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The Geek DefenseDo criminals with Asperger's syndrome deserve special treatment?

By Erica WestlyPosted Friday, Oct. 23, 2009, at 1:06 PM ET

Gary McKinnon Some time in the 1990s, during the heyday of the X-Files television show, a British computer enthusiast named Gary McKinnon became obsessed with the idea that the U.S. government had covered up evidence of UFO landings. As an unemployed contract worker, he had plenty of time to pursue his theory: Between 2001 and 2002, McKinnon hacked into nearly 100 U.S. military and NASA computers to look for documents pertaining to UFOs. Prosecutors say that at one point he shut down 2,000 computers in the Army's network. Should he ever be convicted in the United States for that crime and others, he'll face at least six years in federal prison.

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Now McKinnon is trying to convince European Court of Human Rights that he just can't take the stress of being extradited and made to stand trial. That's because he has Asperger's syndrome, a developmental disorder related to autism and characterized, in part, by compulsive behavior and a lack of interpersonal skills. His crime was a symptom of this condition, he says, and serving time in an American prison would be the worst kind of torture given the severity of his social impairments.

If (or when) McKinnon does get extradited, his "Asperger's defense" might still come in handy. Criminal defendants in the United States have been using similar tactics with varying degrees of success in recent years. In fact, it's not all that rare for criminal defendants with Asperger's to argue for leniency in cases of computer fraud, sexual misconduct, and murder. Three years ago, the defense even made its way into an episode of Boston Legal.

How does this gambit work? One of the hallmarks of having Asperger's is a severe difficulty navigating social situations. This awkwardness appears to stem from an inability to detect facial expressions and other social cues; people with autism and Asperger's display a notable lack of empathy for others. Indeed, a 2004 study (PDF) found that both disorders are associated with low scores on a test designed to measure social awareness and compassion. Defense lawyers have argued that violent criminals with Asperger's may therefore be incapable of understanding the harm they're inflicting on another human being.

That was more or less the tactic used by the team representing Robert Durst, a real estate heir who killed and dismembered his neighbor in 2001. Durst was charged with first-degree murder, but a psychiatrist testified that his actions were the result of emotional deficits and impulsive behavior associated with Asperger's—so the crime could not have been premeditated. The argument worked, and Durst was acquitted. Most judges and juries have been unconvinced that Asperger's can explain or excuse violent behavior, though. Last month, a judge in the United Kingdom sentenced a 22-year-old woman with Asperger's to life in prison for beating her mother to death, saying her lack of empathy didn't reduce the gravity of the crime.

Another, more successful approach to the Asperger's defense highlights its sufferers' propensity for obsessive, repetitive behavior. McKinnon says he couldn't stop hacking into government computers in his search for evidence of alien spacecraft. Is it fair to punish him for the combined impact of 100 separate crimes just because his compulsion played out in so many episodes? A similar argument has been made on behalf of defendants charged with possession of child pornography. In these cases, sentences are typically doled out according to the number of images found on a defendant's computer. Because people with Asperger's tend to become narrowly fixated on specific topics, they're often zealous collectors. Admittedly, child pornography is a strange thing to collect, but defense lawyers have successfully argued that people with Asperger's may not be in control of their collecting tendencies and could easily find themselves in the maximum sentencing category.

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Erica Westly has a M.S. in neuroscience and has written for Scientific American, the Scientist, and Discover magazine.

Photograph of Gary McKinnon by Shaun Curry/AFP/Getty Images

COMMENTS

Imagine for a moment that a murderer argued that, as a man, he was genetically programmed to be more violent than women - and that, as a result, he should get a lighter sentence than a woman would for the same crime. Well, that's the exact same argument we have here. Asperger's does not make you commit crimes, nor does it impede your understanding of the law. So why should it be a mitigating factor when you do decide to commit crimes?

-- Xando
(To reply, click here)

Downside of the Geek defense: The lawyers arguing that the Autistic cannot stop themselves and have no empathy, are in the same breath arguing that the Autistic criminal will always be a danger to society and therefore should be confined for the longest term possible.

-- question?
(To reply, click here)

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