People v. Weinstein

591 N.Y.S.2d 715 (1992)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

D was indicted for the crime of murder in the second degree. D allegedly strangled his wife in their 12th-floor apartment in Manhattan and then threw her body from a window to make her death appear to be a suicide. D filed notice that the defense at trial will be that he lacked criminal responsibility due to mental disease or defect. D wanted to introduce PET scans to show that a cyst exists within the arachnoid membrane and that metabolic imbalances exist in areas of the brain near the cyst and opposite it. D also wanted to introduce an SCR test of D's autonomic system to show the existence of lesions in the frontal lobes of the brain. D's SCR results were consistent with those of tested individuals who were confirmed as having lesions in the frontal lobes of their brains. D claims PET scans and SCR test results are factors that a psychiatrist will rely upon at trial to explain his diagnosis that, due to mental disease or defect, D was not criminally responsible for the death of his wife. P moved for an order excluding the tests in that PET and SCR technology have not been shown to be sufficiently reliable as diagnostic devices for brain abnormalities so as to warrant the admission of such evidence at the trial of a criminal case.