Nobody’s Child: A Tragedy, a Trial, and a History of the Insanity Defense 

By Fran Withrow 02.2021

Dorothy Dunn (not her real name) certainly seems guilty. There on the floor lies her three-year old grandson, dead. Did he fall or did Dunn kill him? Raymie has been dead for three days, is malnourished, has bruises on his head and body, and bears ligature marks around his ankle. Did Dunn abuse and then murder her grandson? If so, was Dunn insane at the time?

Dunn is arrested, handcuffed in front of her other children, and assigned a public defender, who asks this book’s author, Susan Vinocour, to determine whether Dunn is a candidate for the insanity defense.

Vinocour, a psychologist (and victim of child abuse herself), performs mental evaluations for the court, and is prepared to loathe Dunn. Raymie’s death is horrid, and Dunn has a flat, unemotional tone and an unappealing personality. After spending many hours with her; however, Vinocour has a change of heart. Perhaps all is not as it seems at first glance.

Over time, Vinocour learns that Dunn herself is the victim of abuse. She received only a sparse education and has limited intellectual skills. Race, prejudice, and poverty add to the uphill battles she faces. She is struggling to raise not only her own children (only one of whom seems to have avoided the family’s intellectual challenges) but is also forced by social workers to care for Raymie. Raymie was born prematurely to Dunn’s oldest daughter. Because Dunn’s daughter is addicted to cocaine, Raymie was too, and he now suffers from a variety of mental and behavioral difficulties. Dunn’s description of how she struggles to care for this little boy is heartrending. She attempts to keep him safe despite her scant skills and chronic exhaustion, but these, added to her lack of money and any kind of support, all conspire to come to a deadly end. 

Vinocour uses Dunn’s case to explore the history of the insanity defense and how it has changed (and remains the same) despite our ever increasing understanding of the brain and how it works. She goes beyond talking about the legal definition of insanity to explain that the larger system fails Dunn repeatedly both as a child herself and as an adult. The school system, social services, and child advocacy workers all had the potential to save Dunn from her desperate plight, and by doing so, to save Raymie as well. Vinocour’s account is both sobering and enlightening.

Dunn is sent to trial, and Vinocour describes with clarity ways the current legal system works against defendants. Prosecutors wield enormous power, judges can have their own biases, jurors are often not told the whole story, medical experts can be prevented from sharing everything they know. Overworked and understaffed public defenders cannot spend the time necessary to properly defend the accused. Even the persuasive abilities of the attorneys can affect the outcome of a trial.

This is the troubling story of a woman who remains resilient despite everything life throws at her. Is she insane? Or is our legal and social services system?