ABSTRACT
Often unusual court cases raise important challenges for psychology and, indirectly, for the ways in which psychologists may help police investigations. This overlap – between the evidence a psychological expert may offer in court and the guidance that may be given to a police investigation – is brought into particularly sharp focus in those rare cases when behavioural and psychological issues are at the heart of determining guilt or innocence. Usually court cases revolve around matters of fact, material evidence, or even circumstantial evidence such as who could have been where when. But sometimes the facts of the case are so indeterminate that it is the character of both the victim and the defendant that are the central issue. If psychology has anything to offer the legal process, surely it must at least be able to comment on such matters?
