The Definition of Insanity as it Relates to Criminal Offences :: Criminal Justice

The hallucination defence force is a disproof asserted by an impeach in a criminal prosecution to avoid liability for the fit of a crime because, at the time of the crime, the person did not calculate the genius or quality or wrongfulness of the symbolizes.The frenzy defense is used by criminal defendants. The most common variation is cognitive insanity. Under the test for cognitive insanity, a defendant must see been so impaired by a mental disease or defect at the time of the act that he or she did not know the nature or quality of the act, or, if the defendant did know the nature or quality of the act, he or she did not know that the act was wrong. The vast majority of states lay off criminal defendants to invoke the cognitive insanity defense.Another form of the insanity defense is volitional insanity, or overpowering Impulse. A defense of irresistible impulse asserts that the defendant, although able to distinguish near from wrong at the time of the act, suffered fr om a mental disease or defect that made him or her incapable of controlling her or his actions. This defense is common in crimes of vengeance. For example, suppose that a child has been brutally assaulted. If an differently conscientious and law-abiding mother shoots the perpetrator, the mother may argue that she was so enraged that she became mentally ill and incapable of exerting self-control. Very few states allow the volitional insanity defense.The insanity defense should not be unlogical with Incompetency. Persons who are incompetent to stand trial are held in a mental institution until they are considered capable of participating in the proceedings.The insanity defense also should be kept separate from issues concerning mental retardation. The U.S. positive Court ruled in 2002 in Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 122 S. Ct. 2242, 153 L. Ed. 2d 335 (2002) that the execution of mentally retarded criminals constituted cruel and unusual punishment and that it was prohibited by Eighth Amendment. But if a person is acquitted by cause of insanity, execution is not an option.The insanity defense reflects the generally accepted whimsey that persons who cannot appreciate the consequences of their actions should not be punished for criminal acts. Most states mold the defense with statutes, but a few states allow the courts to craft the rules for its strait-laced use. Generally, the defense is available to a criminal defendant if the judge instructs the jury that it may consider whether the defendant was insane when the crime was committed.