Neuroscience and behavioral genetics in the italian criminal proceedings. Cases and perspectives

Abstract

Since 2009 three Italian criminal cases involving neuroscientific and behavioral genetics evidence have been brought to the public attention. In these cases, the judge took the results of the tests into great consideration in order to reach a final decision on the accused person’s insanity and criminal responsibility. The possibility to deeply investigate the mechanisms at the basis of a person’s behavior is undeniably attractive.

Analyzing what has happened so far, however, raises various thorny questions. Some of them can be summarized as follows: a) from a procedural point of view, what way should the neuroscientific and behavioral genetic evidence pass through? B) Once this evidence is brought in front of a judge or a jury, what contribution does it offer in comparison with the traditional psychiatric analysis and other forensic sciences? C) May neuroscience and behavioral genetics be helpful during the offenders’ post-sentence treatment and, if so, why such cases are not known yet? This article aims to face these questions and pose the basis for some initial answers through the analysis of the recent Italian case law and a comparison with the US criminal system