In many States, the “insanity defense” is a possible method of “beating” criminal charges and is, most often, used in murder cases. Typically, the defense is called “Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity.” Generally speaking, there are two or three versions of the defense. The most common version is the idea that the criminal defendant, at the time of the crime, could not distinguish between right and wrong when they committed the criminal act or acts due to mental deficiencies. A related, but broader, version looks to the defendant’s “mental capacity” to see if they, at the time of the crime, understood what he or she was doing at the time of the crime and could understand the immoral and illegal nature of the acts. A final version is often called the “irresistible impulse test,” which asks whether the defendant had sufficient control over their actions to avoid the crime even if they knew that what they were doing was wrong.

In Maryland, this criminal defense is called the “not criminally responsible defense.” The version used is similar to the most common and traditional version discussed above. That is, in Maryland, the defendant must prove that, at the time of the crime, the defendant could not understand their actions were illegal or conform their actions to the law because of a mental disorder or developmental disabilities. Drug use and other actions are excluded from being used in Maryland’s version of the insanity defense.

Note several things. First, the DEFENDANT is responsible for proving this defense. That is, the DEFENDANT must gather the evidence, the medical records, and the testimony from doctors and experts to help prove the defense. Second, the defense works best if, before the crime, there has already been a history of hospitalization or other treatment for mental disease or disorder. Third, the defendant will NOT go free if he or she wins the defense. The defendant will be incarcerated in a mental illness facility. Note also that the “not criminally responsible defense” is different from something called “competency to stand trial.” The latter is about whether the defendant can endure the stresses of a criminal trial now as opposed to the defendant’s mental state at the time of the crime.

How to Prove the Defense of “Not Criminally Responsible”

To begin, the not-criminally-responsible defense requires that the defendant admit committing the crime in question. That is often a hurdle to many defendants since any and all other potential defenses are now lost.

Once that is done, the defendant puts at issue the question of not-criminally-responsible by telling the judge that that will be the defense used. Successful use of the “not criminally responsible” defense involves a great deal of medical evidence, testing, reports and testimony. That means that proving the defense will be very expensive since all of the personnel involved will be charging the prevailing rates.

The main evidence will be the results of various tests and evaluations done by the medical doctors of the defendant and the prosecution. Ultimately, both sides will produce reports, and experts will offer testimony about the defense. These cases generally result in classic examples of “battles of the experts.” Ultimately, the jury will decide.

Contact Waldorf, Maryland Criminal Defense Lawyer Robert Castro Today

This article has been provided by the Law Office of Robert Castro. For more information or questions, contact our office to speak to an experienced Maryland criminal defense lawyer at (301) 870-1200. We are Waldorf, MD, Criminal Defense lawyers. Our address is 2670 Crain Highway, Waldorf, MD 20601.