Insanity, Diminished Capacity, Incompetency

Question 1

M’Naghten Rule

Answer 1

Insanity Defense

• Due to mental disease or defect
• Defendant is unable to understand
  
  • 1) the nature and quality of his act, or
  • 2) that what he was doing was wrong

Question 2

MPC Insanity Defense

Answer 2

A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct

(1) as a result of mental disease or defect
(2) he lacks substantial capacity either
(3) to appreciate the criminality (wrongfulness) of his conduct or
(4) to conform his conduct to the requirements of law.

Question 3

Defense v. Negation of evidence

Answer 3

• A is charged with larceny of B’s hat.
  
  • A claims he has a mental illness and thought the hat was his - negation of evidence because no mens rea (intent to steal)
  • A knew he took B’s hat but mental illness made him believe the devil told him to do it - insanity defense

Question 4

Process of raising insanity defense

Answer 4

• Most defenses usually raised by pleading not guilty - if jury accepts defense, D walks
• For insanity, D must give notice of his intent to raise the defense so state can prepare to rebut defense with its own expert
• If defense is accepted, D is not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to mental hospital until he is no longer a danger to himself or others

Question 5

People v. Saille

People v. Bobo

Answer 5

• ​Amendment to CA Penal Code means that malice aforethought and intent to kill are one and the same
• Mental illness, other than to show insanity, can only be used to show that he did not form the intent to unlawfully kill
  
  • Not that he did not premeditate the killing

Question 6

Wolf - diminished capacity case.

Answer 6

• “sound mind and legal sanity are not the same thing”.
• Jury found that guy that killed his mother to impress girls knew that was he was doing wrong, he had plan and motive, he was peristent, after he did it he started to pray, he had a guily concious.
• Remourse, guilt.
• when attacking mom, “ i shouldnt be doing this”
• Confession - Jury could have found that these things indicated that he knew what he was doing was wrong.
• Pre - planning - hiding the axe - evidenced he knew it was wrong.
• He was considered sane, but gave him diminished capacity so it was dropped from 1st to 2nd because he did not have maturity to meanifully weigh what he was doing.

Question 7

What is diminished capacity?

Answer 7

Mental health issues come and lessen responsibility.

D was not able to weigh the consequenses of what he was doing.

Diminished capacity means that the mental condition prevented the defendant from forming the required mental state or “negated his capacity” to form it.

Introduced in the guilt phase - most states only allow it for specific intent crimes.

Most Jurisdictions limited defense to situations where there is a lesser included charge (Murder 1 to murder 2 or manslaughter).

Question 8

Crazy dude lives in dudes house and steals shit. - Wetmore. Not guily or Not guilty for reason of insanity?

Answer 8

No burglury because he had the mental health issue which prevented him from forming the requisite intent to commit a felony therin beacuse he thought the apartment was his.

• If the evidence of a defendant’s mental state shows that he lacked the specific intent to commit a crime, the evidence cannot be excluded from the guilt phase simply because it might influence the later decision during the insanity phase.

If mental health is relevant, you can introduce evidence of DC in the guilt phase, and if they lose, you can bring it up again.

Question 9

Did Not vs. Could not for evidence - Wetmore

Answer 9

• D can use diminished capacity to show at guilt phase of trial that they did not have requisite intent
  
  • Prosecution has burden of proving intent beyond reasonable doubt
  • If successful, elements of crime not satisfied and D is not guilty
• Compared to D showing they could not form requisite intent during insanity phase of trial
  
  • If successful, not guilty by reason of insanity
• Wetmore:

Question 10

What is the product rule?? what state?

Answer 10

Jury may determine D is not guilty by reason of insanity because the criminal act commited was the product of a mental disease.

New Hampshire

Question 11

Irresistible Impulse

Answer 11

• Due to some mental disease or defect
• Defendant should not be held criminally liable for his actions because he could not control his actions, even if he knew them to be wrong.

Question 13

Dimished Capacity

Answer 13

• Defendant permitted to present evidence that due to a mental condition she did not have the requisite intent or malice needed to convict of the crime charged.
• Most jurisdictions limit the defense:
  
  • To specific intent crimes
  • To situtions where there is a lesser included charge eg. Murder 1 to Murder 2 or Manslaughter
• If successful, D could avoid hospitalization or any medical after-care
  
  • Because D has been found not guilty in guilt phase of trial (compared to not guilty by insanity where D would still be hospitalized)

Question 14

People v. wells

Answer 14

California case that allowed evidence of “did not” in the guilt phase, allowing D to bring up evidence of mental health issues. If evidence of “could not”, only admissible in insanity phase.