MINDS OF TRIAL; The Two Trials Compared

Description Assignment: Respond to the prompt by addressing all points. Keep your writing concise while still including necessary information (i.e. practice forensic style writing- including details needed to support your case without “fluff” that just muddles your points). Please make documents double-spaced, in a legible font. Rules of formal writing should apply (i.e. no contractions, no spelling/grammar mistakes, organized and coherent). Although there is no strict page requirement, you will probably need between two to five pages to adequately respond to the prompt. PROMPT: You read the cases of Andrea Yates and Jeffrey Dahmer in the Minds of Trial book. These cases are quite different, yet in both cases the defense attorneys presented NGRI defenses. Compare and contrast these two cases. In your response, you should consider similarities and differences between several aspects of the case. Consider whether or not you believe each individual is mentally ill and discuss how both are similar and different from each other. Further, discuss how symptoms of mental illness did or did not contribute to the crimes of each defendant. Additionally, you should provide a stance on whether each defendant was legally responsible based on the standards- consider whether one seems more legally responsible than the other, or if they both seem equally responsible/not responsible for their actions. You paper should reflect critical thinking in that you clearly gave careful consideration to both cases, trying to understand the facts of the case from the perspective of psychological science. Be sure to cite research to support any claims you make about human behavior!