Miller v. StateSupreme Court of Nevada, 1996991 P. 2d 1183People in the United States commit crimes and make up excuses why they should not be held accountable for a crime. Insanity and temporary Insanity have significant differences. One might ask themselves is there really any meaningful difference? During the history of our court system there has been many significant court decisions which address the controversy topics of insanity and temporary insanity as it relates to criminal procedures. One of the most significant court decision is Miller Vs State Supreme Court of Nevada, 1996 991 P.2d 1183.…
This means that the guilty individual receives the fairest possible sentence. A comparison to another insanity defense used, was the case of the Esposita brothers who had clearly faked being insane to get out of a death sentence. The Esposita brothers set a plan to gain money through robbery and were well equipped to take lives if anyone stood in the way. Both brothers were charged for murder of police officers and citizens. During their court trial, the Esposita brothers pretended to show signs of insanity by speaking in gibberish and banging their heads against the table. The jury was not convinced due to lack of evidence showing past history of insanity and had sentenced them to death by electrocution in 1942. This is one of many cases where a criminal had attempted to get out of a deserving consequence by using the insanity defense. Although it is rarely the case, some criminals convince the judge that they truly are insane when in fact, they were simply successful in fooling the judge. In comparison to the case of Dennis Pozniak who clearly was insane, it was determined that there was no benefit to the actions performed by Dennis and it was simply a spontaneous event that was brought due to an insane state of mind. Is it fair for an individual to get out of their deserved consequence simply because they convinced the judge that they are insane? I believe that unless the…
The concept of plea bargaining became a common means to resolve criminal cases in the early 1900s because not everyone that was accused of a crime had a lawyer to represent them in a trial. As the criminal justice system evolved, and there were more and more cases to prosecute, plea-bargaining was used more often so that all parties would have a faster resolution to the case, as opposed to going through a lengthy trial. The definition of plea bargaining is “the process whereby the accused and the prosecutor in a criminal case work out a mutually satisfactory disposition of the case subject to court approval [that] usually involves the defendant’s pleading guilty to a lesser offense or to only some of the counts of a multicounty indictment in return for a lighter sentence than the possible for the graver charge.” (Siegel, Schmalleger, & Worrall, 2011, Chapter 12, Plea Bargaining and Guilty Pleas).…
Introduction: The insanity defense has been used for many years and believed to began around the 1720’s where the first formal defense was used in a court in 1724. Judge Tracy, the judge that ruled over the first case coined a term “The wild beast standard” that states “for someone to be insane he must be totally deprived of his understanding and memory, and not know what he is doing anymore than an infant, a brute, or a wild beast” (Neville, 2010, pp.3-4). After the Daniel M’Naghten case, a man who attempted to kill a prime minister due to his belief that the prime minister was conspiring against him ended up killing the secretary, there was a new rule many states began to follow. After M’Naghten was found insane by multiple experts because he was unable to know the difference of right and wrong therefore he was acquitted of all charges (Neville, 2010, p. 5) a rule was developed labeled after M’Naghten.…
Charles Manson (born November 12, 1934) was an American criminal who was convicted of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He was born to Kathleen Maddox, a 16-year-old girl who was both an alcoholic and a prostitute. Kathleen later married William Manson (not his father but took his last name through marriage), but the marriage ended quickly and Charles was placed in a boys school. Kathleen was absent for much of Manson's early life. She was imprisoned with her brother in 1939 for hustling men in bars and setting them up for her brother to beat and rob, according to a 1970 Enquirer article.…
“ Insanity means madness; mental illness (Intermediate Dictionary, pg. 451)”. According to recent insanity plea statistics, there has been a significant increase in insanity defense cases across country. In Edgar Allan Poe’s Short story, “ The Tell Tale Heart “, the narrator is insane because he kills the old man , he gets annoyed by his own heart beat , and he was paranoid.…
The insanity defense is only raised in 1% of cases and then only successful 25% of the time it is used; although its rarity, the legal court has very detailed rules. Most rules describe not guilty by reason of insanity as not being aware of what you were doing in that exact moment. Adam Banner suggests that the Eddie Routh case had an accurate ruling of guilty because of his claim that, “...the disposition is ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’. It is not ‘not guilty by reason of mental illness’,”. Only Mental Health America would disagree, stating, “The Court has indicated that states may be required to provide at least some minimal defense based on mental illness,”. Coincidently, these changes have not been made thus…
