Transcript
Hi there. My name is Katelyn Mullally, and I’ll be presenting research on plea understanding in individuals with FASD. To start, there are three things I want you to know.
First, most defendants in Western criminal legal systems, both youth and adults, will be asked to decide whether to plead guilty and waive their rights, or to plead not guilty, and the majority of criminal cases are resolved via guilty pleas.
Second, youth often have difficulty understanding plea information due to developmental factors, which might result in poor decision making and false guilty pleas. And they often require additional supports to make informed plea decisions.
And third, individuals with FASD are overrepresented in criminal legal settings due to a host of complex factors, and they may also have difficulties understanding plea-related information due to neuro-developmental challenges. And youth with FASD may experience sort of double jeopardy, due to the combined impact of their young age and their disability.
However, no studies have looked at plea understanding in individuals with FASD, which is really important for informing the development and use of supports. So this study sought to characterise plea understanding in four samples, which include youth and young adults, with, and without, FASD. We asked the defendants to pretend, or participants to pretend. they were a defendant who was offered a plea deal, and they reviewed legal materials that mimic those used in real world situations, and which outline the conditions and consequences of accepting a plea deal. We then ask them questions to assess their plea vocabulary, plea bargain knowledge and plea comprehension.
Overall, we found that participants with FASD presented with poor understanding. And they often misunderstood key aspects and consequences of pleas, such as whether a defendant who pleads guilty can change their mind or prove their innocence later. Participants with FASD generally performed worse than same age counterparts, and while we saw an increase in understanding with age among those without FASD, we didn’t see the same pattern for participants with FASD. And this is really important because it tells us that individuals with FASD need additional support to make informed plea decisions, and they continue to need these supports into adulthood.
While more research is needed, there are some important implications of this work. So first, it’s important that legal professionals are aware of an existing FASD diagnosis. So they know when additional supports are needed, and that they have education and training on FASD, so they know how to support these defendants. There’s also a need for enhanced screening and diagnostic services in the criminal legal system to identify those without a pre-existing FASD diagnosis. And there’s a need to evaluate current fleet processes in both the youth and adult systems, which we know weren’t built for individuals with FASD. So are they sufficient for this population and how are we supporting these defendants, helping them to understand and make informed plea decisions? Thank you very much.