The mental state at the time of the offense measure: Its validation and admissibility under Daubert

Melton et al. (Melton GB, Petrila J, Poythress NG, Slobogin C: Psychologica l Evaluations for the Courts (ed 2). New York: Guilford, 1997) recently adv ocated the use of the Mental State at the Time of the Offense (MSE-Offense) measure not only as a screen for insanity evaluations but also as the sole measure in "obvious" cases of insanity. Given this recommendation for expa nding the role of the MSE-Offense, the current authors have evaluated the a vailable data based on its construction and validation. We found fundamenta l flaws in its development and grave shortcomings in its validation. Based on these limitations, we conclude that the MSE-Offense is unacceptable unde r the Daubert standard (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., U.S. 113 S. Ct. 2786 (1993)) for either the screening or determination of crimin al responsibility.