Brief: Respondent was arrested and charged with possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, in violation of 84 Stat. 1260. On October 17, 1991, respondent and his attorney asked to meet with the prosecutor to discuss the possibility of cooperating with the Government. At the beginning of the meeting, the prosecutor informed respondent that he had no obligation to talk, but that if he wanted to cooperate, he would have to be completely truthful. As a condition of proceeding with the discussion, the prosecutor indicated that the respondent would have to agree that any statements he made could be used to impeach any contradictory testimony he might give at trial if it went that far. Respondent conversed with his counsel and agreed to proceed under the prosecutor’s conditions. The respondent admitted to knowing that the package he attempted to sell to the undercover cop did contain methamphetamine. Respondent claimed that he did not know Shuster was manufacturing methamphetamine at his residence and later confessed that he did know of Shuster manufacturing methamphetamine in his residence. Respondent minimized his role in Shuster’s methamphetamine operation by claiming that he had not visited Shuster’s residence for at least a week before his arrest. The government showed the respondent surveillance evidence showing that his car was at Shuster’s residence the day before the arrest. The meeting ended on the basis that the respondent failed to provide completely truthful information. Respondent was tried on the methamphetamine charges and took the stand at his own defense. He maintained that he was not involved in the methamphetamine trafficking and he had thought Shuster was using his home laboratory to make plastic explosives for the CIA. He denied knowing that the package he delivered to the…
This paper will include what the insanity statutes are in Ohio, the state that I live in. I will also talk about how often the insanity defense is used in the United States. As well as how successful this defense is. I will also discuss if psychologists should give their ultimate opinion in regards to sanity cases as well as the ethical issues that may rise from their opinions. Lastly, I will discuss how difficult it is to provide adequate psychological care for mentally ill patients while they are incarcerated in prison. The care they would have received had they been institutionalized in a mental hospital instead would have resulted in fewer deaths.…
The author of this paper argues several reasons why the insanity plea should be changed or either eliminated. The reasons are considered and supported by evidence. The conclusion states that insanity should be altered or eliminated for the safety and well being of society.…
When I try to reason how people would interpret the insanity defense, it reminds me of the common misconceptions that juror's have of the defense itself. In the textbook it examines the various insanity defenses and the courts perception of the defenses, while in the video, Lionel tries to examine peoples reactions to the insanity defense. In the textbook while it went to how the defense's many interpretations have effected case outcomes, Lionel's video tries to clarify that how average Americans cant handle the horrors they see when looking at the crime scene photo's and then trying to decide that the defendant could be considered for a insanity defense.…
Holden Caulfield is an insane person in a sane world. What is insanity? Insanity is when you’re in a state of mind that prevents normal perception, behavior or social interaction. This state is mental illness. Insanity is when you do things in deranged or outrageous ways that could frighten people, or make people feel uncomfortable when around you. It’s when you do things out of the ordinary; yet feel as if they are ordinary. Insanity could come about when you’re depressed, or after a traumatic event, and sometimes even by keeping all your feelings bottled up inside of yourself. Sane people are sensible, reliable, well-adjusted and practice sound judgment. It’s behavior that is expected in a society. By these definitions Holden Caulfield is an insane person in a sane world due to his inability to deal with the real world, his obsession with irrelevant details, and his overly judgmental and critical nature. Holden Caulfield is from the book The Catcher and the Rye. By J.D Salinger. Holden Caulfield is the protagonist in the novel and the narrator of the novel.…
Mental illness is defined as “Any of various conditions characterized by impairment of an individual’s normal cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning, and caused by social, psychological, biochemical, genetic, or other factors, such as infection or head trauma” (thefreedictionary.com). A defendant charged with a crime may present the court with an insanity plea. Upon application of the insanity plea, the defendant must be psychologically evaluated. A common test that is used for this evaluation is called the M’Naghten rules. These rules state that “it must be clearly proved that at the time of committing the act the party accused was labouring under such a defect of reason, from disease of mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing, or as not to know that what he was doing was wrong” (bailii.org). In using this defence the accused may receive a verdict of “guilty but mentally ill,” which means the accused party may still receive the death penalty. It is extremely rare that an individual using the insanity plea defence gets acquitted.…
“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…
It has called for a new definition of the word “insanity” and has caused many new standards to be put in place. A new standard, for example, is the competency test. All jurisdictions require that criminals must be competent to stand trial, meaning that the accused knows the nature of their actions and understand that what they did was wrong, if they cannot do that they will be found to be mentally incompetent to stand the trial (FindLaw). This, however, does not mean that the person is immediately found not guilty or innocent. The person will receive treatment until they are competent enough to stand trial. The insanity defense also called for a reform act in 1984, stating that the defendant must be unable to understand the “nature and quality of the wrongfulness of his acts” (FindLaw). It also states that a mental disease does not constitute as an argument. Lastly, the insanity defense has called for a test that decides if the criminal is mentally ill, however, guilty. The guilty but mentally ill verdict allows criminals who are mentally ill to be found liable for their actions and receive treatment while in jail or be sent to a mental hospital. Once they are seen to be well enough, they will be sent to prison to serve their…