MENTAL DEFENSES AND POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER - ASSESSMENT OF CRIMINAL INTENT

Since its formal introduction into psychiatric nomenclature more than a decade ago, the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ha s become firmly entrenched in the legal landscape. In part, this is be cause PTSD seems easy to understand. It is one of only a few mental di sorders for which the psychiatric Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (D SM) describes a known cause. Since the diagnosis is usually based on p atients' self-report, however, it creates the possibility of distortio n aimed at avoidance of criminal punishment, and, as a result, has ach ieved mired success as a criminal defense. When providing expert testi mony mental health witnesses must take care to distinguish between mer e PTSD and a causal connection between PTSD and the criminal act in qu estion. PTSD has not only been used to abrogate or diminish responsibi lity, but also to arrange pre-trial plea bargaining agreements or play a role in sentencing determinations The author explores various uses and potential abuses of PTSD in criminal jurisprudence and offers sugg estions regarding retrospective PTSD assessment.