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Insanity Defense In Psychology

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The book’s definition of insanity refers to “the legal concept referring to the criminal’s state of mind at the time of the crime was committed. It requires that, due to a mental illness, a defendant lacks moral responsibility and culpability for the crime, and therefore should not be punished” (Costanzo, M., & Krauss, D. Forensic and legal psychology: Psychological science applied to law) There where overwhelming cases about defendant that tried to use the insanity defense. The role that the insanity defense played in conjunction with psychology was that the psychologist would have to choose diverse ways of stating that a defendant was insane. A long with providing expert testimony at trail or competence hearings the psychologists would inform …show more content…

The mental state could be mentioned at the sentencing hearing in hopes that the defendant would receive treatment while incarcerated. The insanity defense has a lot of elements to it like the M’Naghten rule where there are multiple parts to it For instance “(1) a presumption that the defendant are sane and responsible for the crime;(2) a requirement that, at the moment of the crime, the accused must have been laboring “under a defect of reason” or “from disease of the mind”; (3) a requirement that the defendant “did not know the nature and quality of the act he was doing, or if he did know it, that he did not know what he was doing was wrong” (Costanzo, M., & Krauss, D. Forensic and legal psychology: Psychological science applied to law). Example the not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) refer to the fact since a defendant’s mental state, the defendant should not be responsible for the criminal act do with the insanity. The other case was the Hinckley v. United State where the world got to witness Hinckley getting away with trying to kill the president of the United State and the only thing that happen to Hinckley had been committed to a psychiatric hospital and not correctional …show more content…

Next the guilty but mentally ill (GBMI) refers to when a defendant is guilty of a crime and goes to correctional faculty and receive treatment from the defendant’s mental state while in the correctional institution. Between the (NGRI), (GBMI) was mens rea defense, which means “a case presented by the defense that concedes the defendant committed the crime (actus reus) but argues that the defendants lack the requisite mental awareness and intent.” (Costanzo, M., & Krauss, D. Forensic and legal psychology: Psychological science applied to law) Well they came up the mens rea defense to help the defendants that were (GBMI) the defendants could be charge with a lesser offense then if they used the insanity defense there was no chance of getting convicted of a lesser offense. In general, the overall success of the insanity defense is real high “because judges often defer to the opinions of experts on insanity (note the 91% rate in the Hawaii sample), agreement between judges and an instrument or an expert tells us little about whether someone is truly insane.” (Costanzo, M., & Krauss, D. Forensic and legal psychology: Psychological science applied to law) However the four state that doesn’t have the insanity defense isn’t

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When it comes to the case Miller V. State, I believe that trial court refused to give the jury instructions regarding the insanity defense, which the defendant wished to have comunicated, because they wanted the jury to be able to decide imoartially. Miller was examined by three medical experts and they concluded that Miller satisfied the M'naughten insanity test when he stabbed Goring. The district court had instructed the jury to determine whether Miller was actually legally insane when he stabbed Goring. They wanted the jury to find proof of insanity at that time, and to also consider Miller's mental condition "before and after the killing to throw light on what Miller's mental condition was at the time of the killing" (Schmalleger

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At the 2002 trial, Yates pleaded not guilty, by using the insanity defense. The insanity defense argues that an individual should not be found guilty of a crime if they have a persistent psychiatric disease at the time the crime was committed. It was proved that Yates could tell right from wrong, so she did not meet the definition of the insanity in Texas (Walsh). The jury deliberated for almost four hours, and finally found Yates guilty. The jury rejected her insanity defense, and Yates was sentenced to life in prison.

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The defendant does not meet the standard for legal insanity in Delaware, using the American Legal Institute Test. Although, Howard the defendant, had a mental disorder Bipolar 2, it did not cause impairment at the time of the sexual assault. Mood disorders are relevant to volitional tests, but not to cognitive tests. Since Delaware is under ALI, it has to prove that both the cognitive and volitional prong was passed. Howard sexually assaulted, his ex-coworker out of his own control and sane mindset.

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Dr. Mark Nolan, Senior Lecturer at ANU College of Law, says that the NGRI plea “enables defendants to avoid criminal liability and standard criminal punishment” (Nolan 8). The main disagreement with America is the focus whether if the “guilty defendant” pursues to misuse the “Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity” as an alternative to imprisonment or if the criminally accused was at the time of committing the crime “clinically insane” and in need psychotherapy. Therefore, during this discussion of opposing viewpoints concerning the insanity defense being misused or ethical are going to be

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Those matters are for the trier of fact alone. Id. In this criminal case a mental health expert is prepared to offer an opinion on the whether the defendant was insane

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It lists that in order to declare a defendant not guilty by insanity, it must be proven that the person is significantly mentally ill and was not able to differentiate right from wrong in the instance of their crime (Levin). There was no dispute between prosecution or defense that Andrea was mentally ill, it was simply if her illness inhibited her judgement enough to meet the legal standards. Her family and defense attorney all believed that there was no questioning the severity of her condition, she simply could not function as a regular human being, and her judgement was clouded. Andrea’s mother-in-law, Dora Yates, who frequently watched over Andrea and witnessed her daily condition, stated, “I don't think she knew how to cope . . . how to function.

