Diagnostic Values of Polysomnography in Forensic Medicine

A man accused of a first-degree murder of a two-year-old girl claimed that he had not been conscious during the time of the alleged murder. The possibility that he may have committed the crime while "sleepwalking" was raised. The forensic psychiatrist looked to the sleep disorders facility...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of forensic sciences 2000-01, Vol.45 (1), p.191-194
Main Authors: Kayumov, L, Pandi-Perumal, SR, Fedoroff, P, Shapiro, CM
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Female
Forensic Medicine - methods
Forensic psychiatry
Homicide
Humans
Infant
Male
Polysomnography
Sleep disorders
Somnambulism - psychology
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Summary:A man accused of a first-degree murder of a two-year-old girl claimed that he had not been conscious during the time of the alleged murder. The possibility that he may have committed the crime while "sleepwalking" was raised. The forensic psychiatrist looked to the sleep disorders facility to conduct polysomnographic investigation of the accused in order to investigate the posibility that he had a parasomnia. Overnight sleep recordings with video surveillance carried out for two consecutive nights showed no evidence of parasomnia. On the basis of the full assessment, the final report of the forensic psychiatrist did not support a legal defense of non-insane automatism and "sleepwalking" was withdrawn as a possible defense by the lawyer of the accused.
ISSN:0022-1198
1556-4029
DOI:10.1520/JFS14659J