title: The presence of low IQ and mental retardation among murder defendants referred for pretrial evaluation.
abstract: After an overview of definitions of mental retardation and recent case law regarding mental retardation and the death penalty, this paper presents a study of factors associated with a mental retardation (MR) diagnosis among murder defendants. Subjects with a full-scale IQ< or =70 (n=42) were compared with other pretrial murder defendants (n=228) referred for forensic evaluation over a 5-year period. Subjects with an IQ< or =70 who were diagnosed with MR were compared with subjects with an IQ< or =70 who did not receive this diagnosis. Female murder defendants were more likely to receive a diagnosis of MR (p=0.03). MR was also more commonly diagnosed in subjects with an Axis I cognitive disorder (p=0.018). Having an IQ< or =70 was more common in subjects with a psychotic and substance use disorder (p=0.03) and did not necessarily lead to a diagnosis of MR in this subgroup. Implications for diagnosing MR among murder defendants are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia, SC 29203, USA. gdwyer@gw.mp.sc.edu
authors.forename: R Gregg
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Dwyer
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Frierson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D019992:Databases as Topic; D005260:Female; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006708:Homicide / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007360:Intelligence; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D012737:Sex Factors; D013022:South Carolina; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis