Insanity defense

justifiable. Lord Steyn in Lambert noted that the difference between elements of offence and defense are sometimes just a matter of drafting technique and went on to state that substance is the issue to be focused on, in preference . In Attorney General’s Reference (No. 4 of 2002) the defendant was accused of membership of a proscribed organization contrary to s11(1) of the Terrorism Act 2000 . The defense in 11(2) required him to prove that the organization was not proscribed on the last…

Lisa Godinho with the tittle of Probation Officer at Kendall County Court Services is agreeing to be interviewed. There are several reasons as why interviewing a probation officer was my choice. The main one being the importance of rehabilitating an individual, which probation officers take a huge part. They rehabilitate an individual by supervision to ensure their offenders are behaving themselves, ensuring the offender does not commit another offence. There are however several cases where…

I, for one, do not believe in American ethnocentrism especially when it comes to our criminal justice system, as long as there is at least one other country that has produced better results. One example of where the American criminal justice system falls short is the rate of recidivism; based on data gathered by Latimer et al (2005), over half of all criminals who were released from incarceration went back to jail. This is compared to most Scandinavian and a few other European countries that…

Imagine students cowering in fear at the sight of a crazed gunman, teachers contemplating putting their lives on the line for the safety of their students. Imagine the stolid stare of someone, fueled by insanity, unable and unwilling to differentiate right from wrong. Gun ownership should be tightly controlled because they are dangerous weapons, assault weapons are unnecessary, and more guns doesn’t always equal more safety. First, people argue that guns are wholesome tools used for sport. This…

In the case of Billy Milligan who was an accused rapist and found to have 24 different personalities. The first person in America to use a dissociative disorder as a defense for a violent crime. Accused of kidnapping, robbery and the rapped of three women. Claimed that Billy had 24 different personalities that had different backstories, personalities, skills and traits. Which during the time of the crimes that Billy was accused of. Billy was completely unaware of what was happening. The crimes…

causing these extremely variable, yet reliable symptoms that indicate DID.The Hillside strangler case is a good example of why DID has such a controversial reputation.Kenneth Bianchi used his knowledge of basic psychology, and acting skills to craft a defense for hismurder trial. If I were the clinician assigned to such a case, I would be looking for any sort ofcontradictions that may indicate deception. In the cases of DID that appear to be severely fragmentedsuch as Hilary Stanton, this…

In literature, the mental afflictions of certain characters play a definitive role in the work. Hamlet, from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, portrays himself as a madman. However eccentric his actions are, they have a strong purpose in his plan for revenge. In addition, Hamlet’s behaviour is significant to the work as a whole, supporting the theme of manipulation. Overall, Hamlet’s bizarre behaviour has an important role in both advancing the plot and developing themes. Though Hamlet’s actions…

On December 8th, 1980, John Winston Lennon was shot in the back four times while returning to his apartment in New York. Mark David Chapman was the man who fired these shots. Mark David Chapman was charged with manslaughter but pleaded insanity and got away with it. I believe he knew what he was doing and totally understood the consequences, but played off as he didn’t. I also believe he should’ve been charged with life in prison rather than having his own private prison home. John Lennon was an…

Leadership is an essential part of society regardless of the path of life an individual leads. Leadership is a unique character trait because it is rare to witness a natural born leader. Leadership is the ability to successfully direct other individuals and accomplish a task. Throughout history, leadership is the trait that can propel a society to be successful, or it can lead to a catastrophic failure. Specifically, leadership impacted the lives of citizens in Greece, China, and Israel.…

was passed that stated that a person that was not of the mental state to understand their crimes could not be held accountable, and thus the insanity defense was founded. Over the years many criminals have attempted to plea insanity in order to escape the death penalty, or receive a lighter sentence. While only a mere 1% of cases in which defendants plea insanity are successful, the media sensationalizes them and has made it appear as though every criminal has some form of mental illness that…