In a courtroom first, an fMRI brain scan was permitted to be used as evidence. The scan was entered into the trial by the defense attorney of Brian Dougan, who was accused of raping and murdering a 10 year old boy. The defense was hoping to use the evidence as proof that Dougan was psychopathic and therefore, ineligible for the death penalty. While he was still sentenced to death for his crimes, the use of fMRI scans in courtroom trials opens up new opportunities for defense attorneys everywhere.
Defendants need to not get too comfortable with the idea of using fMRIs as evidence though. As Stanford legal professor Hank Greely points out, “The penalty phase of a capital case … is a special situation where the law bends over backwards to allow the convicted man to introduce just about any mitigating evidence.”
Earlier this year a San Diego criminal attorney attempted to enter an fMRI into trial in a juvenille sexual abuse case, but the evidence was withdrawn without being admitted.
To read more about this breakthrough in evidence admittance, see the Wired article. Image Via Banana Donuts [Flickr].