Sleepwalking a Valid Defense for Murder

Running head: Sleepwalking a Valid Defense for Murder

Is Sleepwalking a Valid Defense for Murder

Anthony Wooten
Waxahachie Global High School

Sleepwalking a Valid Defense for Murder

Is Sleepwalking a Valid Defense for Murder?

Introduction
Have you or anybody you know ever been caught sleepwalking? For most of you, it was
just some funny story to tell to your family and friends. There is, unfortunately, odd balls to
sleepwalking. In very rare cases, people have been known to end up getting severely injured, or
worse. In this essay, I am going to explain whether or not sleepwalking is a valid excuse for
murder, or any other crime for that matter.
Before I go any further, I want to explain what sleepwalking is and what exactly happens
during it. The definition of sleepwalking is fairly straight forward. Its simply doing activities
while still asleep. This usually occurs when someone is going from a deep stage of sleep to a
lighter one. More often than not, children between the ages of four to eight are usually the ones
sleepwalking. Adults are still capable of this though.
There are a couple of ways to tell if someone is sleepwalking. When someone is
sleepwalking, they often arent able to respond to anything. A lot of the time they wont even be
able to remember what they did. Jennifer Robinson, MD says that people will usually have a
glassy stare as he roams the house. Older kids will remember the event more often than
younger ones.
There are a couple of things listed by Jennifer Robinson that have been known to cause
sleepwalking. A couple of them are sleep deprivation, chaotic sleep schedule, stress, and if your
drunk. She also lists some medical conditions that have relations to sleepwalking. A few are heart
rhythm problems, fever, heartburn, nighttime asthma, nighttime seizures,restless leg syndrome
and obstructive sleep apnea. These are just a couple off of a longer list that she provided.
Current Trends in Data

Sleepwalking a Valid Defense for Murder

According to the Stanford Sleep Epidemiology Research Center (2012), twenty-nine

percent of sixteen thousand people surveyed have been caught sleepwalking at least once. That
might not seem like a lot at first, but when you do the math, thats 4,640 people that have the
potential of getting hurt just within fifteen states. I can only imagine what the numbers would be
if there was a nationwide study.
Mark R. Pressman, PhD did a study on arousal from sleep and violent behavior (2007).
He retrieved 32 case files from medical and legal literature. Ten of the cases involved
sleepwalking. He found that forty to ninety percent of sleepwalkers invoked violence when they
were provoked or when someone was within a close vicinity of them. It depends on a number of
factors. He states later that, Often the provocation was quite minor and the response greatly
exaggerated.
Linda Geddes wrote an article (2009) about Brian Thomas. He appeared in court and was
being charged with murder for strangling his wife in their camper. While he was doing that, he
was dreaming he was fending off intruders. The prosecutors, withdrew the charges after three
psychiatrists testified that locking him up would serve no useful purpose. The judge said that he
was not responsible for the actions that took place.
In 2014, John Lancaster published an article about Phyllis John and her near death
experience possibly due to sleepwalking. Ms. John had just met a guy named George Campbell.
They started to date. She said that the relationship started out great, but he became more and
more abusive. They had been dating for over a decade when she finally told him it was over. She
let him stay at her apartment until he had a place. Then, a couple of days later, she was making
breakfast one morning and George comes up from behind her and starts stabbing her with a knife
all across her neck. When the police got there, he jumped off of the building. The reason why

