Parasornnias sleepwalking and the law

Mark Mahowald, Carlos H Schenck

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

60 Scopus citations

Abstract

A recent, well-publicized case in which murder during sleepwalking was offered as a defense, underscores the fact that sleep medicine specialists are asked to render opinions or judgements regarding culpability in legal cases regarding violence claimed to have arisen from sleepwalking episodes. This review addresses this difficult issue from scientific, clinical and legal aspects, with emphasis upon the need for further research, calling for close collaboratioh between the legal and medical (both clinical and basic science) professions. (C) 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)321-339
Number of pages19
JournalSleep Medicine Reviews
Volume4
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2000

Keywords

  • Forensic
  • Nocturnal seizures
  • Parasomnias
  • REM sleep behavior disorder
  • Sleep terrors
  • Sleepwalking

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Parasornnias sleepwalking and the law'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this