Matricide by Failure to Act in Autism

We present clinical and forensic issues in the cases of two defendants diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to DSM-IV-TR criteria. ASD refers to a wide continuum of associated cognitive and neurobehavioral disorders, with three core features: impairments in socialization, impairment in verbal and nonverbal communication and restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour (Filipk et al. 1999). “Mindblindness” describes an essential aspect of the autism picture, the inability to perceive a point of view other than one’s own (MacNeil Horton and Lawrence 2003). Although ASD symptoms should be present from infancy or early childhood, the disorder may not be detected until later (Bastiaansen et al. 2010), and those who show no major impairment may not be diagnosed until they get in trouble (MacNeil Horton and Lawrence 2003). ‘Trouble’ may constitute a crime if it can be shown that an illegal act or omission was carried out by the person charged according to that behaviour. …