Admissibility of Defendant’s Testimony About Mental Health

[摘要] expert testimonyspecific intentmental disorderdue processhabeas corpusCourt May Limit Testimony About Defendant’s Mental Health History and Events from ChildhoodIn Jones v. Davis, 8 F.4th 1027 (9th Cir. 2021), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s ruling that granted habeas relief to Ernest Jones based on claims that his right to present a complete defense was violated by a trial court’s evidentiary ruling. The trial court had ruled that Mr. Jones’ testimony about his childhood and mental health history could be presented only if a psychiatric expert explained the relevance of the testimony to his mental state at the time of the alleged offense.

[学科分类] 儿科学

[关键词] expert testimony;specific intent;mental disorder;due process;habeas corpus