...Insanity Defense Before talking about insanity defense, I will define the world insanity first, which is something that people do to protect himself or herself without realizing the gravity or without realizing what he/she does when the action happens. It’s like a senseless action or mistake. Therefore, I did a little research about the “insanity defense”. Beside of my research I found that “the insanity defense in criminal term is where the defendant claims they are not responsible for their actions due to mental health problems”. Do they have to believe what the defendant says about that he/she is or was insane? I say no they have to make a test to show his/her insanity. As I say the law should brings something that show people or to prove the insanity of the defendant. Nonetheless the American law has come out with something that can prove or indentify the insanity of defendant like: M’Naghten Rule, the model penal code etc… In Maryland they uses model penal code to show if the defendant is was insane at the time he did the action. First the all the test of M’Naghten is “a test applied to determine whether a person accused of a crime was sane at the time of its commission and, therefore, criminal responsible for the wrongdoing.” (Queen v. M'Naghten, 8 Eng. Rep. 718 [1843]). The next test is the model penal code is the test that shows people that a defendant is not responsible for his/her act at the time he/she did the murder or something. Beside of my research I found...
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...http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/insanity_discussion_summary.pdf Definition: The insanity defence is set out in the “M’Naghten Rules” as laid down by the House of Lords in 1843. Must be suffering from the three points; Defect of reason, disease of the mind and not to know that doing or/ not to know it’s wrong. Burden of proof on D to show the balance of probabilities they are insane. It is generally accepted that there are problems with insanity. In only about 30 crown court cases a year is insanity used as a defence successfully in England and wales – this is a bad thing as the majority of offenders, prisoners have issues and self-medicate on drugs and become addicted and underlying health problems are never addressed. And therefore insanity defence could be used but isn’t. Unfair on people who could have qualified to use it but didn’t and are convicted. There are different disposals of it whether you are in the magistrates or in the crown court. ‘Disposed’ of differently in Magistrates where an order made under the mental health act 1983. Prosecution can raise insanity as an issue. Problems: 1. ‘Disease of the mind’ – M’Naughten in 1843, led to case law that distinguishes internal and external factors and as a result you get cases like Hennessy and Quick (diabetes). Insane meant something else back in 1843 and wouldn’t be associated with things such as diabetes and sleepwalking. Mind doesn’t mean brain; sleepwalking (burgess) and epilepsy...
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...I believe that the insanity defense is valid in situations when it is necessary. Many people believe that anyone can plea inanity and that those who do so, do so because they want to avoid a guilty plea. However, in our book it says that because the definitions of insanity vary, “insanity defense is not a haven for the faker, but instead a situation in which people with severe psychological and psychiatric problems often end up in prisons rather than hospitals,” (Fulero &Wrightsman, 2009). This proves that not everyone can plead insanity and those that do, do not always escape punishment. Therefore, it is valid, because not everyone can use it and those that should, do not even get special treatment. Yes, an individual’s state of mind at the...
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...Insanity Defense Donita Estes, Patrick Fostso, Jennia McCray, Yasmine McGee, Inga Payne CJA/354 October 22, 2012 Samara Belgarde, J.D. Insanity Defense The criminal justice system in America is one of the fair systems in the world where anyone will be innocent until proven of guilt. The whole concept of the court system emphasizes how our laws work regardless where we come from and how we look like or healthy or not anyone is entitles of due process. The idea that our justice and court system are fair to anyone on trial due to an arrest by probable cause and sentencing by a verdict guilty and not guilty of the jury. In the case or State v. Stu Dents, where the defendant was accused of killing his former girlfriend. We are going to elaborate how the charge of insanity can be plead in the defense case and in the other hand give some understanding how this plead play a role in the defendant case during the trial and after the trial in some states and particular California. Does your team feel this defendant is competent to stand trial? Why or why not? We believe that the defendant may not be competent to stand trial, due to the fact that he had has emotionally and mental issues. The defendant has no knowledge of the crime or its consequences, if put on the stand he may revert back to that emotional state of mind and will not be able to give and accurate statement and will not be able to understand charges and sentencing. What is required in your state for an insanity...
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...The “Insanity” Plea The “Insanity” Plea A criminal defendant who is found to have been legally insane in the course of committing a crime is relieved the criminal responsibility by the virtue of suffering from a mental disease (Findlaw, 2015). In some cases, the accused may be sentenced to a less severe sentence or punishment after being found on the wrong side of the law because of the mental impairment. Many nations allow the insanity defense in their legal systems. However, the accused must prove to the court that they were not on their senses or acted upon uncontrolled impulse or some variety of these factors when doing the wrongful doings. The general sense of insanity plea is to provide the alleged perpetrator of the criminal offense a fair trial. The society is even in agreement with this principle in extreme cases. Nonetheless, the major challenge falls on where to draw the line. That is, the circumstances where one can be considered insane and instances when he or she is not. It is worth noting that, no matter how appealing the crime itself is, it doesn’t demonstrate the level of insanity. Today, the legal systems use way too much of the insanity defenses. While there are many questionable defense tactics, insanity plea targets to protect the rights of the accused and further the course of justice. This paper discusses the insanity plea as used in the legal systems in the present times. What is the main purpose of insanity plea? How did it find...
