Insanity

Insanity

1. M'Naghten Rules

   • everybody is presumed to be sane
     • The defendant must show on a balance of probabilities that this is not the case

2. 4~ does not know that his act is wrong

   • Windle
     • 'I suppose they'll hang me for this'

3. 2~ Disease of the Mind

   • (a malfunctioning of the mind)
   • Kemp
     • 'any mental or physical illness affecting reason, memory or understanding'
       • Sullivan
         • epilepsy
       • Burgess
         • sleep disorders
       • Hennessy
         • diabetes

4. 1~ Defect of Reason

   • R v Clarke
     • 'deprived of the power of reasoning'
       • not simply confusion or absent mindedness
   • Sullivan
     • the source of the disease does not matter
       • permanent, transient or intermittent defect of reason

5. 3~ Does not know the nature of his act

   • ' in a state of unconsciousness or impaired consciousness'
   • 'conscious but due to his mental condition does not understand or does not know what he is doing'
   • Codere
     • cut wife's neck thinking it was a loaf of bread

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