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...

Alcohol Intoxication or Medical Issue?

Alcohol, trauma, or underlying medical condition? The legal limit of blood alcohol content is set by the US Department of Motor Vehicles at 0.08%. However, not everyone presents the same way clinically, as different individuals have different tolerance levels depending on their level of regular alcohol use. Even the liver eliminates alcohol from the body Read More...

5 Things Criminal Attorneys Should Know About…Loss of Consciousness

This is the 4th out of 6 in this series of “5 things criminal attorneys should know about…” which I first posted a few years ago. Each month I highlight some areas of medicine that often cross into the criminal fields. This is not meant to be an in-depth review, but rather just bullet pointed Read More...

Can someone consent after a head injury? {Mental Health/Toxicology}

Many times, a police officer will interview a defendant after a fight or a car wreck where the person being interviewed has suffered head trauma. What the police officer may not understand is that even mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) can affect a person’s ability to comprehend the questions being asked and the ramifications of Read More...