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A case can be changed due to the call of the insanity plea. Nevertheless, This may cause a possible difference to the charge of the defence. In a court case dealing with murder such as the issue with the Clutter family, the Insanity plea was brought into thought to test if Perry and Dick were mentally stable during that time. By definition, the insanity plea is an argument stating the defense was not responsible for their actions due to a psychiatric disease at the time of the act, consequently, making him/her unaware of the occurring actions moreover the later consequences. In the book, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, the main characters Perry and Dick killed the Clutter family committing the crime of the century.

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People have their own opinions when it comes to issuing court trials, especially when it comes down to a person being found guilty, or a person being found not guilty by reason of insanity. Did this person know what they were doing when they committed a crime? Did they know it was morally wrong? Do they have any remorse for what they have done? These are all questions courts look at when someone has committed a brutal crime, but is it fair to claim someone as “insane” or “mentally ill”, rather than putting them behind bars and calling them a criminal like the rest of them?

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1445 Words | 6 Pages

The court dismisses the plea quickly because “the justice system ignores psychosocial complexities and histories in favor of black and white definitions of right and wrong” (Myers). The justice system in this time very rarely accepted pleas of insanity or mental illness. Capote wrote that “after an hour’s conversation with the defendants, the doctor rule[d] out that neither man

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641 Words | 3 Pages

Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI) is a form of insanity defense that allows for an individual to not be found guilty of a crime due to a mental defect or disease that results in a lack of mens rea, or the capability to intentionally commit a crime. However, simply having a mental illness or defect does not guarantee that an offender will be found NGRI. Not only would a defendant have to have a major or severe mental illness or disease, but the defendant would have to prove that their condition impaired them so greatly as to not have any control over their behavior or any concept that they had done anything wrong at the time of the offense. Although Bob undoubtedly had a diminished capacity for logic and reason in this case, the example as given does not provide enough detail to determine the nature of Bob’s personality or his potential motives in committing this crime. Nevertheless, there is one major flaw to Bob’s insanity defense: he tried to hide the crime.

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1035 Words | 5 Pages

"The median amount of time taken to complete adult NCRMD cases was 132 days, which is 17% longer than the 113 days taken for non-NCRMD criminal court cases." (Miladinovic, Z., & Lukassen, J., 2015, February 25) This data demonstrates that those in charge of the case must know the case in order to set a just trial. "The verdict of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCRMD) is a final decision reached when a judge or jury finds that an accused was suffering from a mental disorder while committing the criminal act and as a result is exempt from criminal responsibility (Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, s.672.34). An individual found NCRMD is neither acquitted nor found guilty (Latimer and Lawrence 2006); the court or Review Board may make one of three dispositions: absolute discharge, conditional discharge, or detention in a hospital (Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, s.672.54)."

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459 Words | 2 Pages

There are actually many intricacies associated in a mental health court process. For instance, there are “probations, parole, the courts, jails, the community health system…” involve in the cases, which is difficult to manage, especially, for someone with a mental disorder (Docgurley, 2011). Simply penalizing accused mentally ill people will not help them become better, so through this court system, they can maintain their human rights and have the support they require to improve their condition. Mental health court, thus, is a sufficient system because it will not incarcerate and isolate indicted mentally ill

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The M'Naghten Rule states that the only proof of insanity is if a person is unable to distinguish between right and wrong at the time they commit a crime. Under this law, many mental insane people are classified as sane because they show no physical prominent issues. (Capote, Conversations 129-130)The M'Naghten rule plays a giant role in the novel In Cold Blood. A doctor is put on the stand during the trial of Dick and Perry to testify regarding their mental illnesses. The novel states, " It was hopeless because though Dr.Jones agreed to elaborate, the prosecution was entitled to object -- and did, citing the fact that Kansas law allowed nothing more than a yes or no reply to that pertinent

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An incident where pleading insanity worked in one’s favor is heard in the case of Lee Robin. Lee Robin was a 30-year-old doctor who was charged with murder of his wife and his two year old daughter. Robin admitted to killing his wife with an ax and drowning his infant daughter. After the murders, Robin called the police and reported that there was “a problem” at his home. Soon after, the police arrived.

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Insanity is not a valid defense for one main reason. You are either crazy or you are not. In the end, Mack Herring was acquitted for murder. He felt as if he was pressured into doing it and he also thought he was helping her by committing the crime.

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