Bearing False Witness: Psychiatric Testimony in Nazi-Influenced Austria, 1928-1929

Abstract

Dr. Robert Sadoff’s teaching of honesty and integrity in forensic psychiatric work resonates both with current ethical principles and the ancient proscription against bearing false witness against one’s fellow citizen. This article explores the misuse of psychiatric testimony in a 1928-1929 murder prosecution in Innsbruck, Austria. Amid clear undercurrents of Nazism, a Jewish youth found himself on trial for the murder of his father. Though there was no evidence that he was guilty, the expert testimony included distorted presentations of psychology and Freud’s theory of the Oedipus complex. Freud and others protested the misuse of his work to convict the defendant, noting the difficulty in adapting psychoanalytic theory to legal settings. After two years in prison, the young man was set free, later becoming a world-renowned portrait photographer. Forensic professionals must continue to be vigilant in self-regulating the use of scientific information in legal settings.