Sleepwalking a Valid Defense for Murder

people think it was because of sleepwalking is because in 2000, he did a similar act. When he
went to court, a psychiatrist came and said that he was sleep walking while he committed the
crime, so he couldnt be held responsible. Nobody knows to this day whether or not he was
sleepwalking when he attempted to stab and kill Ms. Phyllis John. Ms. John said,He wasn't
sleeping when he did that.
Thinking Critically
Looking back on the data, it is pretty obvious that there is no shortage of people who
suffer from sleepwalking. I didnt realize that there would be as many cases of violent
sleepwalkers as there were. It really did surprise me, mainly because I havent really heard that
much on the subject until I began to research it. I would say that sleepwalking is a valid excuse
for murder for a couple of reasons. According to Mark Pressmans study, there were sleepwalkers
who were attacking people for simply being close to them. He even said that there was often an
exaggerated response to a minor provocation. It wouldnt take that much of an imagination to
think that things could possibly escalate into something worse.
My second reason is that people seem to act out what they are dreaming when they are
sleepwalking. In Linda Geddes article, Mr. Thomas strangled his wife while he was fending off
intruders. That does not sound like a coincidence. Even when he was in court, three psychiatrists
said to not lock him up due to it serving, no useful purpose. Anybody under those
circumstances shouldnt be held responsible for anything that they do. Its not just Mr. Thomas
that is doing these things. There are many other cases where the suspect is dreaming of
something and the act it out in reality. In sleepwalking cases, it is fairly common and
reoccurring.

Sleepwalking a Valid Defense for Murder

The one thing that I am worried about is all of the people that would consider faking it.
There is really no set test to see what exact time you were sleepwalking or if you were at all.
Sleepwalking is a valid excuse for murder, but it seems fairly easy to fake. We dont need
innocent people getting locked up or guilty people getting away with murder and being free. We
just need to be careful when it comes to sleepwalking and murder. Because of that reason, we
need to attempt to make curing sleepwalking an exact science.
SocialResponsibility
Sleepwalkingisamoredangeroussleepingdisorderandshouldbetreatedlikeone.Alot
oflovedoneshavebeenseverelyinjuredorhavediedfromsomeonewiththisdisorder.Itisour
responsibilitytoraisetheawarenessofthisandtoassistinfundingtheresearchforit.There
wereatleast4,640peoplethathavesleepwalkedbefore,ifnotmore.Youcouldliterallybe
livingnextdoortooneandnotevenknow.Ifwedontacthastily,wecouldbelettingmoreand
moreinnocentpeoplegotoaplacethattheydontdeserve.
Anotherbenefitofraisingtheawarenessofthisdisorderisthatitwouldbringagreater
understandingofthisfieldofpsychology.Insteadoftherejustbeingtheoriesonwhypeople
sleepwalk,wecouldgetitdowntoanexactscience.Thisisoneofthemostwellknownsleeping
disordersthereis,butitcanalsobeoneofthemostdeadly.Wecouldeasilybeabletotellwhat
andwheretheproblemislocatedinthebrainandknowhowtofixit.Itcouldpotentiallysave
hundredsofthousandsoflives.Thatisthewholereasonwhythepsychologywascreated.To
diagnosepeoplewithaspecificdisorderandfigureouthowtohelpthemandotherssimilarto
them.
Inconclusion,sleepwalkingcanbeavaliddefenseformurderundertheappropriate
circumstances.

Sleepwalking a Valid Defense for Murder

Reference

Roustan, W. (2012, May 20). Sleepwalking Crimes: Some accused have been found not guilty.
Retrieved November 14, 2014, from http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-05-20/health/flsleepwalking-crimes-20120520_1_kenneth-parks-fondling-disorders
Robinson, J. (2014, October 22). Sleepwalking Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments. Retrieved
November 14, 2014, from http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/sleepwalking-causes
Pressman, M. (2007, August 1). Disorders of Arousal from Sleep and Violent Behavior: The Role
of Physical Contact and Proximity. Retrieved November 14, 2014, from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1978391/
Geddes, L. (2009, November 24). Can you be blamed for sleepwalking crimes? Retrieved
November 17, 2014, from http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18189-can-you-be-blamed-forsleepwalking-crimes.html#.VGmMQDTF9yQ
Lancaster, J. (2014, October 15). George Campbell, sleepwalker not criminally responsible of
attempted murder, attacks again. Retrieved November 14, 2014, from
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/george-campbell-sleepwalker-not-criminallyresponsible-of-attempted-murder-attacks-again-1.2797034