Capacity Defences - Insanity Flashcards
1
Q
What is insanity ?
A
D must be labouring under such a defect of reason, from disease of mind, as not to know the nature & quality of the act s/he was doing
2
Q
How is insanity proved?
A
M’Naghten 1843: D has to prove suffering from
- Defect of reason
- Which must be the result of a disease of the mind
- Which causes D not to know the nature & quality of the act or not to know s/he was doing wrong
3
Q
Who does the burden of proof fall to and to what standard ?
A
Defence must prove and on the balance of probability
4
Q
Who decides whether D is insane
A
Jury
5
Q
What is defect of reason & what case
A
D’s powers of reasoning must be impaired
R v Clarke - absent mindedness or confusion not enough
6
Q
What is disease of the mind
A
The disease can be mental or physical - R v Kemp
7
Q
Example cases of diseases of the mind
A
- R v Sullivan : (Epilepsy and Alzheimer’s counts) - impairment doesn’t have to be permanent as-long as it existed at the time of the act
- R v Hennessy : high blood sugar levels because of diabetes is insanity (internal factor)
- R v Quick : (external factors) of diabetes is automatism (no food)
- R v Burgess : sleep-walking counts
- R v Coley : voluntary intoxication is external factor
8
Q
Examples of D not knowing nature & quality of act OR not knowing s/he is doing wrong
A
- R v Oye : not knowing nature
- R v Windle : D knew it was legally wrong so not insane
- R v Johnson : backs up windle
9
Q
If insanity is proven what can a judge impose ?
A
- hospital order
- supervision order
- absolute discharge
