Insanity Defense In Taxi Driver
Under the Model Penal Code (MPC) test, a criminal defendant must be found not guilty by reason of insanity if he is diagnosed with a relevant mental defect 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 of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. My client Hinckley suffers from a severe, chronic mental disorder. My client did not act on his own volition, but that his life was controlled by his pathological obsession with the movie, Taxi Driver, starring Jodie Foster. In that movie, the title character stalks the president and fights in a shootout. Hinckley's saw the movie
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15 times, and identified with the hero and was seeking to reenact the events of the movie in his own life. Hinckley is schizophrenic and he was acting by portraying the movie he was controlled by. There is evidence proving that my client is schizophrenic, his brain has signs of shrunken tissue via CAT scan. Shrunken tissue is a common symptom of schizophrenia. Hinckley is currently in need of inpatient hospitalization and without treatment his behavior is unpredictable. As it can be seen my client Hinckley suffers from a mental disorders and he didn’t not have the mental capacity to understand the actions that he took on March 30th, 1981.
After the Hinckley verdict the Insanity Defense Reform Act took effect, the changes were, placed the burden of proof on the defendant to establish the defense by clear and convincing evidence, limited the scope of expert testimony on ultimate legal issues, eliminated the defense of diminished capacity, created a special verdict of "not guilty only by reason of insanity," which triggers a commitment proceeding; and provided for Federal commitment of persons who become insane after having been found guilty or while serving a Federal prison sentence.
I believe the Insanity Defense Reform, made it more difficult for the defense to prove the insanity defense. Also with limiting conclusive opinionated “expert testimony” by so called experts in the field on mental disabilities. Without the expert witness in the Hinckley trial giving his opinion as to the insanity defense, jurors would not get conclusive or opinionated statements as evidence of the case. Now, is I were to use a hand writing expert that can produce hand writing samples and demonstrate to a court room that with his training and experience in the handwriting field he can match a particular writing sample to another, then that would be an expert testimony with proven facts that are not
opinionated.
15 times, and identified with the hero and was seeking to reenact the events of the movie in his own life. Hinckley is schizophrenic and he was acting by portraying the movie he was controlled by. There is evidence proving that my client is schizophrenic, his brain has signs of shrunken tissue via CAT scan. Shrunken tissue is a common symptom of schizophrenia. Hinckley is currently in need of inpatient hospitalization and without treatment his behavior is unpredictable. As it can be seen my client Hinckley suffers from a mental disorders and he didn’t not have the mental capacity to understand the actions that he took on March 30th, 1981.
After the Hinckley verdict the Insanity Defense Reform Act took effect, the changes were, placed the burden of proof on the defendant to establish the defense by clear and convincing evidence, limited the scope of expert testimony on ultimate legal issues, eliminated the defense of diminished capacity, created a special verdict of "not guilty only by reason of insanity," which triggers a commitment proceeding; and provided for Federal commitment of persons who become insane after having been found guilty or while serving a Federal prison sentence.
I believe the Insanity Defense Reform, made it more difficult for the defense to prove the insanity defense. Also with limiting conclusive opinionated “expert testimony” by so called experts in the field on mental disabilities. Without the expert witness in the Hinckley trial giving his opinion as to the insanity defense, jurors would not get conclusive or opinionated statements as evidence of the case. Now, is I were to use a hand writing expert that can produce hand writing samples and demonstrate to a court room that with his training and experience in the handwriting field he can match a particular writing sample to another, then that would be an expert testimony with proven facts that are not
opinionated.