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The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to a psychiatric disease at the time of the criminal act.
Per Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12.2, a defendant intending to pursue an insanity defense must timely notify an attorney for the government in writing. The government then has a right to have the court order a psychiatric or psychological examination.
The defense is to be contrasted with insanity which is a complete but affirmative defense. In most jurisdictions a defendant would be acquitted on the grounds of insanity if the defendant established to the satisfaction of the jury that he suffered from such a mental disease or defect that he was unable to appreciate the consequences of his ...
Much of U.S. criminal law is derived from the English common law, in which the standard analysis is that (with the exception of strict liability offenses) a crime is made up of two parts: (i) the guilty act (ii) and the guilty intention . A court examines the issues in sequence since there is little point in establishing intent if the accused ...
For example, a charge of assault on a police officer may be negated by genuine (and perhaps reasonable) mistake of fact that the person the defendant assaulted was a criminal and not an officer, thus allowing a defense of use of force to prevent a violent crime (generally part of self-defense/defense of person). [12]
In United States criminal law, insanity may serve as an affirmative defense to criminal acts and thus does not need to negate an element of the prosecution's case such as general or specific intent. [11] Each U.S. state differs somewhat in its definition of insanity but most follow the guidelines of the Model Penal Code. All jurisdictions ...
Excuse defenses can be fully exonerating. Intoxication can serve as such a defense, with the law distinguishing between how voluntary and involuntary intoxication can serve as defenses. Other excuses include duress and insanity. Infancy is a defense where the defendant is a minor and too young to form criminal intent.
In some United States jurisdictions "settled insanity" can be used as a basis for an insanity defense, even though voluntary intoxication can not, if the "settled insanity" negates one of the required elements of the crime such as mens rea. Automatism; This criminal defense straddles the divide between excuse and exculpation.