Insanity Defence Flashcards
What does not guilty by reason of insanity defence mean?
NGRI -defendant is arguing that they should be freed from criminal liability because they were legally insane at the time the crime was committed.
Core concept behind the ID?
Defendant has a serious mental illness or mental defect and is either:
Unable to recognise the consequences of their actions
Unable to recognise wrongfulness of their actions
Insanity vs mental illness
Insanity is legal concept
- not symptom of psychiatric disorder or a psychiatric disorder in itself
Mental illness is medical concept
- presence doesn’t relieve a defendant of responsibility for an illegal act.
What do most who plead NGRI have in common?
Most have been diagnosed with a mental disorder or developmental disability
What’s the forensic definition of ID?
Requires a specific type and level of impairment delineated by legal, not clinical, criteria
ID in the UK?
M’Naghten Rule
Derived from his murder trial
Acquitted on the grounds that he was insane at the time.
What’s the M’Naghten Rule?
At the time of committing the act the party accused was labouring under such a defect of reason, arising from a disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing, or, if he did know it, that he did not know what he was doing was wrong
What’s guilty but mentally ill?
GBMI - applies to defendants who were mentally ill at the time, but nonetheless recognised the consequences and wrongfulness of their actions.
This verdicts holds the same as guilty verdict
Prevalence of the ID?
Surveyed the use of the ID in 8 states
Found was used in approx 1% of all felony cases
26% raising the ID plea were acquitted
Characteristics of defendant pleading and those acquitted?
Females are more likely to be acquitted
Schizophrenics are more likely to be acquitted than those with other disorders
Judges are more likely to acquit on the basis of an NGRI plea than jurors
Those who had high hospital rates
High arrest rates
Most are diagnosed with severe mental disorder
Demonstrate below normal intelligence
What happens after NGRI acquittal?
Defendant transferred to treatment centre
Criterion for release - no danger to themselves or others
Many spend decades in inpatient centres, or even the rest of their lives
Public perception of ID?
Mixed
Most overestimate frequency its invoked and how successful
Misconceptions can influence high-profile applications
Public perception of ID? (Hans, 1986)
Support for existence was evenly split
89% thought it was loophole to freedom
Ppts estimated 38% invoke ID (only 1%) and success was 36% (only 26%)
Estimated 26% were released immediately, only 51% to centres (almost all)
Public perception of ID - myths
ID is overused (people overestimate, actually only 1%)
Limited to murder cases (fewer than 1/3)
No risk to pleading insanity (serve longer sentences if guilty)
Acquittees released from custody (almost always sent to mental hospital)
Acquittees spend less time in custody than normal (more time)
Most cases feature ‘battle of the experts’ (experts for defence and prosecution agree with each other on 80%)
Criminal defence attorneys overuse (many examples of them failing to do it)
A rich man defence (disproportionately poor)
Criminal defendants who plead are usually fake (rarely the case)
Factors influencing negative perceptions of ID?
Political affiliations - republicans more negative towards ID
Attitudes towards capital punishment - those in favour more negative towards ID
Overestimation of the use
