Deborah Denno was quoted in a Popular Science article that examines the use of genetics criminal cases.
…courts have proved ready grounds for the genes-made-me-do-it ethical and science debate. Criminal defense cases have cited genetics nearly 80 times in the U.S. between 1994 and 2011. “Attorneys are getting more sophisticated in looking for explanations for behavior,” says Deborah Denno, director of the Fordham University Neuroscience and Law Center.
In the case of [Bradley] Waldroup, the jury spared him the death penalty and found instead that he should spend his life in prison. The killer-gene defense worked. After, when asked if Waldroup’s genetics informed her decision, one juror said, “Oh, I’m sure.”
But Denno says the role of gene variants, and links to increased risks of violence, has been misunderstood in the courts and by the media. Behavioral genetics seeks to study genetic as well as environmental sources for clues to behavior. It is interdisciplinary, incorporating psychology, sociology, statistics, and other fields. “While genes influence behavior,” Denno has noted, “they do not govern nor determine it.”
