By Reason of Insanity: Should Defendants with Traumatic Brain Injuries Be Held Accountable for Their Actions
By Reason of Insanity: Should Defendants with Traumatic Brain Injuries Be Held Accountable for Their Actions
Carolynn Sargent
Everest University
ENC 1102-12
12/28/12
“Six weeks after getting his driver’s license, Christopher Tiegreen was in a car collision near his home in Gainesville, Ga. Tiegreen’s Isuzu Trooper flipped several times, causing severe head injuries. A month later, Tiegreen emerged from a coma a different person. The impact of the crash caused damage to the frontal lobe of his brain and sheared his brain stem. During his recovery and rehabilitation, the usually gentle Tiegreen became violent toward his mother, as well as with other family members and rehab staff. On Sept. 11, 2009, Tiegreen walked out of a duplex apartment where he was supposed to be under 24-hour supervision. In a yard nearby he attacked a young woman holding her 20-month-old son. He was charged with aggravated assault, criminal attempt to commit a felony, false imprisonment, battery, sexual battery and cruelty to a child in the third degree.” (Davis, 2012). Is Christopher Tiegreen a different person now, with a severely impaired mental capacity, because of his traumatic brain injury, or is he just an angry, violent person who has simply committed his first crime? More succinctly; do Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) cause violent behavior in previously “normal” people, or is the TBI personality change simply a smoke screen being used to defend people with dangerous personality traits who happen to have a brain injury?
To begin with, a definition of Traumatic Brain Injury, especially as opposed to a head injury, as most people do confuse the two. The Mayo Clinic defines Traumatic Brain Injury as “Traumatic brain injury occurs when an external mechanical force causes brain dysfunction. (The Mayo Clinic, 2012).
Traumatic brain injury usually results from a violent blow or jolt to the head or body. An object penetrating the skull, such as a bullet or shattered piece of skull,
Carolynn Sargent
Everest University
ENC 1102-12
12/28/12
“Six weeks after getting his driver’s license, Christopher Tiegreen was in a car collision near his home in Gainesville, Ga. Tiegreen’s Isuzu Trooper flipped several times, causing severe head injuries. A month later, Tiegreen emerged from a coma a different person. The impact of the crash caused damage to the frontal lobe of his brain and sheared his brain stem. During his recovery and rehabilitation, the usually gentle Tiegreen became violent toward his mother, as well as with other family members and rehab staff. On Sept. 11, 2009, Tiegreen walked out of a duplex apartment where he was supposed to be under 24-hour supervision. In a yard nearby he attacked a young woman holding her 20-month-old son. He was charged with aggravated assault, criminal attempt to commit a felony, false imprisonment, battery, sexual battery and cruelty to a child in the third degree.” (Davis, 2012). Is Christopher Tiegreen a different person now, with a severely impaired mental capacity, because of his traumatic brain injury, or is he just an angry, violent person who has simply committed his first crime? More succinctly; do Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) cause violent behavior in previously “normal” people, or is the TBI personality change simply a smoke screen being used to defend people with dangerous personality traits who happen to have a brain injury?
To begin with, a definition of Traumatic Brain Injury, especially as opposed to a head injury, as most people do confuse the two. The Mayo Clinic defines Traumatic Brain Injury as “Traumatic brain injury occurs when an external mechanical force causes brain dysfunction. (The Mayo Clinic, 2012).
Traumatic brain injury usually results from a violent blow or jolt to the head or body. An object penetrating the skull, such as a bullet or shattered piece of skull,