Term Paper on "Defenses to Criminal Liability"

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[EXCERPT] . . . .

Defenses to Criminal Liability

Explain the difference between the defenses of justification and excuses to criminal liability

According to Article 35 of the New York State Law Penal Code, and in other like documents throughout the United States, the defense of justification in any prosecution for an offense is a defense for some kind of legitimate use of physical force which would otherwise be a criminal offense. For instance, when an officer uses physical force in his performance as a public servant, or when, in an emergency situation, a person acts in self-defense. Specific situations named in this code are: (1) when a parent or teacher uses physical force on a person under 21, as long as it is not deadly force and is considered reasonable to maintain discipline or to promote their welfare. (2) a warden in a jail or prison is acting to maintain order and discipline. (3) Someone in charge of keeping order in a carrier of passengers uses force to maintain order, including deadly physical force when it is considered reasonable. (4) a person stops someone from committing suicide or inflicting injury upon himself. (5) a doctor uses force to administer a medical treatment which will promote the physical or mental health of a patient who has consented or, in an emergency situation, when any reasonable person would consent. (6) in defense of himself or a third person, or in order to stop larceny or criminal mischief to property, to arrest someone, or prevent an escape from custody, a person uses physical, even deadly, force.

Excuses to criminal liability are as varied and numerous as may be created by imagination, but the law allows only a few excuses, such a

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s infancy (minors are not liable), insanity (see description below), settled insanity (drug induced insanity) and automatism, such as when someone commits a criminal act when they are not in control of their body in an epileptic or hypoglycemic seizure or in some cases, are drunk. (Finkelstein 326)

Explain why "insanity" is a legal concept and not a medical term.

The insanity defense is based on forensic professionals' evaluations that the defendant was incapable of telling right from wrong when the offense was committed. According to a history of insanity defenses, the M'Naghten Rules state "it must be clearly proved that, at the time of the committing of the act, the party accused was labouring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing; or, if he did know it, that he did not know he was doing what was wrong" (Walker 4).

If persons are not responsible for their actions because they lack understanding of their consequences, in spite of it being a danger to society, it does no good to punish a criminal or non-criminal act because the person does not understand that what they did was wrong. The insane person understands the consequence to be a part of the expiation and rehabilitation process, not a punishment. The state, in a position of parens patriae, should put the person under its care and protection, requires or offers treatment and does not subject this person to the stress of undergoing a trial, because punishment is only morally justified if the person understands the wrongfulness of their actions.

According to the law, insanity is determined by whether criminal conduct is a result of mental disease or defect or not, and whether the defendant lacked substantial capacity to conform his conduct to the requirement of the law or not. Dr. Park Elliott Dietz, the government witness, determined that Hinckley on March 30, 1981, knew what he was going to do and was doing, but "did not lack substantial capacity to conform his conduct to the requirement of the law," and therfore was sane, according to legal standards. In other words, Hinckley knew that his conduct was illegal and immoral, but decided to plan and carry out a criminal act anyway (Linder, Transcripts).

According to the testimony of Dr. William T. Carpenter, his psychiatrist, Hinckley was legally insane, delusional with false beliefs on what was wrong and what was right. The doctor made a case for President Reagan's chance appearance in the same town that he was in, therefore becoming an opportunity for Hinckley… READ MORE

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Quoted Instructions for "Defenses to Criminal Liability" Assignment:

“

***PLEASE, ONLY EXPERIENCED LEGAL/CRIMINAL LAW *****S!! NO HOBBYIST!!***

State your positions and the reasons for it to each of the following 4 statements:

a. Explain the difference between the defenses of justification and excuses to criminal liability.

b. Explain why "insanity" is a legal concept and not a medical term.

c. When does insanity excuse criminal liability?

d. John Warnock Hinckley, Jr. (born May 29, 1955) attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981. Hinckley fired a RÃ¶hm RG-14 six times at Reagan as he left the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. after addressing an AFL-CIO conference. The gun cost $25, was manufactured by RÃ¶hm Gesellschaft, a West German company, and assembled in Miami by its American subsidiary, R.G. Industries, Inc. ATF agents determined that the gun was bought at Rocky's Pawn Shop in Dallas, Texas. It was loaded with six Devastator rounds, designed to explode on impact, though all failed to do so. Hinckley wounded press secretary James Brady, police officer Thomas Delahanty, and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy. The initial barrage missed President Reagan, but he was seriously wounded when a bullet that ricocheted from the bulletproof glass of the presidential limousine hit him in the chest. Hinckley did not attempt to flee and was arrested at the scene. All of the shot men survived and recovered, although Brady, who had been shot in the right side of his head, remained paralyzed on the left side of his body. At the trial in 1982, charged with 13 offenses, Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity on June 21. The defense psychiatric reports found him to be insane while the prosecution reports declared him legally sane.

----> Q: Under the defenses to criminal liability, was the verdict in the Hinckley case and his subsequent commitment to a mental hospital (rather than prison) a miscarriage of justice? Why or why not?

PLEASE FOLLOW THESE SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS:

(1) Don*****t include an abstract.

(2) All essays MUST be supported with:

-----> strong empirical evidence (if & when necessary),

-----> specific, non-superficial references from acceptable sources cited, by expanding on & not simply a regurgitation of what's in the sources,

-----> a MINIMUM of 2 acceptable academic sources (see #3 below) that strengthen each essays***** argument, AND

-----> of course, STRONG concluding paragraph(s).

(3) Acceptable Academic References: SCHOLARLY SOURCES, such as peer-reviewed journal articles (on-line -- cited as "[Electronic version]" -- or hardcopy), U.S. Government publications (PDF format only *****“ websites will not count), criminal law/criminal justice/criminal procedure textbook, etc.

(4) Direct Quotations: It's PREFERRED that the essay doesn't have any direct quotes from any of the references/sources used.

-----> HOWEVER, if a direct quote is necessary, a MAXIMUM of 3 direct quotes are allowed & each direct quote can be NO longer than 2 lines of written text.

-----> OTHERWISE, all work MUST be paraphrased OR in own words with proper APA citations.

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