Defenses

Question 1

What is the MPC test for insanity?

Answer 1

As a result of mental disease or defect, D at the time of the conduct did not have the substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the act OR to confirm his conduct to the law.

Question 2

What are the elements of the irresistible-impulse test for insanity?

Answer 2

The defendant is not guilty if he lacked the capacity for self-control and free choice because mental disease or defect prevented him from being able to conform his conduct to the law.

Question 3

When is involuntary intoxication a valid defense to a crime?

Answer 3

Involuntary intoxication is a defense when the intoxication serves to negate an element of the crime, including specific as well as general intent crimes and malice crimes. Involuntary intoxication may also be a defense to a strict liability crime by negating the required actus reus (i.e., voluntary act).

Question 4

(1) When can an honest mistake of fact serve as a valid defense?

(2) What can a mistake of law serve as a valid defense?

Answer 4

(1) for specific intent crimes = any mistake of fact; for general intent crimes = only reasonable mistakes

(2) A mistake of law is only a valid defense if (i) the defendant relied on a court decision/administrative order or official interpretation; (ii) a statutory definition of a malum prohibitum crime was not available before the defendant’s conduct; or (iii) an honestly held mistake of law negates the required intent or mental state.

Question 5

When is voluntary intoxication a valid defense to a crime?

Answer 5

Voluntary intoxication is a defense to a specific intent crime if the intoxication prevents the formation of the required intent. Under the MPC, it is a defense to crimes requiring a mental state of purposefully or knowingly when the intoxication prevents forming that mental state.

Note- Voluntary intoxication is not a defense to crimes involving malice, recklessness, or negligence.