Not Guilty: Horrest Insanity
Criminally Insane
Many people wrongly believe that there are only two ways to plead in trial, guilty and not guilty. There is also another way to plead, that most people use to try and escape any criminal responsibility, pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. Not guilty by reason of insanity refers to the defense of offenders not to deny the commission of the crime, but to assert they lacked the capacity to understand the nature of the crime or that it was wrong (Allen). The definition of pleading legally insane can differ from each state, country or jurisdiction. This is usually abused and pleaded wrongly. Therefore it is very difficult to be found not guilty this way. A study carried out in the USA found that the insanity defense is only used in about 1% of all court cases and is only successful in about 26% of those cases (New York Times). The jury must discover if the plea were true or not based on extreme psychiatric testimonies and usually lengthy trials. A prime example of this is in the murder of Elena Steinberg, also known as the sleepwalk murder. In this murder Steven Steinberg was found not guilty on reasons of temporary insanity. In 1981 a man from Scottsdale, Arizona was charged with killing …show more content…
his wife Elena. Elena Steinberg was stabbed 26 times with a kitchen knife in her home during the night. This was first reported as a burglary. It should also be noted that Steven Steinberg was the one who called the police reporting an attempted burglary gone awry, though the police found no signs of a break in (Hein Journal). Steve 's original alibi was that two bushy haired strangers held him down while they murdered Elena, and they ran out the back door and jumped over the fence (Phoenix Press). Yet there was no other evidence to support this and Steven Steinberg’s fingerprints were found on the knife. Then Steinberg claimed he did not remember committing the crime because he was sleeping at the time, therefore stating he committed the crime while sleepwalking. To quote legal argument, “The defendant was not in his normal state of mind when he committed the act. Sleep walking is a parasomnia manifested by automatism; as such, harmful actions committed while in this state cannot be blamed on the perpetrator.” Steinberg never denied stabbing his wife, yet actually stated multiple times that he indeed killed his wife. In the end, Steven Steinberg was found not guilty in the murder of his wife after pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. During trial the husband described his wife as a ' 'spoiled, over-indulged brat - the stereotypical Jewish American Princess, ' ' who drove him out of his mind with her spending and her demands that he be more successful (New York Times). From the reasonable doubt the jury found the defendant not guilty on the grounds that he was temporarily insane when he committed the crime. Personally I would disagree completely with the jury’s decision in this trial. To say Steven Steinberg was sleepwalking, something that was never proven and he never has done before is utterly fictional. I think he woke up after thinking about how much he hated his wife, walked into the kitchen and stabbed Elena repeatedly; 26 times to be exact. To say he snapped and could not take his wife’s pressure anymore is entirely fabricated. This murder was planned out, yet poorly executed. Steinberg tried to recreate the scene to look like a burglary and even reported it as a burglary. He went into extreme details to the police about watching his wife be murdered. Then when he was caught in his lie he decided to say he couldn’t deal with his wife’s pressure. Even if Steven Steinberg did lash out and kill his wife I believe he still should have been found guilty for second-degree murder. Second-degree murder is murder committed in the "heat of passion" (US Legal), so therefore if Steinberg did just snap at his wife he would obviously be guilty of this. He clearly stated multiple times that he had killed his wife. I just cannot believe that he was sleeping-walking while he murdered her, framed the crime scene and reported a fake crime. He wasn’t “sleep-walking” when he reported multiple hours later to police of a made up story. So why lie about a fake burglary and then say you didn’t remember the crime at all. Steven Steinberg talked in circles about this murder. This is a main reason why I see it impossible to allow him to walk as a free man. Every housewife complains about things, every couple fights, but not every husband decides to kill his wife because she asked for too much. I believe the plea of temporary insanity should be abolished; yet allowing the plea of insanity to remain intact. It does not seem appropriate to me that someone can murder and say at that point they were insane yet in the present they are not. As a result Steinberg receives no jail time, no time in a mental institution and is not punished at all for his actions. He killed his wife, admitted to killing his wife, yet he walks as a free man. He is an extreme risk to murder again. Steinberg is emotional and was not stable enough to just be a free man. If someone else nags him will he just snap again and kill them. I believe no punishment at all is not only a risk to society but also the offender. These days, a person found guilty but insane must serve a sentence at a mental institution that may be as long as if they were sentenced to prison (Phoenix Press). Now in Arizona a person cannot plead temporarily insane and must be sentenced to something. I completely agree with this. In my opinion I feel there has to be some form of punishment. It is not far that Steinberg just got to walk free after killing his wife. Even if members of the jury were quoted later to saying they were aware that they were releasing a killer but he was not criminally responsible for his actions. Every state needs to abolish the plea not guilty by reasons of temporary insanity.
Works Cited
David , K.
(2007, August 31). Sleep-walking. Retrieved from http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/duqcljou1&div=18&g_sent=1&collection=journals
Paul, R. (1998, November 19). A killer sleep disorder. Retrieved from http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1998-11-19/feature/a-killer-sleep-disorder/8/
Tony, H. (1988, October 8). Crime and mystery. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/09/books/crime-mystery-the-defense-pleaded-nagging.html
Definitions. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/second degree murder
Allen, H. E., Latessa, E., & Ponder, B. Corrections in america: an introduction. (13th ed. ed.). Pearson Education
Inc.
