About the Book
Everyday, in courtrooms everywhere, people's lives are touched and shaped by judgments and verdicts influenced by the testimony of psychologists and other mental health experts. This casebook details 20 high-profile court cases that turned, at least in part, on the expertise of forensic psychologists and psychiatrists and involved such psychological issues as insanity, criminal profiling, capital punishment, competence to stand trial, infanticide, domestic violence, false confessions, and psychological autopsies. The defendents in these cases range from household names such as Woodly Allen, Mike Tyson, Patty Hearst, and Jeffrey Dahmer to others whose brief brush with infamy has long been forgotten. But regardless of their notoriety or celebrity status, each of these carefully selected cases teaches important lessons about the role that psychology and the other behavioral sciences play in our legal system.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
1: George Metesky: Profiling the "Mad Bomber"
2: Lee Harvey Oswald: The Formative Years of an Assassin
3: Patricia Hearst: Uncommon Victim or Common Criminal?
4: The Guilford Four: "You did it, so why not confess?"
5: Prosenjit Poddar and Tatiana Tarasoff: Where the Public Peril Begins
6: Dan White: The Myth of the Twinkie Defense
7: Cameron Hooker: Judging the Experts?
8: John W. Hinckley, Jr.: Shooting for the Stars
9: Judas Priest: A Message in the Music
10: John Demjanjuk: Is he "Ivan the Terrible?"
11: The U.S.S. Iowa: Equivocating on Death
12: Jeffrey Dahmer: Serial Murder, Necrophilia, and Cannibalism
13: Woody Allen and Mia Farrow: A Swing of King Solomon's Sword
14: Gary and Holly Ramona: Recovered Memories or False Allegations?
15: Colin Ferguson: A Fool for a Client?
16: Ralph Tortorici: A Question of Competence
17: Mike Tyson: Predicting Violence of a Professional Fighter
18: Daryl Atkins: Mental Retardation, Decency, and the Death Penalty
19: Andrea Yates: An American Tragedy
20: Michael Kantaras: What Makes a Man a Man?
Review :
"...a thoughtful, well-researched and especially clearly written book that merits serious attention."--The National Psychologist
"This is a book that not only teaches, but entertains as well. The authors, well-respected forensic mental health professionals, make expert testimony come alive in a series of well known and not so well known cases, providing examples of expert testimony at its best and worst. Their analysis of the testimony proffered in these cases should serve to remind all experts of their accountability and the effects their opinions have on the lives of others."-- Alan
M. Goldstein, Ph.D., ABPP, Board Certified Forensic Psychologist, John Jay College of Criminal Justice - CUNY
"Minds on Trial accomplishes a rare feat: it is both solidly academic and utterly fascinating. Ewing and McCann present vivid accounts of the twenty most memorable moments that psychologists have had in the courtroom. The reader will learn a great deal about psychology and about law from this book, not least because he or she will not be able to put it down."-- John Monahan, Doherty Professor of Law and Psychology, University of Virginia
"Ewing and McCann have achieved the remarkable objective of a readable and scholarly reexamination of twenty of the most important criminal & forensic cases. In a style as engrossing as a good novel, they delve into defendants like Andrea Yates and Jeffrey Dahmer and experts like Park Dietz, Elizabeth Loftus, and Gisli Gudjonsson, and what their lives and work teach us about law, justice, and the nature of psychiatric disorders. This terrific
combination of psychological substance and engaging writing style illuminates personal and the professional aspects of the famous crimes of our time. Even with cases like Tarasoff, about which I was conversant, I
learned a great deal. I loved reading this book. Minds on Trial is destined to be a classic. Three cheers for this wonderful book!"-- Stanley L. Brodsky, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, The University of Alabama
"Minds on Trial...provides a thoughtful and interesting review of the sometimes controversial role of expert psychological evidence."--Applied Cognitive Psychology
"...a thoughtful, well-researched and especially clearly written book that merits serious attention."--The National Psychologist
"This is a book that not only teaches, but entertains as well. The authors, well-respected forensic mental health professionals, make expert testimony come alive in a series of well known and not so well known cases, providing examples of expert testimony at its best and worst. Their analysis of the testimony proffered in these cases should serve to remind all experts of their accountability and the effects their opinions have on the lives of others."-- Alan
M. Goldstein, Ph.D., ABPP, Board Certified Forensic Psychologist, John Jay College of Criminal Justice - CUNY
"Minds on Trial accomplishes a rare feat: it is both solidly academic and utterly fascinating. Ewing and McCann present vivid accounts of the twenty most memorable moments that psychologists have had in the courtroom. The reader will learn a great deal about psychology and about law from this book, not least because he or she will not be able to put it down."-- John Monahan, Doherty Professor of Law and Psychology, University of Virginia
"Ewing and McCann have achieved the remarkable objective of a readable and scholarly reexamination of twenty of the most important criminal & forensic cases. In a style as engrossing as a good novel, they delve into defendants like Andrea Yates and Jeffrey Dahmer and experts like Park Dietz, Elizabeth Loftus, and Gisli Gudjonsson, and what their lives and work teach us about law, justice, and the nature of psychiatric disorders. This terrific
combination of psychological substance and engaging writing style illuminates personal and the professional aspects of the famous crimes of our time. Even with cases like Tarasoff, about which I was conversant, I
learned a great deal. I loved reading this book. Minds on Trial is destined to be a classic. Three cheers for this wonderful book!"-- Stanley L. Brodsky, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, The University of Alabama
"Minds on Trial...provides a thoughtful and interesting review of the sometimes controversial role of expert psychological evidence."--Applied Cognitive Psychology
