Martin Blinder
Encyclopedia
Martin Blinder, M.D. is a physician and forensic psychiatrist
licensed to practice in Hawaii, California, Kentucky and Georgia. He is Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal, Family Therapy, past Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, and Past Adjunct Professor of Law at Hastings School of the Law, San Francisco. He was instrumental in the development of the use of lithium carbonate for treatment of bipolar disorder and in winning FDA approval for use of this drug in the United States.
In the early 1970s he was a City Councilman and Mayor of San Anselmo, California, and authored the first law restricting public smoking in the United States. He is author of Psychiatry in the Everyday Practice of Law, Fourth Edition (Thomson/West), Lovers, Killers, Husbands and Wives (St. Martin's Press), Fluke (Permanent Press), Choosing Lovers (Glenbridge Publishing) and The Lucrecia Borgia Cookbook (Renaissance Press), as well as author of articles for the Journal of American Medical Association, The Archives of General Psychiatry, The American Journal of Neuropsychiatry, Judicature, Journal of the California State Bar Association, Journal of the Hawaiian State Bar Association, and Journal of the American Bar Association, among many others.
He has primary offices in Ka'a'wa, Hawaii, and San Anselmo/San Francisco, California.
Blinder is noted for his testimony in the 1979 trial of Dan White
. In that trial, Blinder testified that White was suffering from depression and pointed to several behavioral symptoms of that depression, including the fact that White had gone from being highly health-conscious to consuming sugary foods and drinks such as Twinkies and Coca-Cola
. A remark by Blinder that the sugar might have worsened such a depression was widely reported as a claim that the sugar had contributed to the depression, giving rise to the derisive label, the Twinkie defense
, for defendants' claims that an unusual biological factor contributed to their motivation to commit a crime.
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
licensed to practice in Hawaii, California, Kentucky and Georgia. He is Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal, Family Therapy, past Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, and Past Adjunct Professor of Law at Hastings School of the Law, San Francisco. He was instrumental in the development of the use of lithium carbonate for treatment of bipolar disorder and in winning FDA approval for use of this drug in the United States.
In the early 1970s he was a City Councilman and Mayor of San Anselmo, California, and authored the first law restricting public smoking in the United States. He is author of Psychiatry in the Everyday Practice of Law, Fourth Edition (Thomson/West), Lovers, Killers, Husbands and Wives (St. Martin's Press), Fluke (Permanent Press), Choosing Lovers (Glenbridge Publishing) and The Lucrecia Borgia Cookbook (Renaissance Press), as well as author of articles for the Journal of American Medical Association, The Archives of General Psychiatry, The American Journal of Neuropsychiatry, Judicature, Journal of the California State Bar Association, Journal of the Hawaiian State Bar Association, and Journal of the American Bar Association, among many others.
He has primary offices in Ka'a'wa, Hawaii, and San Anselmo/San Francisco, California.
Blinder is noted for his testimony in the 1979 trial of Dan White
Dan White
Daniel James "Dan" White was a San Francisco supervisor who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, on Monday, November 27, 1978, at City Hall...
. In that trial, Blinder testified that White was suffering from depression and pointed to several behavioral symptoms of that depression, including the fact that White had gone from being highly health-conscious to consuming sugary foods and drinks such as Twinkies and Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
. A remark by Blinder that the sugar might have worsened such a depression was widely reported as a claim that the sugar had contributed to the depression, giving rise to the derisive label, the Twinkie defense
Twinkie defense
"Twinkie defense" is a derisive label for an improbable legal defense. It is not a recognized legal defense in jurisprudence, but a catchall term coined by reporters during their coverage of the trial of defendant Dan White for the murders of San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk and mayor...
, for defendants' claims that an unusual biological factor contributed to their motivation to commit a crime.