Am J Psychiatry 1980; 137:1238-1240
Copyright © 1980 by American Psychiatric Association
Credibility and incredibility: the psychiatric examination of the complaining witness
RL Goldstein
Psychiatrists are called on to evaluate the credibility (and incredibility)
of complaining witnesses in criminal proceedings despite a longstanding
controversy about their ability to accurately make such determinations. The
author discusses the history of such psychiatric activity from Freud
through the Alger Hiss prejury trial, its current status in terms of
benefits to the criminal justice system, the legal and social questions it
raises (e.g., the competing issue of the complainant's right to privacy),
andthe court's restrictions on the psychiatrists. He presents two
illustrative case histories.
