Guzman 1

Cover Letter
When I first started the project I was going for Insanity Defense but after getting more
information I realized that I was against Insanity Defense. As a consequence I had to start the
project again. At the beginning it was a little hard because I didnt have enough information so I
has struggling with writing the project. But after I got more information and realized where I
really standed the rest came easily. There is going to be a lot of differences between the draft and
the final paper since I changed where I stood and also I got a lot more information. I think the
struggle with this was that I did not know a lot about this subject so it took me some time to get
my thoughts straight. Also it was hard because sometimes it is a little hard because sometimes
without noticing you are switching positions and the paper looks different so you must correct
the mistakes being made.

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Joscelyne Guzman
Zachary Warzecka
ENGL 1312
12/12/14
Insanity Defense
Gunman turns Batman screening into real life horror film, (Pearson, Michael)
Batman US cinema shooting: 12 dead in Colorado and (Anon. Batman US cinema shooting)
Aurora, Colorado, shooting leaves 12 dead at Dark Knight Rises screening in Colorado (Lin
II, Rong Gong) were the headlines that filled every newspaper and news channel on July 20,
2012. This day started just like any other day but during the premier of The Dark Knight Rises
James Holmes, 24, started a shooting that resulted in the death of 12 people and 58 were injured.
Holmes had no previous criminal record and now he is pleading no guilty by reason of insanity
and his trial is scheduled for December 2014. This is just one of the many cases where someone
commits a crime and pleads to not guilty by reason of insanity as a way out of prison. When a
crime is committed, the accused is taken to trial to either prove innocence or be pleaded guilty.
During the trial all evidence and testimonies are presented. Sometimes the defense side pleads to
Insanity Defense (not guilty by reason of insanity), also known as Medical Disorder Defense.
Insanity defense is described as a defense asserted by an accused in a criminal prosecution to
avoid liability for the commission of a crime because, at the time of the crime, the person did not
appreciate the nature or quality or wrongfulness of the acts (Insanity Defense). The most
common variation is cognitive insanity, in which under the test a defendant must have been so
impaired by a mental disease or defect at the time of the act that he or she did not know the
nature or quality of the act, or, if the defendant did know the nature or quality of the act, he or

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she did not know that the act was wrong (Insanity Defense). The insanity defense has been
around for a long time it is said that in 1313 English court referred to insane people as the
witless, who do not have reason whereby they can choose the good from the evil (England,
Deborah C.). For a long time there has been a debate on whether or not Insanity Defense should
be abolished. To this date four states, including Kansas, Montana, Idaho and Utah do not allow
the insanity defense (Anon. The Insanity Defense Among the States). The purpose of this paper
is to illustrate why Insanity Defense should be abolished.
Before starting any discussion about Insanity Defense it is important to understand that there
are different types of insanity pleas: (Pearson, Michael) The MNaghten Rule: the defendant
either did not understand what he or she did, or failed to distinguish right from wrong, because of
a disease of mind (Anon. Insanity Defense). The Irresistible Impulse Test: as a result of a
mental disease, defendant was unable to control his impulses, which led to a criminal act (Anon.
Insanity Defense). The Durham Rule: regardless of clinical diagnosis, defendants mental
defect resulted in a criminal act (Anon. Insanity Defense). And the Model Penal Code Test for
Legal Insanity: because of a diagnosed mental defect, defendant either failed to understand the
criminality of his acts, or was unable to act within the confines of the law (Anon. Insanity
Defense).
The first reason why Insanity Defense should be abolished is because mostly it is just used as a
way to excuse the crime committed. The not guilty by reason of insanity verdict grants that
although the accused committed the act in question, he cannot be held legally responsible
because he was not sane at the time of the crime. Defendants acquitted are then committed to a
mental institution for an indeterminate period and released upon the recommendation of
institution psychiatrists at such time the psychiatrists at such time the psychiatrists consider the

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person sane (Valentine, Carol A.). This is unfair because the accused in the end would be able
to be free as if the crime never occurred. The fact that the accused is going to be able to attend a
psychiatric facility is good since he/she is going to be able to get the help needed to get better.
But for the rest of the people who were affected by the crime it is completely unfair. For
example, going back to the case of James Holmes who shooted at the premier of The Dark
Knight Rises, his trial is scheduled for December 2014 and he is currently pleading not guilty
by reason of insanity and if he win the case he would just go to a psychiatric facility and
sometime after he would just be free. Now in the perspective of the people who were affected by
the crime, would it be fair for the person who killed or injured a family member or friend to just
be set free without any punishment? How would victims feel knowing that the person that caused
a lot of pain is out there? Like Counselor Edwin Meese III stated if we are really sincere about
the protection of the public, the mental condition of the individual at the time he committed the
crime is immaterial. A good portion of criminal trials is taken up with hot and cold psychiatrists
running in and out for both sides telling what is wrong with the accused (Valentine, Carol A.).
Another example that can be taken into account is Thomas Vanda who when was 18 years old
was convicted for stabbing a teenage girl, then while in probation he killed a 15-year-old girl
with a hunting knife but later was found not guilty of the crime by reason of insanity. He was
admitted to a mental institution and released 15 years later as cured. However in 1978 he was
again charged with stabbing another woman to death and again pleaded not guilty by reason of
insanity (Valentine, Carol A.). The example shows that the death of the third woman could have
been avoided from the beginning if Vanda was proven guilty and taken to jail. Another thing that
can be seen from this example is that the people responsible from Vanda release from the
psychiatric facility are not adequate in deciding whether he was cured or not.

