QEEG Accepted in Death Penalty Trial in Florida v. Nelson

Abstract

Quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) was accepted for the first time in a Frye Hearing in the death penalty phase of a murder case in Florida. Issues of reliability, validity, and the basic science of QEEG were addressed in the case. Linkages of the defendant's conduct, QEEG results, other testing, and history demonstrated his state of impairment, resulting in a sentence of life without parole. Implications for the future of QEEG and a hierarchy of usage argues that its acceptance in life-and-death decisions makes insurance reimbursement denials for QEEG and neurofeedback, based on the same science, unreasonable.