Minds on Trial: Great Cases in Law and Psychology

By Charles Patrick Ewing and Joseph T. McCann
New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006

In 20 highly entertaining and readable chapters, forensic psychologists, Drs. Ewing and McCann, take us “behind the scene” (p. viii) of some of the most high profile legal cases to hit the American courts in the past half century. Culling through what must have been hundreds of cases, Ewing and McCann whittle their initial number of cases down to 100, from which they then select 20 that they feel highlights some of the major contributions of psychology and psychiatry to the legal system.  Drs. Ewing and McCann have formal training in both law and psychology. They also have testified extensively in cases similar to those that they highlight in their book. At the heart of each chapter, we learn of the role that psychology and the behavioural sciences more generally played in “trying to understand the unfathomable” (p. 147) and that is perhaps what renders these brief glimpses into the minds of some of America’s most notorious criminals a page turner.

While many of the psychological issues explored in Minds on Trial are likely not new to readers with an interest or background in forensics, with Ewing and McCann’s training in law and psychology, they are able to provide us with some novel insights into the application (at times, misapplication) of psychology in the legal system.  The twenty brief chapters span a broad array of psychological issues – determinations of guilt, the insanity defense, assessments of dangerousness, child sexual abuse and child custody evaluations, eyewitness testimony, criminal profiling, interrogation and confessions, as well as some of the more controversial forays of psychology into the courtroom like the Twinkie defense, brainwashing, recovered memories and subliminal influences of rock music on teen behaviour.  Given the celebrity status of many of the accused (Woody Allen, Mike Tyson, the heavy metal rock band Judas Priest), the horrific and unfathomable actions of others (Andrea Yates who drowned her five children, serial killer Jeffery Dalmer), readers will no doubt find the cases engrossing. Throughout a number of the chapters we are presented with a staggering array of expert opinion, some of them repeat players (Dr. Loftus and Dietz), some of them Canadian (Drs. Moore and Read), and oft times divided in their opinions (indeed we are treated to some of “the good, the bad, and the ugly” displays of psychology/psychiatry in the courtroom). 

Coupled with Ewing and McCann’s fast paced and engaging style of writing, is also a consideration of some of the empirical research addressing the psychological issues raised in the case. Although most of the cases covered in the book have been resolved, most of the psychological issues they raise “remain unresolved and will continue to command the attention of psychologists, the courts, the public, and the media in the decades ahead” (p. 255).  Thus, while Minds on Trial is a very readable book that will be of interest to many, for the course instructor, many of the chapters can provide an engaging supplement to the course that is sure to stimulate lively discussion and encourage further investigation of the issues.