Dr.

RF and class,

I hope you are well, we have reached the penultimate week and I can tell you that I have
learned a lot with so much valuable information in this course. I want to start with the first
thing in the discussion, which is a topic we can call taboo because people who suffer from
mental illnesses are automatically called and classified as "crazy" or "demented." I have
heard so many words to refer to that that surprises me how there is so much
misinformation on the subject. There is a difference when insanity is decreed from a
diagnosis of a mental illness that exists in the person and here I share it with you, ¨Insanity
defense is a legal concept, not a clinical one (medical one). This means that just suffering
from a mental disorder is not sufficient to prove insanity. The defendant has the burden of
proving the defense of insanity by a “preponderance of the evidence” which is similar to a
civil case¨ (Math, S. B. et a., 2015-a). Now when we talk about how insanity is defined in
the legal system, ¨In simple words, legal insanity means, at the time of the commission of
the act, the person should be suffering from mental illness and also have a loss of
reasoning power. This issue is clearly depicted in Section 84 IPC as that person incapable
of knowing:
The nature of the act, or That he is doing what is either wrong or Contrary to law.
[16]¨(Math, S. B, et al., 2015-b). I imagine that for a judge or jury to find a criminal "not
guilty by reason of insanity" they must be supported by a professional who has to do with
mental health since certain tests must be completed for it to be determined. ¨The
definition of insanity also varies among different jurisdictions. To prove insanity, most
jurisdictions require:
A professional assessment
Proof that you were not capable of distinguishing between right and wrong
Proof this mindset happened during the time of the offense (see temporary insanity
below)¨(Devendorf, J., 2023). I want to finish with the additional plea: "guilty but mentally
ill." ¨However, the question remains, what if a defendant does not meet criteria for the
NGRI plea, but was clearly mentally ill at the time of the offense?
For these scenarios, the plea of Guilty but Mentally Ill (GBMI) has become an option.
While the GBMI plea has received growing press coverage, it is still only available in a
minority of states (just over 20 states at the time of this writing). The increase in press on
the GBMI option has largely been in response to highly publicized acquittals based on
NGRI verdicts (even though these acquittals are somewhat uncommon)2. The GBMI plea is
most common when there is clear evidence of either a lack of the defendant's
appreciation for the wrongness of their actions, or a lack of understanding of the
consequences of their actions. Because defendants who meet both of these criteria often
opt for the NGRI plea, the GBMI plea is typically reserved for those who only meet one
criterion. The GBMI plea resembles a standard guilty plea, but denotes the fact that the
defendant is in need of mental health treatment in addition to punishment for his/her
crime. ¨ (Kutys, J.,2009). The truth is that it is a very controversial issue. But in a way, it is
the best thing to do for both situations because with just one example, handing down a
prison sentence to a person who is not fit for his ability is like putting him in a worse
situation.
WC:
References:
Math, S. B., Kumar, C. N., & Moirangthem, S. (2015-a). Insanity Defense: Past, Present, and
Future. Indian journal of psychological medicine, 37(4), 381–387.
https://doi.org/10.4103/0253-7176.168559
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4676201/#:~:text=Insanity%20defense
%20is%20a%20legal,similar%20to%20a%20civil%20case.

Math, S. B., Kumar, C. N., & Moirangthem, S. (2015-a). Insanity Defense: Past, Present, and
Future. Indian journal of psychological medicine, 37(4), 381–387.
https://doi.org/10.4103/0253-7176.168559
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4676201/#:~:text=Insanity%20defense
%20is%20a%20legal,similar%20to%20a%20civil%20case.

Devendorf, J. (2023). How Do You Prove Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity?. LawInfo.
https://www.lawinfo.com/resources/criminal-defense/not-guilty-by-reason-of-
insanity.html

Kutys, J. (2009). Guilty but Mentally Ill (GBMI) vs. Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI):
An Annotated Bibliography. The Jury Expert.
https://www.thejuryexpert.com/2009/11/guilty-but-mentally-ill-gbmi-vs-not-guilty-by-
reason-of-insanity-ngri-an-annotated-bibliography/

Hello, Hope, I am thrilled to be able to answer your discussion. We arrive at the

penultimate week with a lot of information. This whole topic is very interesting to me
because we, as people who know all this information, are very privileged, the truth is, if
we already know this information we can provide help in this regard. Thank you for giving
us the difference that exists between both terms. It is very explained and the truth is that
it is very interesting, like everything we should know before these situations that exist and
how we should act correctly. I agree with you that sometimes it can also be difficult for
someone to find help with limited resources, like money, in the end, it becomes a
limitation.

Hello Juliet, this is the first time I have greeted you on this side of the platform. I hope you
are feeling very well and that everything you are doing is going very well. I rather see the
topic of the week as a very fundamental part for us who are in the middle of the mental
health profession since we are very fortunate to know so much information that
unfortunately society does not know yet. You are right that it is not as easy as it seems to
reach this verdict. It is a rigorous and complicated process. It is a very controversial topic
and it is normal that you still do not have a side that you lean towards, the truth is that it
is very confusing how these people think but you have to put yourself in their situation
and that is why now the authorities are more capable of handling this type of cases
because if we go back to the seventies, I read in the conclusions of the cases that it has
been a lesson in every sense to be alert and be more effective. Thank you, have a good
rest of the week!