Videotaping of Forensic psychiatric Evaluations

Forensic psychiatry, like other areas of medicine, is working to establish standards of practice as the subspecialty expands. There are a growing number of experts who routinely videotape or audiotape their evaluations. Some of them have proposed that videotaping should be the standard of practice for forensic evaluations. The purposes of the AAPL Task Force on Videotaping Forensic Interviews are to review the relevant case law, to consider the advantages and disadvantages of videotaping forensic interviews, and to give guidance to psychiatrists working as legal consultants. Many of the clinical issues are similar for audiotaping and videotaping, but this paper focuses on videotaping and the conclusions pertain to videotaping. The first part of this report discusses the clinical and forensic advantages and disadvantages of videotaping forensic interviews. The next section will examine the emerging case law on videotapes of forensic interviews. The third part of the report will review the technique of admitting videotapes into evidence, with emphasis on the responsibility of the foren-