Insanity As a Legal Defense in Criminal Cases
There are several ways on how a person can excuse himself from a certain crime. A person who is charged with a crime, need to have a highly regarded criminal defense attorney to help him get through the case. Right after the accused seek counsel, the next step is to think of the defense that they must use on the court proceeding, to prove their innocence. There are various defenses that they can use. Some of it includes the presumption of innocence, establish an alibi, proclaim self-defense and using insanity as a plea.
When the presumption of innocence is used, it is the prosecution who has a bigger task in finding evidences and witnesses to prove that the accused committed the crime. In the court of law, any accused person is presumed innocent until they are proven to be guilty of the crime. When the accused establish an alibi, there must be al least a witness or evidence that you are not indeed around when the crime happened. In using self-defense as an excuse, you must prove to the court that you were able to commit the crime out of the need to defend your life because you are in danger. The last defense will be discussed further.
Today, regardless of what state a person is or what part of the world they are at, insanity as a legal defense in court proceedings is now taken with full seriousness and careful examination. Why is legal insanity being used by many people as an excuse for a crime? This is because an insane person does not have the ability to think right and act right. An insane person does not know the law. The insane people do not even think of themselves or the other people. A person is said to be insane when they have severe mental disease. They are totally excused from the crime that they have committed once they are proven by certified medical personnel.
In cases wherein the client of a defense attorney is legally insane, they must prove to the court that the accused person is insane. Several tests and examinations as well as testimonials can prove that the accused is truly insane. If the accused person, resides in Utah, he can have a Utah Defense Attorney, Utah criminal defense attorney, Utah criminal attorney, or defense attorney Utah that can help them prove the insanity of the accused person. A UT Defense Attorney can gather facts, examination results and medical records that his client is legally insane.
Over the years, the way how the court sees legal insanity as a defense in court proceedings vary from time to time. However, today, almost all went back to the strict definition of legal insanity. The way how the court rules towards an insane person before are automatic excused of the crime that was committed; but now, everything became stricter. In general, a person is said to be legally insane when they do not know what is right and what is wrong. This also means they do not know what is moral and immoral. Although many cases were dismissed because the accused is legally insane, the defense attorney must prove to the court the validity of insanity during the time that the crime was committed.
In any court proceeding, we cannot held a legally insane person to be responsible of his conduct because as we have mentioned, they do not know that what they are doing at the time of conduct is right or wrong. A legally insane person cannot think logically, in this regard, he is acquitted of the crime. After the case, what happen usually is that the insane person must undergo psychiatric treatments. They are placed in a mental asylum for treatment. In cases that the insane person truly committed the crime but is not aware that he or she did it because of insanity, they are required to be held in a mental institution until they can no longer be a threat to anyone. Again, they can only be acquitted once a psychiatrist or a psychologist testifies his mental illness at the time of offense and a series of tests or mental evaluation.
On the other hand, the defense of having temporary insanity is hard to defend in the court of law. It will be extremely hard for the defense attorney to prove that his client is insane at the time that the crime was committed. The legal system finds it moral to submit the insane person for a medical and psychological treatment regardless if they are proven to commit the crime or not, because legal insanity as a defense means the person does not have the ability to think properly, they do not know right from wrong, and what is moral or not.