Occasionally a person with a history of seizures will commit a violent act. The presence of certain criteria may support the hypothesis that the act was a part of the epileptic fit and not a willful act.
Establishing that an act of violence was consequent to an epileptic fit should include all of the following:
(1) a proven diagnosis of epilepsy
(2) aggressive or violent acts should be characteristic for the patient during a seizure
(3) documentation of automatisms during seizures by monitoring (EEG, closed circuit video, history, etc.)
(4) presence of aggression during the epileptic automatisms verified by a videotaped-recorded seizure in which ictal epileptiform patterns are recorded on the electroencephalogram.
(5) a neurologist specializing in epilepsy should judge the alleged crime was part of a seizure
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