insanity plea
Mental illness defense
An insanity plea is a legal defense claiming the defendant was mentally incapable of understanding their actions or knowing right from wrong when committing a crime.
If successful, it typically results in commitment to a psychiatric facility rather than prison.
The plea is rarely used and even more rarely successful: His lawyers advised against an insanity plea.
- schizophreniaPsychotic disorder with delusions
- diminished capacityImpaired mental functioning
- automatismInvoluntary mechanical behavior
- expert testimonySpecialist's courtroom statement
- psychosisSevere reality detachment
retributive justice · competency hearings · psychiatric evaluation · bipolar disorder · dissociative identity disorder · free will · self-defense · major depressive disorder · duress · determinism · burden of proof · legal defense · forensic psychiatry · post-traumatic stress disorder · coercion · borderline personality disorder · entrapment · obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Legal mythsMiranda rights, entrapment, undercover cops, castle doctrine, double jeopardy
- pleasplease, prayers, entreaty, petitions, appeals
- Murder Trialprosecutor, defense attorney, guilty, innocent, jury
- Sentencing Factorsmitigating factors, aggravating factors, extenuating circumstances, criminal history, prior record
- criminal defensesdiminished capacity, mental incapacity, irresistible impulse, mens rea, criminal responsibility
- forensic psychologyforensic evaluation, forensic interview, psychological assessment, forensic psychiatry, competency exam
insanity pleaguilty plea
Admitting criminal responsibility
sanity · admission of guilt · mental competence · sound mind · compos mentis
insanity pleaguilty verdict
Court's culpability determination
conviction · not guilty plea · innocence claim · prison sentence · criminal punishment
insane, insanity, insanely, sanity, sane, sanely, plea, pleas, plead