raised in one percent of felony indictments; succeeds 1/4 of the time
Components of crime
: must involve a forbidden act and a guilty mind Þ lack of guilty mind sets stage for insanity plea
What constitutes legal insanity?
- just having a mental illness in not enough; in historical perspective:
(1) McNaughtan's Case
(1843): focused on cognition; the accused must be aware of:
nature and quality of the act
Example
: mentally retarded person may not realize that an act will result in death, or that death is permanent)
wrongfulness of the act -
evidence that wrongfulness is known: avoiding detection; fleeing the cops; hiding evidence, remorse
Example
: a schizophrenic who has a delusion that he owns a car cannot be held responsible for stealing that car because he believes he is right; another schizophrenic with unrelated delusions steals a car and later admits to guilt is held responsible because he was aware of the ‘wrongness’ of his actions)
brings up the idea that insanity must be linked to the act, not just coincidental mental disease
(2) Irresistible Impulse Rule (Parsons, 1887): brought volition into the equation; a person could be aware of nature, quality, and wrongfulness of act and still be unable to refrain from the act due to his mental disease
only used in some states currently
how to measure?: ‘policeman at the elbow’ - if there’s a cop standing there, would he/she still do it?
(3) Durham Case
(1954) (Product rule): a person is not responsible if act was a product of mental disease or defect
very liberal
Þ acquittals went up 14x when it was initiated Þ no longer used
(4) American Law Institute Rule
(Model Penal Code) (1955):
person is not responsible if a mental disease or defect renders him unable to appreciate criminality of the act or conform to the requirements of the law
the terms ‘mental disease or defect’ exclude those that only manifest during criminal act or antisocial behavior
(5) Federal Rule
(1984): rids volitional arm put forth in Irresistible Impulse Rule, and tends back towards McNaughtan
at the time of the act, the defendant was unable to appreciate the nature, quality, or wrongfulness of the act
Competency
refers to the legal degree of mental soundness necessary to carry out certain legal acts
always important to be sure to ask: competent to do what? (stand trial, confess, consent to surgery, etc)
competence is always assumed until proven otherwise
by showing that:
(1) the person has a mental disease
(2) the disease causes a defect in judgement
(3) the defect in judgement causes a specific incapacity to the matter in question (competent to do what?)
if a person is unable to take care of themselves or their estate, they may qualify for a guardian
Guardian of estate
: mental disorder must impair judgement and cause the patient to:
(1) squander his/her money (we cannot use our own value system to judge this - i.e. hookers might be a good investment to some people)
(2) hoard assets to the point of depriving himself or family of necessities
(3) be easily victimized by designing persons
Guardian of person
: necessary if unable to care for self
competence to make a will
(testamentary capacity):
(1) knowledge that one is making a will
(2) accurate knowledge of the value of one’s property
(3) understanding of one’s natural heirs (you can’t want to leave it all to a smelly cat, or your left shoe)
competence to enter into a contract
:
each party must have a true understanding of what they are doing
greater competence is necessary than that needed to make a will because an adversary interest is involved
competence to stand trial
:
requires an understanding of the charges and proceedings and the ability to cooperate with one's defense attorney
Criteria for involuntary commitment in Ohio
mental illness defined as: disorder of mood (depression), perception (hallucinations), orientation (dementia), or memory that grossly impairs judgement, behavior, capacity to recognize reality or ablitiy to meet the ordinary demands of life
this mental illness must cause: danger to self OR others OR inability to care for self and such care is not available in the community (i.e. family) OR patient will benefit from treatment
Summary
competence is a LEGAL decision
competence is SPECIFIC to the issue at hand; judgements of general competence are not made
competence is PRESUMED; competent until proven otherwise