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…
(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
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…
(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