Law Commons^™

Neuroimaging And Jury Decision Making: In Defense Of The Defense?, Alana A. Snyder

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Neurobiological evidence in the form of brain scans (MRI images, PET images, etc.) is being introduced with increasing frequency in the courtroom as potentially mitigating evidence in criminal cases as part of an attempt to show regions of neurological abnormality affecting a defendant’s decision-making or emotional control. Empirical studies have shown two biases associated with the presentation of such evidence. One of these biases resides in that laypeople’s interpretation of such evidence may be weighted too heavily towards scientific fact – as is DNA evidence – rather than an association between a specific crime, and a brain region and its …