Settled Insanity - History

History

Early English common law recognized "settled insanity" as a complete defense for a person who is a habitual drunk but is not intoxicated at the time of the offense. A complete defense exonerates the accused and is a verdict of not guilty. Thus a person meeting the criteria of "settled insanity" is not considered responsible for his actions. Under the M'Naghten Rules, the first attempt in criminal law to address the issue of a mentally ill defendant, mentally illness (or insanity) can be used as a defense if the defendant was unable to understand the criminal nature of his act or was unable to distinguish right from wrong at that time of the offense. The standard for an insanity defense developed by the American Law Institute requires a showing that the defendant's mental illness prevented him from abiding by the law. Traditionally, under English common law intoxication, no matter to what degree, was not considered grounds for excusing the defendant's criminal behavior. However, over the last half century, there has been a movement toward allowing intoxication as evidence admissible in court to help the jury understand the criminal act and perhaps use it as an excuse or a mitigating factor.

Although voluntary intoxication is not considered an excuse for a criminal act, if it can be shown that the defendant was too intoxicated to deliberate or premeditate the wrongful act, (lacking malice aforethought), a defense of diminished capacity, while not excusing the defendant from responsibility for the act, can serve to reduce the charges. Similarly, the plea of temporary insanity (applicable only to charges of murder) can serve to reduce the charges from first degree murder to assault or lessen the sentence if it can be shown that the defendant, due to intoxication, acted without deliberation or reflection (lacking malice aforethought), thus negating specific intent. However, ten states have rejected that specific intent can be negated by voluntary intoxication. Some jurisdictions allow voluntary intoxication in the context of a preexisting mental disorder to qualify for an insanity defense.