In every criminal case there is always a person that is either guilty or not guilty. There are steps that need to be taken before the judge or jury can decide who is telling the truth. There are various types of criminal defenses that are used in a criminal trial to prove the defendant is innocent. Various types of criminal defenses
There are various types of criminal defense when it comes to criminal trials. This means the defendant and their attorney have to present evidence and arguments to show why the person should not be found guilty of the charges that have been filled against them. In every trial, a defendant has the right to argue the reason why they are innocent as well as the right to a fair and impartial jury. …show more content…
When a case like this happens, a psychiatrist usually examines them during the trail to see what the illness may be, or if they have any at all. The type of things a psychiatrist might find would be mental illness or if they were under medication. If none of these findings come out positive in the exam, then the legal angle will be involved which means the defendant was aware of their actions when committing the crime. If the exam came back with the defendant having mental illness, the trial would change. It could mean that the defendant was not aware that what they were doing was wrong will maybe be found not guilty do to insanity. There have been trails that the defendant has been found not guilty. In an example would be the Hinckley case, this man shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981. This case went to trail and Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Even though he shot the President and it was caught on TV he was found not guilty. “Nonetheless, in today's insanity cases, mental health experts, doctors, and scientists have important roles to play.” (Serendip 1994). If the person was found to not have any mental illness then they committed the crime under legal act. This means that while the crime was being committed the person was fully aware of what they did. The defendant would have a fair trial, meaning that they would have a proper defense council and a jury to argue the case