This case study details the trial of Barney Bezerk, who was to come before the court for the axe murder of his family. Planning to use the insanity defense, his attorney hired an expert, Cruddy O’Pinion to conduct a psychological evaluation. The evaluation revealed that Bezerk had a major thought disorder, poor impulse control, uncontrollable anger, and frequently expressed paranoid ideation. An effective approach to explain this case study would be a psychological approach. In analyzing the case, it is important to dissect how to effectively determine whether a person meets the legal definition of insanity, and whether that person has the correct psychiatric assessments to prove his sanity.
Case Study Analysis In the following case study, Barney Bezerk was to stand trial for the axe murder of his family. His attorney
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The issue is determining whether an individual truly meets the legal definition of insanity. The concept of insanity is constantly changing, which makes it difficult to truly find an individual to be legally insane. In 1843, Daniel M’Naghten, a Scottish wood turner, attempted to assassinate the prime minister of England (Koocher & Keith-Spiegel, 2008). He suffered from paranoid delusions and killed another man instead. He was found not guilty, because he was unable to realize the wrongfulness of the act. After this, public outrage surfaced and formed the legal definition of insanity, which evebtually became known as the M’Naghten rule (Koocher & Keith-Spiegel, 2008). A plea of not guilty by reason of insanity claims that due to mental illness, the defendant should not be held morally responsible for the crime. In order to successfully plead the insanity defense, a defendant must not only show that he is mentally ill, but also show that there was a link connecting the mental illness and the criminal offense (Grachek,
According to medical experts, who examined Morgan on three separate occasions, Morgan was declared legally insane at the time of the murder based on the M’Naughten standard. The experts reached their opinion utilizing Morgan’s history, various psychiatric tests along with the medically accepted technique of hypnosis. The expert testimony was presented to the trial judge in the jury’s absence as well as during the penalty phase of the trial. The appellant does not deny killing the victim; the issue being decided was his sanity at the time of the murder and the exclusion of medical
It was questioned if the killings of the supervisor and Mayor were premeditated. Also if the defendant had a mental condition, that prevented him from knowing right from wrong. In particular if he could he be diagnosed with a mental condition. That could possibly keep him from standing trial, and sent to a mental institution. The defendant was found to be depressed but not clinically depressed.
Insanity Defense Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, today I will be presenting why Edward Anderson is mentally ill and needs to be placed in a mental hospital. We discovered that Edward Anderson went inside Xavier Vanderbilt’s room at midnight for eight nights straight. One night when Edward saw Xavier’s eye, he decided to kill him at that moment. The crime scene occurred on 13130 Morrison St. Moreno Valley CA 92555. The crime took place on December 9, 1852, at 1:12 a.m.
There is also an inclination to believe that if he had not suffered from this state, then the offence would not have been committed, specially not in the barbaric way it was done. Thus, it cannot be concluded that the accused willfully preformed the act, nor that the mens rea and the actus reus coincided while he was not in a psychotic state. (Roach, 113) Related to this finding is another element that supports the verdict of the Honorable Judge, which is the Principle of Fundamental Justice that states that no one should be “punished for morally involuntary actions.” (Roach, 82) A person who successfully raises the mental disorder defence is considered to be morally innocent of the act because they were not acting freely, in this case, free from psychotic ideations.
This phase caused three different psychiatrists to come in and testify on Brom’s mental state. The testimonies would be held up against the M'Naghten Rule. The 140 year old standard which holds that a criminal defendant can’t be held responsible for a crime if he did not know the nature of his act or that it was morally wrong. There was a huge argument in this case over whether or not David Brom was mentally insane. Seven out of the eight health professionals who evaluated David found him to be mentally competent.
My client Calvin Smith is not guilty due to reason of insanity. Mr. Smith is schizophrenic, considering the fact that he was able to hear ersatz noises, he has anosognosia that results in him denying his mental illness, as well as schizophrenics are known to have voices that tell them to do certain things- such as harm others, and themselves. With this information, the allegation is correct, he did murder the man. Although, he is not in the right mind to know it was wrong. This is because Calvin Smith is schizophrenic.
You may think Mr.Smith was most likely insane when he admitted to two police officers that he killed the Mr.Johnson, dismembered the corpse, and hid the body parts under the floorboards. Let's say you think someone is insane what do you think of when you think of insane. I’d believe you would think of someone who has huge mood swings, excessive worrying or anxiety, hallucinations or delusions, and inability to cope with daily problems and activities. You will most definitely see in my essay that Mr.smith was not insane but just a murderous sane man. First of all, Mr.smith was a very intelligent man and planned every single move and procedure of this murder precisely , which is the exact opposite of uncontrollable or impulsive behavior.
Justice Tindall, whom was present at the M’Naughten trial when the insanity plea became a legal defense, breaks these rules into 3 statements. “Every person is presumed sane unless the contrary can be proven otherwise” (Allnut, et al. 293), which in this case it cannot. “A person suffering a ‘partial delusion’ should be dealt with as if the circumstances of the delusion was real” (Allnut, et al. 293). If Minnie was suffering from some sort of delusions, she would have used that as an excuse once Mr. Hale found her or would’ve had some crazy story on what happened. She got straight to the point.
Insanity is an illness an individual cannot overcome and will make decisions without thinking. Lacking the further knowledge of a criminal's mental state does not endorse the fate of acquiring the death
In the Model Penal Code test, the offender is found not guilty by reason of insanity if he or she at the time of the incident is incapable of appreciating the criminality of his conduct, or if he or she was not able to conform their conduct to the requirements of the law. In both tests, comprehensive and thorough medical evaluation is needed. Medical health professionals are also required to testify as to the defendant's condition. Moreover, the more successful bids for an insanity plea generally involve persons with past history of mental illness. Otherwise, it proves to be significantly more challenging to convince a court that the defendant is mentally ill.
A case can be changed due to the call of the insanity plea. Nevertheless, This may cause a possible difference to the charge of the defence. In a court case dealing with murder such as the issue with the Clutter family, the Insanity plea was brought into thought to test if Perry and Dick were mentally stable during that time. By definition, the insanity plea is an argument stating the defense was not responsible for their actions due to a psychiatric disease at the time of the act, consequently, making him/her unaware of the occurring actions moreover the later consequences. In the book, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, the main characters Perry and Dick killed the Clutter family committing the crime of the century.
If an insanity plea is successful, it can be implied that mental illnesses can be dangerous or harmful. Also, that the person with the mental illness is going to be treated and hopefully learn how to handle such an illness. Then perhaps that person can go free after a while. On the other hand, if an insanity plea is unsuccessful, then it can be implied that the person with the illness may not get treatment. Although, if the person is just using a mental illness as an excuse, then he or she is giving other people with a mental illness a bad name.
Intro: “It is sometimes an appropriate response to reality to go insane” (PHILIP K. DICK, Valis). In present day America laws have been placed that prevent people who are “insane” to be guilty of the crimes they commit. In short, insanity is the state of being seriously mentally ill relating to madness. This is presented in the book Medea written by Euripides through her point of view. In Medea, a surge of insanity purges her after she is betrayed by her husband Jason causing many cruel and harsh actions to follow from her.
Suspect is 5 feet 10 inches, approximately 160 pounds. He’s being charged for breaking and entering as well as murder. The suspect admitted to doing so after the police came to his door in suspicion of foul play. He screamed in a fit of rage as he screamed “Villains, dissemble no more! I admit the deed!
Without a clear-cut definition for insanity not only does the word lose its power, but it also causes people to create their on definition for the word, usually with themselves