Professor Imwinkelried Comments for Media on Criminal Profiling

Professor Edward Imwinkelried commented on criminal profiling for an article originally published by Vulture and re-published by Slate. The article examines the realities of law enforcement’s use of psychological profiling in light of the debut of Mindhunter, a Netflix program based on the activities of criminal profilers.

“There’s no question of its value to investigators,” said Imwinkelried. Criminal profiling can be used like any other investigative tool to generate leads. However, Professor Imwinkelried emphasized that if at trial the profiler attempts to testify to a reconstruction of the crime, the profiler must be able to point to data or case studies validating any generalization the profiler relies on. After the U.S. Supreme Court's 1999 decision in KUMHO and the California Supreme Court's 2012 decision in SARGON, even "soft" science expertise is subject to scrutiny.

Professor Imwinkelried is a world-renowned evidence expert who has published extensively in the field.

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