Adverse Childhood Experiences
The 1st District Court of Appeals of Michigan vacated a life without parole sentence following a felony murder conviction, finding that trial counsel was ineffective by failing to raise mitigating evidence on adolescent brain development and childhood trauma and abuse. The court stated in relevant part: Appellate counsel obtained a mitigation expert, Mary Cuddehe, to…
The Washington Appeals Division 2 reversed a conviction involving allegations of an 11-year-old child charged with attempted rape of a child, finding that the state failed to produce clear and convincing evidence that the child was capable of committing a criminal sexual act. The court stated in relevant part: “A child of at least 8…
From the introduction: “This brief is an accompaniment to a short video documentary, ‘Don’t Abandon Us: Addressing Youth, Crime, and Trauma.’ Both designed to help increase awareness among decision makers on how childhood trauma and adverse experiences can contribute to youth crime and future legal system involvement. In a moment of growing concern about crime,…
This expert report analyzes the presence of racial bias in a police encounter with Black teenage girls in Colorado. The report utilizes research on implicit racial bias, stereotype threat, adultification, and policing as trauma in its analysis of the facts of the case.
This article from Dr. Antoinette Kavanaugh and Dr. Thomas Grisso examines the roles experts can play in “Montgomery” resentencing cases. From the article: “In summary, experts can play an important role in the approximately five hundred Miller/ Montgomery cases pending in Pennsylvania’s courts. Experts retained by the defense can serve as educators or evaluators. In…
This article from the American Criminal Law Review “argues that our judicial system and legislatures, when crafting juvenile justice law, policy, and practice, cannot stop with merely incorporating the research behind the impact of normal adolescent development on the decisionmaking abilities of youth; they must also incorporate the research behind how the experience of trauma…
