Insanity defense

Homicide Darla is a woman who was repeatedly abused, raped, and forced into prostitution by her husband. Since domestic violence is present in this case, there are several strategies and psychological theories that could be used to assist Darla’s defense. The first psychological theory that could be used is the condition of Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS). BWS refers to the behavioral and psychological symptoms women who have lived in environments of domestic violence experience (Lifschitz,…

Andrea Yates had a strong personal reasoning to the homicide charges brought against her for killing her children. The primary defense expert, Dr. Resnick, had a belief that Andrea killed her children because in her mind she thought she was saving them from going to hell. If the delusions that she was having existed, and imagining that those delusions represent reality, then Andrea…

mentally ill. One such bold indication of Mary's lack of insanity would be that she understood what she…

It can sometimes take the State months if not years to do so. Colin Ferguson is atypical in that he ignored three attorney’s advice to try for an insanity plea. The media saw this man as mentally incompetent, while also seemingly predicting his guilt (which is not atypical for a case such as this). The judge used his discretion in ruling the Ferguson mentally competent, and it was considered by…

still had their work cut out for them, as Gacy entered a plea of guilty by reason of insanity. Not guilty by reason of insanity is a defense strategy, that has often been used by serial murderers in the past once an offender has been charged; however, contrary to popular belief, this defense has been used in less than one percent of all criminal cases. According to Hickey, “The legal system uses the term insanity to define the state of mind of an offender at the time of the offense; offenders…

he killed someone.He did not kill out of hate,premeditation insanity or involuntary that is all irrelevant.Although,Meursault killed for a very selfish reason.”The Arab drew his knife and held it up towards me in the sun”(59).Eventually Meursault maybe killed the arab for self defence which is something he could use against his defense in court. Meursault is guilty because he committed a crime that could also be considered self defense in some type of way.”The trigger gave”(59) describing he…

he has placed on a trough for safekeeping. A man of the inn enters the yard and moves Don Quixote’s armor so as to water his horses at the trough. Don Quixote reels at what he takes to be the man’s aggression and begins to attack him in self-defense and defense of his armor: “... he lifted his lance with both hands and with it smote such a blow on the carrier’s head that he stretched him on the ground” (Cervantes, p. 31).…

From the psychology classes that I took last year, I am able to define psychology as the study of the mind and its processes. However, because psychology looks at something that cannot be measured and observed at all times, there are many theories that sprout from the topic. Freudianism, behavioral and biochemistry are just a few examples. Biochemistry focuses on the theory that biological and chemical factors directly affect one’s psychological state while Freudianism looks at the unconscious…

Neuman truly mentally ill because he claimed spirits told him to kill Sneiderman, is a hard question to answer because there have been many cases where a killer would claim insanity over receiving the death penalty. However the fact that Neuman was hearing voices inside his head telling him to kill is a strong defends for insanity and if it was proven by a psychiatrist. The attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan was on March 30, 1981, in Washington, D.C. by the man named John Hinckley Jr.…

As a criminal justice major, I found this chapter particularly interesting. I tend to wrestle with the insanity plea. I realize that there are some cases where it is beyond evident that the person was criminally insane. However, for the most part I tend to see it as a cop out. I see it as a way for the defense to get their client freed from responsibility. I think that epically in the most famous cases, like Andrea Yeates, they use a “mental disorder or defect” to excuse the horrible crimes they…