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"Feigned madness" is a phrase used in popular culture to describe the assumption of a mental disorder for the purposes of evasion, deceit or the diversion of suspicion. In some cases, feigned madness may be a strategy—in the case of court jesters , an institutionalised one—by which a person acquires a privilege to violate taboos on speaking ...
Amongst other purposes, insanity is feigned in order to avoid or lessen the consequences of a confrontation or conviction for an alleged crime. A number of treatises on medical jurisprudence were written during the nineteenth century, the most famous of which was Isaac Ray in 1838 (fifth edition 1871); others include Ryan (1832), Taylor (1845 ...
Odysseus was said to have feigned insanity to avoid participating in the Trojan War. [10] [11] Malingering was recorded in Roman times by the physician Galen, who reported two cases: one patient simulated colic to avoid a public meeting, and another feigned an injured knee to avoid accompanying his master on a long journey. [12]
Castaing was taken to Paris, where an investigation commenced that lasted five months. For the first three days Castaing feigned insanity but soon gave it up. He was then moved to Versailles prison. [3] His trial commenced before the Paris Assize Court on November 10, 1823, and lasted eight days. [3]
The question in hand was how Nellie managed to convince professionals of her insanity in the first place. As revealed in her first hand account, Ten Days in a Mad-House, Nellie spoke of how the main physician that performed her examination was more focused on the attractive nurse that was assisting the examination than with Nellie herself. [8]
Prosecutors accused him of continuing to rule his family from prison, and that he used Andrew to funnel messages to the family. They also wanted him held responsible for causing a seven-year delay in his previous trial by feigning insanity. [30] [31] Several days later, Andrew was released on $2.5 million bail. [32]
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.
At age 11, Massie was sent to the Beaumont School in Virginia for truant and runaway boys, where pupils were whipped with a leather belt if they misbehaved. At age 17, Massie stole a car and was sentenced to prison, where four inmates gang-raped him. As a result, he feigned insanity and was committed to a prison psychiatric facility. [4]