Dr. Murrie serves as the Director of ILPPP and as a Professor in the UVA Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences. He oversees the UVA Forensic Clinic within ILPPP, the UVA postdoctoral fellowship in forensic psychology, and ILPPP’s state-university partnership to provide training programs in forensic evaluation.
As a clinician, Dr. Murrie performs forensic evaluations in criminal and civil cases through the ILPPP’s Forensic Clinic, with an emphasis on capital cases. As a scholar, Dr. Murrie’s research and teaching address a variety of topics in forensic assessment, with a primary program of research addressing bias and quality control in forensic mental health evaluations. He also works nationally with several states to improve forensic mental health service systems.
Select Publications:
Murrie, D.C. & Zelle, H. (in press). Criminal Competencies. In P. A. Zapf (Ed.-in-Chief), APA Handbook of Forensic Psychology (2nd ed.): American Psychological Association.
Guarnera, L.A., Murrie, D.C., Gardner, B., & Bender, S. (2024). Are forensic evaluators more likely to conclude that Black or White defendants are malingering? Law and Human Behavior, 48(5-6), 545–563.
Murrie, D.C., Gowensmith, W.N., Kois, L. & Packer, I. (2023). Evaluations of competence to stand trial are evolving amid a national “competency crisis.” Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 41(5), 310-325.
Murrie, D.C., & Boccaccini, M. T. (2023). How reliable and objective are forensic mental health evaluators? In D. DeMatteo & K. C. Scherr (Eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Law. (pp. 343-364). Oxford University Press.
Murrie, D.C., Gardner, B.O., & Torres, A.N. (2022). The impact of misdemeanor arrests in forensic mental health services: A state-wide review of Virginia Competence to Stand Trial evaluations. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 28(1), 53-66.
Murrie, D.C., Gardner, B.O., & Torres, A.N. (2020). Competency to stand trial evaluations: A state-wide review of court-ordered reports. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 1-19.
Murrie, D.C., Boccaccini, M.T., Guarnera, L.A., & Rufino, K.A. (2013). Are forensic experts biased by the side that retained them? Psychological Science, 24 (10) 1889-1897
Research interests:
Understanding and reducing bias and unreliability in forensic mental health evaluations
Improving forensic service systems, including competence evaluation, restoration services, and diversion efforts
Clinical interests:
Competence to stand trial
Evaluations and consultation in capital (death penalty) cases
Violence risk assessment and threat assessment