Some people eat in their sleep. Some lash out at their spouses. But is it possible for normal people to commit complex crimes - even murder - while they're sleepwalking? With only a dead victim and a zoned-out sleepwalker at the scene of the crime, it's hard to know for sure. Will extensive sleep tests performed on accused murderers reveal the shocking truth - that it is possible to unknowingly kill someone in your sleep? If science says yes, what does the law say? Is sleepwalking a legitimate defense for murder? Find out how this sleep phenomenon manifests itself in the lives of everyday citizens - and how it stands up against the legal system.
Some people eat in their sleep. Some lash out at their spouses. But is it possible for normal people to commit complex crimes - even murder - while they're sleepwalking? With only a dead victim and a zoned-out sleepwalker at the scene of the crime, it's hard to know for sure. Will extensive sleep tests performed on accused murderers reveal the shocking truth - that it is possible to unknowingly kill someone in your sleep? If science says yes, what does the law say? Is sleepwalking a legitimate defense for murder? Find out how this sleep phenomenon manifests itself in the lives of everyday citizens - and how it stands up against the legal system.
General Note
Encoded with permission for digital streaming by Infobase on July 25, 2013.
Learn360 is distributed by Infobase for Films for the Humanities & Sciences, Cambridge Educational, Meridian Education, and Shopware.
Part of the series Is it real?
Content Note
The Sleepwalking Defense: Is it Legitimate? (3:04) -- Criminal Defense of a Parasomniac (4:15) -- Sleepwalking Acquittals (3:21) -- Evidence of Sleepwalking (1:12) -- Sleepwalking Stories (1:18) -- REM Sleep Science (1:52) -- NREM Sleep Stages (1:43) -- Influences on Somnambulism (1:32) -- A Sleep Study (2:22) -- Sleep Eating (4:38) -- Night Terrors and Sleep Sex (5:40) -- Sleepwalking Murder Defense (10:28) -- Controversial Sleepwalking Defense (3:48) -- Judicial Skepticism (3:02) -- Is the Sleepwalking Defense a Sham? (2:15) -- Credits: Sleepwalking: Is It Real? (0:17).