Behavior: Why Psychiatrists Disagree in Court

Profound as psychology is, it's a knife that cuts both ways . . . You can prove anything by it . . . I am speaking of the abuse of psychology, gentlemen.

—Feodor Dostoevsky

The Brothers Karamazov

WAS Sirhan Sirhan fully responsible for his actions when he shot Robert Kennedy? No, say the four defense psychologists and psychiatrists who have examined Sirhan; as a paranoid schizophrenic, Sirhan was, in effect, incapable of fully premeditating his deed or weighing its risks. Yes, says the prosecution, and to back up the contention, it is calling counterexperts...

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