Included among circumstances in which intent could not possibly be formed are incidents of sleep violence. Automatisms are -- in theory -- not of a conscious mind, and may be noted as part of a defense, particularly in domestic cases. Under the close forensic scrutiny that a psychiatrist of The Forensic Panel performs, such assessments may include sleep disorder laboratory studies.
Because such specialized understanding of sleep disorders and sleep violence may escape traditional forensic examinations, expert forensic psychiatry assessments that evaluate the likelihood of rare conditions, like sleep activity, prevent fraudulent explanations from misleading the court. In less understood areas of forensic science such as sleep disorders and sleep violence, The Forensic Panel’s use of expert peer review ensures courts that esoteric conditions are diagnosed because they’ve earned it.