116 5 Court and the Legal System—-Adult Forpretnal negotiations that occur? What are the psychological and legal consequences
of plea bargaining for individuals, society, and the justice system? In order for a
person to be prosecuted, the individual must be competent to stand trial. What
is the legal standard for mental competence? What role does psychology play in
furthering our understanding of competency? How does the "psycholegal" stan-
dard relate to one's capacity to stand trial? Jurors are an indispensable component
of most criminal (and civil) cases. The selection process can significantly affect
the desired outcome of a case. How do the psychological sciences contribute to
the scientific selection of a jury? Is it possible to assemble, through the selection
process, an impartial jury panel? How does the pretrial publicity of a high-profile
case impact the jury pool? Both prosecuting and defense attorneys increasingly
rely upon forensic experts with psychological assessment skills who can testify in
court. Do forensic tests provide accurate information about the personality, in-
telligence, ability, and psychopathology of an offender? Are such instruments and
their findings legally admissible? What is the reliability and validity of testimony
based on forensic assessments in the courtroom? Relatedly, one type of forensic
evaluation is risk assessment. In short, the question posed is whether the defen-
dant presents a risk for future violent behavior. How accurately do risk-assessment
instruments predict future dangerousness? Do evaluations tend to be over- or un-
derinclusive and what are the implications for defendants? What is the consti-
tutionality of using risk evaluations in a criminal case? Mentally ill defendants
can be found guilty or not guilty. In addition, however, they can be found Not
Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI) or Guilty But Mentally 111 (GBMI). How
does the legal system understand insanity and mental illness? What are the various
tests or standards the court uses for insanity? How do NGRI and GBMI verdicts
differ?
The six controversies examined in this chapter, though limited in scope, nonethe-
less explore several noteworthy subjects that dramatically reveal the interplay of law
and psychology in the adult forensic arena. Responses to the problem of crime en-
tail sophisticated, scientific solutions. Whether the questions asked involve mentally
disordered defendants at different stages of the adjudication process, the vagaries of
selecting jurors, or the psycholegal consequences of plea bargaining, one thing is
clear: psychology can and does impact what happens in the criminal courtroom.
As the individual sections of this chapter explain, the policy implications for this
continued trend necessitate that carefully trained specialists who understand the
mechanics of law, the science of psychology, and the geography of human behavior
be called upon to assist the legal system. In part, as is suggested in the pages that
follow, more and better research are therefore essential to accomplishing this end.
Indeed, this level of training will ready the way for future generations of forensic
specialists so that they can confront the challenges that await them in the adult
forensic field.