Chapter 10: Excuse Defenses Flashcards
- Provocation of EED, “heat of passion”
- Duress
- Insanity
- Infancy
- Intoxication
- Syndromes
- Cultural defenses
Examples of Excuse Defenses
Defense of Duress: Case example
US v. Contento-Pancho
___ is violated if D is incompetent (cannot stand or be tried at trial)
Due Process
Does D have a mental disability that (a) prohibits her/hom from understanding the nature of proceedings OR (b) assisting with defense?
Test for competency
Insanity Defense: Procedural Issues
- D must provide notice and submit to testing
- In many jurisdictions, D has burden of proof
- VERY difficult to prove
- Jurisdictions differ on procedures and verdicts - most common are NGI (not guilty by reason of insanity) and GBI (guilty by reason of insanity)
- If defense is successful, it usually results in commitment to mental institutions
M’Naghten, irresistible impulse, product, MPC
Legal tests for insanity
Temporary insanity is ___ a separate defense
NOT
Two issues for jurisdictions to decide over Infancy
- At what age does criminal responsibility begin?
- At what age are young people tried as adults rather than as juveniles?
Two types of Intoxication Defense
- Involuntary intoxication (where intoxicating substances are unknowingly ingested by D) is usually permitted as a defense, it it rendered D insane or unable to form MR
- Voluntary intoxication (where substances are knowingly ingested by D) is a much weaker defense
___ defenses must be used with an existing defense, such as lack of MR or self-defense
Syndrome
State v Norman: relevant syndrome evidence
Battered woman syndrome
Nicholas Horner case: relevant syndrome evidence
PTSD
Geraldine Richter case: relevant syndrome evidence
PMS
___ must be used with an existing defense, such as lack of MR or self-defense
Cultural defenses
Gathering or delivering classified information in a way that could harm the US or benefit a foreign nation
Espionage
