Essay On Criminal Defense

In order to convict a criminal, prosecutors are required to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The most common criminal defenses fall under two categories, excuse and justification. An excuse is when a person admits to committing a criminal act but believes that he or she can’t be held responsible because there was no criminal content. Some excuses used in court today are; mental disorder, infancy (age), mistake of fact, mistake of law and automatism. In justification defenses, the accused admits to wrongdoing but argues that he or she should be freed from culpability or assessed reduced liability for the crime due to mitigating circumstances surrounding offense. These defenses are factors that excuse a competent person from liability for
a criminal act. Some examples of a justification defense are duress, entrapment, self-defense, and provocation. A mental disorder is a disease of the mind.
“Disease of the mind”, is any illness, disorder, or abnormal condition which impairs the human mind and its functioning. It excludes temporary conditions of alcohol, drugs, hysteria or concussion. People use this as an excuse to criminal liability because mental illness is covered under section 16 of the Criminal Code. The insanity defense prevents a mentally-incapacitated person from being criminally punished. In order to plea insanity, the courts provide a variety of legal test to help determine the mental state of the offender. The most used test is the M’Naghten rule; which states that an offender is insane if mental illness prevents them from knowing the difference between right and wrong. Another test that states like to use is the “irresistible impulse” test. This test states that “If the defendant is suffering from a mental disease that prevents control of personal conduct, he or she may be adjudged not guilty by reason of insanity, even if he or she knows the difference between right and wrong.” Pleading insanity is by no means a “get out of jail free” card. Most offenders that are found not guilty because of insanity are sent to a mental health institution. They are required to be there for a long period of time, most spend longer in the institution than they would have spent in prison if they had been found
guilty. Infancy defense, also known as “The Age of Criminal Responsibility”, states that minors under a certain age group are incapable of committing a crime in the same manner as adults, and they cannot be held legally responsible for their actions. Children lack emotional and cognitive maturity to understand morals of their actions; therefore they can’t be prosecuted as adults.