tlcya
mother daughter sister wife friend paralegal
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2009
- Messages
- 44,002
- Reaction score
- 83,678
the benchmark in OH for insanity plea to succeed is that the perpetrator must not have known the difference between right and wrong and between reality versus fantasy.
(14) A person is "not guilty by reason of insanity" relative to a charge of an offense only if the person proves, in the manner specified in section 2901.05 of the Revised Code, that at the time of the commission of the offense, the person did not know, as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, the wrongfulness of the person's acts.
Section 2901.01 - Ohio Revised Code | Ohio Laws
First, you still have to prove through evidence and persuade the jury that there is a 50.1% chance that you’re insane. After you plead NGRI, the court will usually order your examination by a doctor and make that report available to the defense, court and prosecution. And usually, you’ll have a doctor or some expert testify as to the state of your mental condition. So, whether someone has a “mental disease or defect” that is “severe” is really just a question of evidence. If you can convince the jury that you had a severe mental disease that made it so you couldn’t tell that what you were doing was wrong, then you might have an insanity defense.
How Does the Insanity Defense Work?
(14) A person is "not guilty by reason of insanity" relative to a charge of an offense only if the person proves, in the manner specified in section 2901.05 of the Revised Code, that at the time of the commission of the offense, the person did not know, as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, the wrongfulness of the person's acts.
Section 2901.01 - Ohio Revised Code | Ohio Laws
How Does Ohio Handle Insanity?
Ohio uses what is known in legal jargon as the M'Naghten Rule. Under ORC § 2901.01(A)(14), you are not guilty by reason of insanity if you can prove that you didn’t know, “as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, the wrongfulness of [your] actions.” (Let’s call “not guilty by reason of insanity “NGRI.”) You have to plead NGRI at arraignment, where the judge formally reads your charge in the courtroom. Obviously, a “severe mental disease or defect” brings up a lot of evidentiary issues. What counts as a “mental disease or defect?” And when is it considered “severe” enough?First, you still have to prove through evidence and persuade the jury that there is a 50.1% chance that you’re insane. After you plead NGRI, the court will usually order your examination by a doctor and make that report available to the defense, court and prosecution. And usually, you’ll have a doctor or some expert testify as to the state of your mental condition. So, whether someone has a “mental disease or defect” that is “severe” is really just a question of evidence. If you can convince the jury that you had a severe mental disease that made it so you couldn’t tell that what you were doing was wrong, then you might have an insanity defense.
How Does the Insanity Defense Work?