw Lab with support from the Dana Foundation — In this 2021 case the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan denied Scott McQuarrie’s motion for compassionate release. McQuarrie argued that his brain tumor caused serious functional and cognitive impairments that diminished his ability to care for himself while in custody.

Recent Cases in Law and Neuroscience, Curated by the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior and the Shen Neurolaw Lab with support from the Dana Foundation — Neuroscientific evidence have been a staple of brain injury litigation for decades, and these cases reviewed below from 2021 highlight some recent uses. The types of evidence introduced in the cases reviewed here varied. Expert testimony was commonly introduced, while several cases also included MRIs and CT scans. In contrast…

Recent Cases in Law and Neuroscience, Curated by the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior and the Shen Neurolaw Lab with support from the Dana Foundation — 37-year old Mary Ezenwa unsuccessfully appealed a restraining order preventing her from contacting Alan Carlin, her 82-year-old husband, who suffers from cognitive deficits due to brain damage. Mary and Alan first met virtually on the dating website millionairematch.com and married one month later. Alan’s son, Peter, alleged that the new…

Recent Cases in Law and Neuroscience, Curated by the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior and the Shen Neurolaw Lab with support from the Dana Foundation — In recent cases where criminal defendants brought ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC) claims based on lack of or insufficient investigation into mental health issues, defendants rarely succeeded. In cases where courts found IAC claims to have merit, trial attorneys conducted little to no investigation of the defendant’s mental health background…

Recent Cases in Law and Neuroscience, Curated by the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior and the Shen Neurolaw Lab with support from the Dana Foundation — Defendants have used evidence of their Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis to argue for downward departure of sentencing in a number of child pornography cases. See People v. Frenger, 124 N.Y.S.3d 913 (Sup. Ct. 2020); United States v. Shore, 2020 WL 3791550. In October 2021, the United States District Court…

Recent Cases in Law and Neuroscience, Curated by the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior and the Shen Neurolaw Lab with support from the Dana Foundation — In 2021, expert testimony about parents’ brain injuries was used in cases involving child neglect to argue that a parent was unfit to care for their children. In cases involving alleged child abuse, evidence of parental brain injuries contributed to courts terminating parental rights. In a Virginia case, a father…