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Blacking Out as an Escape from the Law

Veeha Verma

Remedial Blog Post for Quiz 11
Excessive alcohol consumption, to the extent where individuals start experiencing blackouts, is certainly not a new phenomenon. Often used as an excuse for several wayward behaviours, “liquid courage” has lain at the heart of several inexplicable situations. While some of these instances are truly harmless in nature, many criminal activities take place under the influence as well. The plead often becomes that the accused were unaware of their actions due to their intoxicated state. So does alcohol act as an amnesia inducing substance, leading their consumers to having no recollection of their own actions? Or, as is increasingly being speculated, is it used as a convenient escape, an excuse for otherwise criminal behaviour?
                A blackout may be understood as, “A phenomenon caused by the intake of any substance or medication in which short term and long term memory creation is impaired, therefore causing a complete inability to recall the past”. There is no way to overstate the role that alcohol plays in cultures around the world, especially college culture. Alcohol consumption is seen as not only a rite of passage for all college students, but also some kind of relief from work and responsibility. However, due to the unrestricted nature in which it is consumed the frequency of blackouts has increased. Unfortunately, this has also led to people refraining from taking responsibility for their actions while intoxicated, claiming they have no memory of the events that took place. Alcohol is known for worsening memory in general, as well as word and object association. This has led to substantiation to the claim that people had no control over their actions while intoxicated. However, where do we draw the line? If blackouts and the actions of individuals experiencing them are not the consumer’s fault, then is the rate of alcohol consumption? How does the law create an allowance for blackout cases and should they in the first place?
                The DSM-IV-TR recognizes organic amnesia and psychogenic amnesia, with three possible diagnostic criteria. The second criterion is that of substance induced amnesia, where blackouts would fall. Recent studies showing the surprising number of blackouts associated with social drinking, statistics showed that 51% of American college students had experienced at least one blackout in their lives. Alcohol abuse is highly related to criminal activities and assaults. At the same time amnesia is implicated in 40-70% homicidal cases. When the two come together in homicidal cases, psychiatrists find themselves heavily compromised on passing any kind of judgement. However, in reality there is no way to test the truth of the claims regarding alcohol-induced amnesia. So how does this affect criminal testimony? Most statutes in the United States of America do not allow for voluntary intoxication to justify any kind of criminal activity. Further, as even remembering a blackout and other related memories is highly subjective, the same cannot be used to testify.
                The fact that such a question should exist is surprising in the first place. A loss of memory in the aftermath of an event in no way implies that the person was not in control of their actions or responsible for them. To see a similar criminal framework, we can refer to the Wilson vs. U.S case that took place in 1968.         When the question of his competence was raised in court, the trial court struggled to hold him accountable due to his permanent retrograde amnesia from a car accident. However, they eventually found him guilty by proving his competence. His capacity to understand and infer details (in the example they used, regarding the case) by relying on alternative sources of information. The U.S court of appeals found that this definition of competence matched the Dusky Standard (the case used to determine competence). Hence, since the expression of blackout presents itself in a similar fashion, it is believed that alcohol blackout cases can be treated according to this standard. The allowance from responsibility and the freedom for persecution is not valid for alcohol induced blackout states.

Bibliography:
(1) Commentary: Alcoholic blackout and allegation of amnesia during criminal acts. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8027567_Commentary_Alcoholic_blackout_and_allegation_of_amnesia_during_criminal_acts [accessed May 04 2018].
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