Automatism is a defence in criminal violence that raises some critical issues about the role of the expert witness in the determination of guilt and innocence. The recent Australian case of R V Leonboyer illustrates some of these issues including psychiatrists and psychologists going beyond their area of expertise, establishing reasonable doubt on the basis of possibilities rather than probabilities and failing to differentiate between automatic behaviour and its causes. Though there may be a necessity to utilise the experience of psychologists and psychiatrists to explain the complex issues arising from the defence of automatism, there are particular problems in using such expert witnesses in this under-researched and complex area.
R v Leonboyer: The Role of Expert Witnesses in Psychological Blow Automatism Cases
Reprints and Corporate Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:
Academic Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:
If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.
Related research
People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.
Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.
Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.