Thursday, 24 July 2014

Forensic Neuropsychologist In Los Angeles Does Testing For Criminal Court Cases

By Miranda Sweeney


There is a requisite level of education required to perform the tasks of a forensic neuropsychologist. He or she must be qualified in several fields, including forensic psychology and clinical neuropsychology. The forensic neuropsychologist in Los Angeles must meet the legal standards required in the State of California.

He or she will finish an education that prepares him or her to be a licensed practicing psychologist. Additional training is needed to be board certified. Only those with the highest qualifications are eligible to be board certified.

The task of this professional is evaluating litigants facing criminal charges in a court of law. It is an extensive and sometimes lasts for three days. The final report indicates state of mind the accused is trying to fake insanity. Many alleged criminals will try to fool the examiner to evade conviction.

The intense testing has safeguards against the examiner being tricked. The information provided to the court in preparation for trial has questions posed in various ways to confirm whether the testee is being honest. This is the testing used to assess brain injuries by medical doctors.

The only way it is different is the application is to those charged with criminal activity. Brain dysfunction in the neurological or non-neurological sense will be discovered. The results of testing are turned over to the lawyer who requested the evaluation.

A person working in this capacity would have a strong interest in the practice of criminal law. Most of the individuals being evaluated are charged with vicious crimes. Murder, including death penalty cases is one example.

The testing is done for the purpose of helping the attorneys. In some instances a jury has already found the litigant guilty and he or she is imprisoned. Then an appeal is filed and this is when the forensic neuropsychological exam becomes crucial to the outcome of the appeal.

The evaluator has the potential to earn significant extra income performing the tests and possibly appearing as a witness. The tests cover many facets of the litigants personality. It begins with a review of social adjustment. The ability to remain employed at one job is telling.

A serious malady such as borderline personality disorder is often found. Many of these alleged criminals are psychopaths, individuals with no concern for the feelings of their victim. These are not valid excuses since they do not meet the requirements of legal insanity. Insanity and legal insanity differ in several ways.

Testing sometimes continues for days. Some facets of personality explored are perception, coordination, large and small motor skills and cognition. These individuals often do not understand the impact their crime has on others. Mental, visual and auditory acuity may be below the normal ranges.

In addition to those there is a personality assessment and checking for the existence of an emotional disorder. Language, nonverbal skills, learning rate and memory are important components of the assessment. Another two are learning abilities and cognitive flexibility.

A final report is compiled for the attorney to use in planning the case. After testing, the forensic neuropsychologist will be employed to serve as a witness during a trial. Most cases being tried involve rapists, home invaders and murderers. It is a large responsibility making sure they do not go free to hurt another victim.




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