Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Crime

Recently, everyone from the schoolroom to the courtroom has heard of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It is a medical condition that seems cause, what some would consider, uncontrollable behavior on the part of the person afflicted with the condition. In California, and throughout the nation in fact, conscientious criminal defense attorneys have raised the issue of ADHD as a possible defense to criminal behavior. At this early stage of the ADHD defense in court, there is no real consensus on the matter. Prosecutors tend to argue that ADHD is no excuse for criminal behavior, while defense attorneys are not so sure.

Some studies have suggested that up to 70% of juvenile offenders have ADHD and that more than 40% of males in medium security prisons show all the classic symptoms of ADHD. The normal percentage of people with ADHD in the general population is only 3-5%. These numbers suggest that ADHD plays a role and places individuals at higher risk for exhibiting antisocial and/or criminal behavior. Furthermore, many of these individuals that are in correctional facilities were the victims of neglect. They were either not diagnosed with ADHD, never received treatment, or treatment had been discontinued after puberty.

The symptoms of ADHD put children with the disorder at higher risk for school failure, dropping out, involvement with drugs and alcohol and for inappropriate behavior that may lead to school disciplinary actions or juvenile court prosecution according to the director of government relations for Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.

Unfortunately for many people suffering from ADHD today, the consensus among attorneys throughout the United States, is that most judges and prosecuting attorneys refuse to consider ADHD at all within the court system. Any mention from defense attorneys of ADHD will be met with skepticism at best and outright disdain and refusal at worse.

However, science develops daily and criminal defense attorneys with their ears to the ground are always aware of new ideas in criminal intent. Often, the issue of intent is a major factor in criminal cases. Intent goes to the mind state of the defendant. ADHD also is directly linked to the defendants mind. It is may therefore be possible, that as a result of a serious behavioral lapse due to ADHD, that a person does something illegal without having intended to do so.

As it stands today, ADHD does not excuse criminal conduct or render a person incompetent to stand trial. The courts have found that individuals with more serious psychiatric disorders, such as psychoses, may still be held responsible for their conduct and found guilty of alleged crimes. However, defense attorneys increasingly may rely on claims of ADHD to reduce the severity of an offense and subsequent court penalty. A crime requiring proof of intent, for instance, might be reduced to one involving merely reckless behavior or negligence if ADHD can be demonstrated as the mitigating factor. In such situations, criminal defense lawyers may attempt to document how the disorder impacted the accused in the particular circumstances surrounding the offense. However, research has not provided much in the way of hard data on the relationship between ADHD and criminality. For this reason, and because of a lack of legal precedents in this area, prosecutors will try to keep courts focused on factors related to guilt and intent, and not what might have caused the behavior.