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...There are rules regarding the insanity defense such as the M’Naughten, Durham, and Brawner rules. The M’Naughten rule a standard for judging legal insanity that requires that offenders not know what they were doing, or if they did, that they not know it was wrong. The Durham rule, a standard for judging legal insanity that holds that an accused is not criminally responsible if his or her unlawful act was the product of mental disease or mental defect. And the Brawner rule A somewhat vague rule for determining insanity created in the 1972 federal court case of United States v. Brawner, since superseded by statute, that asks the jury to decide whether the defendant could be justly held responsible for the criminal act with which he or she stands charged in the face of any claims of insanity or mental incapacity. Then you have the Irresistible Impulse Test, Guilty but Mentally Ill. The Irresistible Impulse Test is a standard for judging legal insanity that holds that a defendant is not guilty of a criminal offense if the person, by virtue of his or her mental state or psychological condition, was not able to resist committing the crime. For example is a child is abused and the parent of that child kills the person for abuse The mother or father could argue they were enraged by the violation of the child and that he or she was unable to control their actions. He or she need to prove that they were mentally ill at the time of the crime. Guilty but mentally ill is a finding that offenders...
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...Insanity Defense Paper Team B CJS/305 June 1, 2015 David Harper Insanity Defense Paper Mr. Stu Dents is charged with the murder of his girlfriend and a legal team has been chosen to represent him. At the time of his arrest, Mr. Dents was witnessed by police yelling such things as “Alien” and “I am God, let me go! I am God!” Now facing not only homicide but several other criminal charges such as burglary, assault on police, and kidnapping, Mr. Dents has made the choice to plead insanity. However, the question remains as to whether or not there is enough for an insanity defense. Should Mr. Dents stand trial? What are the state requirements for an insanity defense? What steps must be taken to prove insanity? Trial Mr. Dents’ defense team needs to decide if he should stand trial or not. Based on his arrest information a reasonable person would believe Mr. Dents to suffer from some sort of mental illness. However, when deciding if a defendant should stand trial or not the decision is not based on their mindset during the crime or the arrest. The decision is based on the mental state of the defendant at the start of trial. According to Criminal Law Today, “a person is competent to stand trial if he or she, at the time of trial, has sufficient present ability to consult with his or her lawyer with a reasonable degree of understanding and a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings” (Schmalleger, Hall, & Dolatowski, 2014). Mr. Dents has already consulted...
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...Deadly Deceivers: Why criminals shouldn’t be able to plea insanity Just imagine for a second this scenario. Its premier night for the most anticipated movie of the year “The Dark Knight Rises” and you’re finally making it into your seat after standing for about an hour outside the theatre. The lights dim as the movie starts, and bang! A guy busts through the door fully armed and starts firing into the seat. Seventy people are injured, twelve of them die. The man responsible for this crime is currently on trial, and has the chance to be acquitted because he plans on pleading insanity. Prosecutors in this case proclaim: This just allows the defense to think through how they want to proceed…That makes it easier for the defense to plan its best case. Holmes could plead insanity and would wind up in a mental hospital indefinitely – and would never face execution, if the jury finds in his favor (Campbell). This would not be fair to the people who were injured and to the loved ones of the people who lost their lives in the shooting. Just as a kid would do anything not to get in trouble by their mother, so would a criminal who could face life in jail or execution, which is why pleading insanity shouldn’t be up to a criminal, because they would do anything to get out of jail time. The insanity plea, also known as the insanity defense, is a type criminal defense used in order to reduce their liability in court. Barry S. Edwards, a Minnesota criminal defense attorney, asserts...
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...The Insanity Defense The insanity defense refers to that branch of the concept of insanity which defines the extent to which men accused of crimes may be relieved of criminal responsibility by virtue of mental disease. The terms of such a defense are to be found in the instructions presented by the trial judge to the jury at the close of a case. These instructions can be drawn from any of several rules used in the determination of mental illness. The final determination of mental illness rests solely on the jury who uses information drawn from the testimony of "expert" witnesses, usually professionals in the field of psychology. The net result of such a determination places an individual accordingly, be it placement in a mental facility, incarceration, or outright release. Due to these aforementioned factors, there are several problems raised by the existence of the insanity defense. Problems such as the actual possibility of determining mental illness, justifiable placement of judged "mentally ill" offenders, and the overall usefulness of such a defense. In all, I believe that these problems, as well as others which will be mentioned later, lead us to the conclusion that the insanity defense is useless and should be abolished entirely. Insanity is a legal, not a medical definition. Therefore, mental illness and insanity are not synonymous: only some mental illness constitutes insanity. Insanity, however, includes not only mental illness but also mental deficiencies. Due to...
