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Traumatic Brain Injury or Mental Illness?

TBI and Mental Illness What if a defendant commits a crime because of being affected by either an acute brain injury or an acquired or inherited brain disease? This is called the “brain defense.” In criminal cases, defense attorneys are increasingly using clinical evidence of brain injury to either establish their client’s innocence or mitigate Read More...

Did COVID-19 Bring a Higher Risk of Abuse?

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic people have been told to stay at home for their own safety and the safety of others.  Could there be a higher risk of abuse? What about those people who are victims of domestic violence? How are they faring at home? Is home a safe place for victims Read More...

One Deadly Punch Leads To Prison

Our faithful readers may remember that I wrote a newsletter back in 2011 called “Can One Punch Kill” but it has been many years since then and I asked one of my nurses to write up a newsletter. Ironically, she dug through some of my ideas and came across the same article. Her take on Read More...

Are alcoholics really at fault for their crimes?

In April, I covered delirium and noted that there are many underlying etiologies that can cause it. One such etiology is Wernicke encephalopathy. What is encephalopathy? Encephalopathy is a general term describing any disease of the brain that alters the function or structure of the brain. There are many types of encephalopathy and causes.  The Read More...

Shock in Criminal Cases

In April, I covered delirium and noted that there are many underlying etiologies that can cause it. One such etiology is hypoperfusion. When the blood flow is cut off to the vital organs, the body will compensate in an effort to restore the blood flow. The body’s reaction to hypoperfusion is known as shock: What Read More...