Brains on Trial With Alan Alda
★ 8 · 2013 · 60m · Documentary
Alan Alda speaks with legal experts and scientists to determine if developments in neuroscience could assist the criminal justice system. By visiting and participating in a dozen experiments, Alda gains insights into how, and what, the jurors, judges, witnesses and attorneys are thinking -- insights that may one day influence how the criminal justice system operates, and in some cases are already doing so.
Episodes
▶1. Determining GuiltPart 1 of 2. The ways in which advances in neuroscience may change the criminal-justice system are explored via the fictional trial of a teenager who's accused of attempted murder. Host Alan Alda also visits with neuroscientists.▶2. Deciding PunishmentPart 2 of 2. The fictional trial reaches the penalty phase, with the judge hearing from the court-appointed psychiatrist, victim's husband and defendant. Alan Alda, meanwhile, learns how neuroscience is already influencing the sentencing of defendants.