Chapter 6: Defenses to Criminal Liability 2: Excuses Flashcards
insanity
the legal term that refers to a mental disease or defect that impairs the reason and/or will to control actions
civil commitment
a noncriminal (civil) proceeding in which courts have the power to decide if defendants who were insane when they committed their crimes are still insane
reason
psychologists call it “cognition”; the capacity to tell right from wrong
will
psychologists call it “volition,” most of us call it “willpower”; in the insanity tests, it refers to defendants’ power to control their actions
right-wrong test
(also called the McNaughton rule) the defendant suffered a defect of reason caused by a disease of the mind, and, consequently, at the time of the act didn’t know what she was doing or that the act was wrong
mental disease
most courts define it as psychosis, mostly paranoia and schizophrenia
mental defect
refers to mental retardation or brain damage severe enough to make it impossible to know what you’re doing, or if you know, you don’t know that it’s wrong
irresistible impulse test
we can’t blame or deter people who, because of a mental disease or defect know, that what they’re doing is “wrong” but can’t bring their actions into line with their knowledge of right and wrong
product-of-mental-illness test
(also called the Durham rule), acts that are the “products” of mental disease or defect excuse criminal liability
substantial capacity test
(the MPC Test) a person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality [wrongfulness] of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law.
diminished capacity
a failure-of-proof defense in which the defendant attempts to prove that the defendant, incapable of the requisite intent of the crime charged, is innocent of that crime but may well be guilty of a lesser one
diminished responsibility
an excuse defense in which the defendant argues, “What I did was wrong, but under the circumstances I’m less responsible”
waiver to adult criminal court
meaning the juvenile court gives up its jurisdiction over the case and turns it over to the adult criminal court
judicial waiver
when juvenile court judges use their discretion to transfer a juvenile to adult criminal court
defense of duress
when defendants use the excuse that they were forced to do what they did