Many people wrongly believe that there are only two ways to plead in trial, guilty and not guilty. There is also another way to plead, that most people use to try and escape any criminal responsibility, pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. Not guilty by reason of insanity refers to the defense of offenders not to deny the commission of the crime, but to assert they lacked the capacity to understand the nature of the crime or that it was wrong (Allen). The definition of pleading legally insane can differ from each state, country or jurisdiction. This is usually abused and pleaded wrongly. Therefore it is very difficult to be found not guilty this way. A study carried out in the USA found that the insanity defense is only used in about 1% of all court cases and is only successful in about 26% of those cases (New York Times). The jury must discover if the plea were true or not based on extreme psychiatric testimonies and usually lengthy trials. A prime example of this is in the murder of Elena Steinberg, also known as the sleepwalk murder. In this murder Steven Steinberg was found not guilty on reasons of temporary insanity. In 1981 a man from Scottsdale, Arizona was charged with killing …show more content…
his wife Elena. Elena Steinberg was stabbed 26 times with a kitchen knife in her home during the night. This was first reported as a burglary. It should also be noted that Steven Steinberg was the one who called the police reporting an attempted burglary gone awry, though the police found no signs of a break in (Hein Journal). Steve 's original alibi was that two bushy haired strangers held him down while they murdered Elena, and they ran out the back door and jumped over the fence (Phoenix Press). Yet there was no other evidence to support this and Steven Steinberg’s fingerprints were found on the knife. Then Steinberg claimed he did not remember committing the crime because he was sleeping at the time, therefore stating he committed the crime while sleepwalking. To quote legal argument, “The defendant was not in his normal state of mind when he committed the act. Sleep walking is a parasomnia manifested by automatism; as such, harmful actions committed while in this state cannot be blamed on the perpetrator.” Steinberg never denied stabbing his wife, yet actually stated multiple times that he indeed killed his wife. In the end, Steven Steinberg was found not guilty in the murder of his wife after pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. During trial the husband described his wife as a ' 'spoiled, over-indulged brat - the stereotypical Jewish American Princess, ' ' who drove him out of his mind with her spending and her demands that he be more successful (New York Times). From the reasonable doubt the jury found the defendant not guilty on the grounds that he was temporarily insane when he committed the crime. Personally I would disagree completely with the jury’s decision in this trial. To say Steven Steinberg was sleepwalking, something that was never proven and he never has done before is utterly fictional. I think he woke up after thinking about how much he hated his wife, walked into the kitchen and stabbed Elena repeatedly; 26 times to be exact. To say he snapped and could not take his wife’s pressure anymore is entirely fabricated. This murder was planned out, yet poorly executed. Steinberg tried to recreate the scene to look like a burglary and even reported it as a burglary. He went into extreme details to the police about watching his wife be murdered. Then when he was caught in his lie he decided to say he couldn’t deal with his wife’s pressure. Even if Steven Steinberg did lash out and kill his wife I believe he still should have been found guilty for second-degree murder. Second-degree murder is murder committed in the "heat of passion" (US Legal), so therefore if Steinberg did just snap at his wife he would obviously be guilty of this. He clearly stated multiple times that he had killed his wife. I just cannot believe that he was sleeping-walking while he murdered her, framed the crime scene and reported a fake crime. He wasn’t “sleep-walking” when he reported multiple hours later to police of a made up story. So why lie about a fake burglary and then say you didn’t remember the crime at all. Steven Steinberg talked in circles about this murder. This is a main reason why I see it impossible to allow him to walk as a free man. Every housewife complains about things, every couple fights, but not every husband decides to kill his wife because she asked for too much. I believe the plea of temporary insanity should be abolished; yet allowing the plea of insanity to remain intact. It does not seem appropriate to me that someone can murder and say at that point they were insane yet in the present they are not. As a result Steinberg receives no jail time, no time in a mental institution and is not punished at all for his actions. He killed his wife, admitted to killing his wife, yet he walks as a free man. He is an extreme risk to murder again. Steinberg is emotional and was not stable enough to just be a free man. If someone else nags him will he just snap again and kill them. I believe no punishment at all is not only a risk to society but also the offender. These days, a person found guilty but insane must serve a sentence at a mental institution that may be as long as if they were sentenced to prison (Phoenix Press). Now in Arizona a person cannot plead temporarily insane and must be sentenced to something. I completely agree with this. In my opinion I feel there has to be some form of punishment. It is not far that Steinberg just got to walk free after killing his wife. Even if members of the jury were quoted later to saying they were aware that they were releasing a killer but he was not criminally responsible for his actions. Every state needs to abolish the plea not guilty by reasons of temporary insanity.
Works Cited
David , K.
(2007, August 31). Sleep-walking. Retrieved from http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/duqcljou1&div=18&g_sent=1&collection=journals
Paul, R. (1998, November 19). A killer sleep disorder. Retrieved from http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1998-11-19/feature/a-killer-sleep-disorder/8/
Tony, H. (1988, October 8). Crime and mystery. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/09/books/crime-mystery-the-defense-pleaded-nagging.html
Definitions. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/second degree murder
Allen, H. E., Latessa, E., & Ponder, B. Corrections in america: an introduction. (13th ed. ed.). Pearson Education
Inc.