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Sometimes the people, who decide if a person is insane or not, are not adequate to fulfill
the task. From the example of Vanda another point can be made about why Insanity Defense
needs to be abolished. In Vanda case it clearly shows that the jury made a mistake in deciding
that Vanda was pleaded not guilty both times. And the problem starts with just the simple term
insanity. Carol A. Valentine stated in her essay The Insanity of the Insanity Defense that
insanity is not, nor ever could be, a medical term. It is always an ethical term (Valentine, Carol
A.). Mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions disorders that affect
mood, thinking and behavior (Mayo Clinic). The National Alliance on Mental Illness defines
mental illness as a medical condition that disrupts a persons thinking, feeling, mood, ability to
relate to others and daily functioning (Nami). Some examples of mental disorders include
depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD), borderline personality disorder, anxiety disorders, eating disorders,
addictive behaviors among others. (Mayo Clinic). Knowing that insanity is more an ethical term
shows that decision on whether the accused is pleaded guilty or not is based more on morality
and feelings rather than scientific facts and since a lot of things are considered mental illness it
can be more complicated for the jury to make the right decision when deciding whether the
accused is guilty or not. In the debate Should The Insanity Defense Be Abolished?, Dr. George
J. Alexander explains that insanity defense is a lawyers tactic for obtaining for defendants
some compassion or some reduced result (Should The Insanity Defense Be Abolished?). And
the problem is not only that the decision can depend on the morals of the jury but also that the
psychiatrics presented to testify sometimes lack credibility. Jeffery Harris, executive director of
the Attorney Generals Task Force on Violent Crime, said what amazes me is that in any trial
Ive ever heard of, the defense psychiatrist always says the accused is insane, and the prosecution

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psychiatrist always says hes sane. This happened invariably, in 100 per cent of the cases, thus
far exceeding the laws of chance he insanity defense is being used as football, and quite
frankly, youd be better off calling Central Casting to get expert psychiatric testimony in a
criminal trial (Valentine, Carol A.). Even if the psychiatrist is an expert in the subject
sometimes the accused can be acting insanity. Going back to Vanda, he advised a fellow inmate
to act crazy in front of doctors such as claiming to hear voices or openly performing indecent
acts (Valentine, Carol A.). It is understood that there can be some cases where the accused has
some mental health problems and by eliminating Insanity Defense he/she will go to jail and will
never get better mentally. Maybe out of 100 cases only 1 is really insane but looking at
everything from perspective he did committed a crime. Whether he was in his right mind or not
when the crime was committed. Like Ashley Koile stated in her essay Im crazy I swear. Now let
me off: The Insanity Defense, their physical body committed the crime, therefore they should be
charged for it, no matter the state of mind they were in (Koile, Asheley). Koile also makes the
point that psychiatrists should not be allowed to testify since most of the times their results
reported are being based on judgment.
In the end this is a very controversial topic and there is a big disagreement on whether
Insanity Defense should be abolished or not. For those who are in favor of Insanity Defense
think that it is inhumane to punish those who are not aware of the things the accused is doing.
Supporters of the Insanity Defense also believe that is a person is really mentally ill when the
crime was committed, they need more help rather than time in prison. Those who are against
they believe that even though the criminal was not sane during the crime, they are still
criminals and must be punished for their actions. Another thought between people who are
against Insanity Defense is that now people who use it are not actually ill, but instead are looking

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for a way out. It can be understood the reason why for some people it doesnt make sense to put
someone mentally ill in jail, since there have been cases where people who are in jail harm
themselves. But those who are in favor of insanity defense must also see that the person who
committed the crime is still a criminal, whether he was on his right mind or not. Like previously
mentioned it would be an injustice for the families of the victims, to have the accused walking
free and no punishment after rehabilitation is over. Something that can be made is to instead of
the plea being not guilty by reason of insanity it should be guilty by reason of insanity. If
this law would exist insanity would still be a factor when deciding the punishment, but the
accused would still be guilty for the crime committed. He then would pay with some sort of
punishment but at the same time would be receiving the help needed to get better.

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References
Anon. Batman US cinema shooting: 12 dead in Colorado. BBC. July, 2012. Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-18921492
Anon. Insanity Defense. FindLaw.com. Retrieved from
http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-procedure/insanity-defense.html
Anon. The Insanity Defense Among the States. FindLaw.com. Retrieved from
http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-procedure/the-insanity-defense-among-thestates.html
England, Deborah C. Affirmative Defenses in Criminal Cases. Criminaldefenselawyer.com.
Retrieved from
http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/criminal-defense/criminal-defensecase/affirmative-defense.htm
"Insanity Defense." West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. 2008. The Gale Group 12
Dec. 2014
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Insanity+Defense
Koile, Asheley. Im crazy I swear. Now let me off: The Insanity Defense. December, 2010.
Retrieved from
http://www.deltaschools.com/users/akoile/weblog/d0ca3/Argumentative_Essay.html
Lin II, Rong Gong. Gunman kills 12 at Dark Knight Rises screening in Colorado. Los
Angeles Times. July, 2012. Retrieved from
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jul/20/nation/la-na-nn-dark-knight-shooting-20120720
Mayo Clinic. Mental Illness. Maroclinic.org. Retrieved from
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/basics/definition/con20033813
Nami. Mental Illnesses. National Alliance on Mental Illness. Retrieved from
http://www.nami.org/template.cfm?section=by_illness
Should The Insanity Defense Be Abolished? Debates Debates. August, 1996. Retrieved from
http://www.szasz.com/insanity.pdf

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Valentine, Carol A. The Insanity of the Insanity Defense. 2010. Retrieved from
http://public-action.com/Just-Us/tioid.html