Blame my brain: A killer's bold defense gets a court hearing. (corrects link)
Loyd frantically scribbled notes, thinking of Yepez. “Maybe he’s got this gene too,” Loyd recalled thinking.
The consumer test wouldn’t hold up in court, so Loyd called Bernet, a professor emeritus at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, who suggested getting a geneticist to perform a more comprehensive test. The geneticist, David Lightfoot, concluded that there was “no doubt” that Yepez had the MAO-A mutation, according to court filings. A psychologist also administered a series of tests on Yepez, who said he’d been mistreated as a child, including beatings with a belt buckle, according to Loyd.
Yepez appealed. A higher court said the judge should have allowed the genetic evidence, but did not overturn the verdict, saying it wouldn’t have made a difference because a second-degree murder conviction didn’t require showing Yepez had “specific intent” to kill his victim. Yepez appealed to the New Mexico Supreme Court, which agreed last fall to hear the case.
“These genetic markers and the way we’re learning how they operate in the brain makes the determination of intent much more nuanced,” Bennett said.The growth of neuroscience evidence — typically in the form of brain scans and psychological tests — dates back about three decades. It has most often been used to seek leniency for juveniles or against the death penalty for killers. But the strategy has expanded to a wider set of cases.
Many such claims overstate the science, Farahany said — neuroscience may be able to help understand someone’s predispositions and proclivities, but can’t say what they were thinking or feeling at the time of the crime. That is why many scientists object to its use in the courtroom.
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