Having the memory flood back in an overwhelming manner rather than in a controlled environment such as therapy could have an adverse effect on her mental health and put her in danger of self-harm, the neuropsychologist found.īut even if the woman received permanent name suppression, she would still potentially have to reveal a conviction to employers when applying for jobs, Priest noted as she argued for a discharge without conviction. Priest pointed to a report by forensic neuropsychologist Sabine Visser in which concern was raised that the defendant might have a rapid, traumatic return of her memory if her name is published. “She was a victim before she was an offender.” “Her offending is clearly born out of trauma,” her lawyer, Emma Priest, told the judge today.
The defendant was diagnosed with having suffered “dissociative amnesia”, possibly triggered by a traumatic event associated with conception. She spent about a year in psychiatric care before the criminal charge was filed against her. A DNA test confirmed the child was hers, but she continued to insist to police that the baby couldn’t have been hers and that she had no memory of giving birth. When confronted, the woman denied that she had been pregnant and insisted she was not sexually active. The woman did not appear to be markedly pregnant when she arrived at hospital, the judge noted today.Ī cleaner found the child’s body at 9am, about an hour after the defendant had been moved to another room. There is no evidence, authorities have said, that the defendant or her parents knew she had been pregnant. You remember getting married, you remember the college graduation, you remember these. “It is unknown how long the baby survived post-delivery, or indeed whether he had passed away immediately after birth,” court documents state. It’s clear from memory research that certain life events are more likely to be remembered than others. They also showed evidence of extensive congenital pneumonia, but that was unlikely to have been fatal had the baby received medical intervention.
His lungs indicated he was alive at birth.
A post-mortem exam of the child suggested he had a gestational age of 33 to 34 weeks, which would have made the birth premature.
0 kommentar(er)
