The use of drawings for psychiatric evaluation of a defendant in a case of homicide.

From an initial spontaneous drawing on the back of a cigarette carton and through a series of subsequent drawings, a defendant, who shot and killed his victim before five witnesses, was granted a complete psychiatric examination on the findings of the drawing analysis. He was evaluated as a paranoid schizophrenic and eventually was acquitted but found insane and committed to a state hospital for treatment. His drawings indicated his threatened sexual identity through a disturbed body image while his movement from reality to disintegration and back is evidenced in corresponding crystalline and fragmentary form productions. The case points out the significance of drawings for psychiatric examination and evidence where they are available. An outline and discussion is appended of the history of the determination of criminal responsibility.