Karen Franklin, Ph.D.
Selected Topics:
Alcoholic Blackouts - Forensic Implications
Blackouts are sometimes confused with “passing out.” But, a person who is blacked out is awake and conscious. Their ability to encode or store information in their memory is just not working properly.
Alcohol blackouts can occur whenever people drink a large quantity of alcohol, especially spirits (“hard liquor”). They are especially likely when:
There is also some evidence of a genetic predisposition toward alcohol blackouts, and a higher rate of such blackouts among people with histories of serious head injury.
So, a first step is to try to determine the person’s blood-alcohol level (BAC) at the time of the alleged amnesia. If the person was arrested and a blood sample was taken, this may not be so difficult to reconstruct. If not, this is obviously harder. Witnesses may be able to corroborate the approximate quantity of alcohol consumed in a given time frame, after which mathematical computations will be necessary in order to obtain an approximate BAC. Without a blood test, however, this will only be a rough estimate at best.
Determining whether someone was in a blackout state from their behavior alone is next-to impossible. People can engage in quite elaborate activities while blacked out. For example, they may be able to drive a car, have a normal conversation, or engage in sexual relations.On the other hand, they may have deficits in behavior involving fine-motor functioning, because fine-motor functioning is almost invariably impaired when a person’s blood-alcohol level is high. So, for example, they are unlikely to be able to accurately fire a gun at a distant target.
Forensic psychologists have specialized methods to assist in determining when a person might be feigning a mental disorder or a memory deficit, including an alcohol blackout. While these methods are not foolproof, can assist a trier of fact in making the difficult determination of whether a claim of alcohol blackout is genuine or feigned.
Many criminal defendants do not realize that being in a blackout state does not necessarily excuse their crime. A blackout just relates to one’s later memory of what happened. While in a blackout, a person may still be able to recognize whether their behavior is right or wrong.
Indeed, alcohol has other effects that may be more relevant to legal culpability. These effects are dose-specific, and are more likely at high blood-alcohol levels. They include:
Forensic psychologists have specialized methods to assist in determining when a person is feigning a memory deficit, including an alcohol blackout. While these methods are not foolproof, can assist a trier of fact in making the difficult determination of whether a claim of alcohol blackout is genuine or feigned. Experts can also help explain alcohol’s other effects on mental functioning.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Merikangas, J. (2004) “Commentary: Alcoholic blackout – Does it remove Mens Rea?” Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry & the Law, 32 (4), 375-377.
van Oorsouw, K, et al (2004) “Alcoholic blackout for criminally relevant behavior.” Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry & the Law, 32 (4), 364-370.
