title: [When the suspect hears voices: feigned imperative hallucinations].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  On occasion a suspect will feign psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations in order to trivialize their criminal responsibility. If doctors exercise only their clinical judgement, however, every now and then they will fail to identify a malingerer.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 38-year-old male was remanded in custody. He was accused of having murdered 2 family members. He claimed that he had committed the murders as a result of hearing imperative hallucinations. We conducted a structured interview and specially designed tests to examine the plausibility of this claim. All our instruments pointed to the man having feigned his imperative hallucinations. When confronted with this, he confirmed that he had simulated his hallucinations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Feigned hallucinations in a forensic setting can be detected using validated tests.
authors.affiliation: Universiteit Maastricht, faculteit Psychologie en Neurowetenschappen, sectie Forensische Psychologie, Maastricht, the Netherlands. H.Merckelbach@maastrichtuniversity.nl
authors.forename: Harald L G J
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Merckelbach
authors.forename: Maarten J V
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Marko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jelicic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003415:Crime; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry / Q000379:methods*; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D006708:Homicide / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male