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...Introduction In this paper, you will read about the different insanity statutes being used in our country and a little about how they became our insanity statutes. I am going to discuss which insanity statute is being used in the state I live in and how often it is used. Since we will know how often this defense is used, you will also learn how successful it is. I will discuss the major criticisms and whether the psychologist should provide an ultimate opinion in sanity cases. Lastly, we will learn about some of the difficulties in providing appropriate psychological treatment for the mentally ill who are not seen as insane and are subsequently convicted of their charges, while incarcerated. The Insanity Defense During a pretrial a defendant may opt to plea “not guilty by reason of insanity” (NGRI). The insanity statutes are; The M’Naughten Rule, Model Penal Code (which is now known as the Brawner Rule). “The M’Naughten rule was developed to determine whether or not an individual accused of a crime was mentally ill at the time the crime was committed, and if they would be held criminally responsible for their “wrongdoing” (M’Naughten Rule, n.d.). The Brawner Rule “states that a defendant is not responsible for criminal conduct if he, ‘at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect, [lacks] substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality [wrongfulness] of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law’” (Greene, 2010 p 210)...
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...Is it possible to get away with murder? Or any crime? If you plead defense of insanity you might. Many people over the years have pled that they aren’t criminally responsible or had an episode when they were committing a crime. The insanity defense was first brought into Canadian Legislation in the criminal code, 1892. It was thought that if someone was “incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of the act or omission” (Pilon, 1999) they were not criminally responsible. Although pleading insanity can be a scapegoat, some accused are not criminally responsible. The court has to determine if the defendant is fit for trial, conforms to the definition of insanity and look at treatment options. When someone commits a crime and they have...
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...Insanity defense is a mental disorder people use in criminal trials, saying that they were not in their right mind when they committed that crime. These people argue that, they shouldn’t be charge for a crime they committed, because they didn’t know better. In some cases those who committed crimes weren’t in their right state of mind, but other use this excuse to get out of jail time. A documented history of mental illness should be clearly stated be clearly established in insanity defense. Instead of the person just claiming they are crazy and getting away with the crime. The background of insanity defense McNaughton stated that “if a mad man or a natural fool, or a lunatic in the time of his lunacy do, this is no felonious act for they cannot be said to have any understanding will”. Then came the wild beast case (pbs.com insanity defense background) that started in the late 18th century. This test was used to see if the person who committed the crime was insane at the time, their actions should be of a baby or animal. In 1984 insanity defense Act was created, after the case on Hinckley and Ronald Reagan....
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...The Insanity Defense is one of many defenses to criminal liability that falls under the Excuse defense. When a person pleads excuse they admit that what they did was wrong, but under the circumstances they were put in, they aren’t responsible and shouldn’t be held responsible. Excuse defenses are presented after the prosecution has proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt, and when the defendant has yet to prove that their conduct was justified. When using the insanity defense, the defendant has to carry some of the burden of proof, proving that they have an excuse in order to avoid criminal responsibility. Insanity is a legal term used that refers to a mental disease or defect which would impair a person’s reason or will to control their actions. Much of the public...
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...Insanity is Insane Picture this: I just went to a liquor store, stole some liquor, shot the cashier, drove off drinking and driving, hit 20 people killing 7 and injuring 13 but that’s only because I’m insane. In court, they will do a series of test that proves I am insane. I will plead guilty of insanity and go to an institution where a close eye will be put on me. In 2014, a group study discovered that of all court cases, the insanity defense had be used in 1% of cases. In addition, the success rate of those cases is only about 26% (Apecsec). Let’s think about the word insanity, it translate to madness or mentally ill. Another word to check out is crazy, it translated to mean aggressively wild. Now that fine line is what is harder to determine....
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... In keeping the insanity defense, as it stands, the benefits outweigh the problems. This defense fixes problems with the mentally insane and leads to curing more of the mentally ill. Viewing the defense as a benefit seems to fit if it helps more people than it harms, although other views have been brought against it opposing the defense. The jurisdictions that have kept the defense see it rarely and take it as a claim of innocence. The innocent people who have severe mental illness might finally have an opportunity to become viable members of society through rehabilitation. This plea may also shed light on the severity and seriousness that mental illness plays in our communities as these individuals are of great...
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