205
See also: Jeffrey Dahmer 293 ■ The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln 306–09 ■ The Assassination of
John F. Kennedy 316–21MURDER CASES
followed him everywhere and
wanted to murder him. The
prosecution argued that, in spite
of what they called his “partial
insanity”, M’Naghten was capable
of knowing right from wrong.
However, the jury found him not
guilty on grounds of insanity, and
he was sentenced to spend the rest
of his life in a mental asylum.
The murderer’s acquittal caused
a huge outcry: even Queen Victoria,
who herself had been the victim of
assassination attempts, voiced her
displeasure. There had never been
such a high-profile case that
accepted insanity as a defence.Legal tests
Unable to disregard the volume of
public and royal discontent, the
government asked a panel of judges
to answer a series of questions
about the law of insanity as applied
in the M’Naghten trial. Their
responses established a specific
test – known as the M’Naghten rule- to be applied by a jury in an
insanity case. The rule holds that a
criminal defendant is presumed to
be sane, and for a plea of insanity
to be accepted, it must be proven
that the defendant has a mental
defect or disease and was not
aware that what they were doing
was wrong. The rule is still used
today in many countries. In the US,
the rule has been modified by some
states to include an “irresistible
impulse” provision. A defendantcan be found not guilty by reason of
insanity if they know the difference
between right and wrong, but
cannot stop themselves from
committing a criminal act.
In almost all cases, a verdict of
not guilty by reason of insanity
leads to a sentence at a mental
health institution for an indefinite
number of years – even life. ■Hospitals for the criminally insane
Institutions for the criminally
insane have existed since the
early 19th century. In Britain, they
were established by the Criminal
Lunatics Act of 1800 to prevent
the criminally insane from being
housed in regular prisons and
asylums; however, they soon
gained a reputation for poor
treatment and bad conditions.
Institutions for the criminally
insane ostensibly operate just like
other mental health facilities, but,
in fact, they often endanger
patients and staff. In the US,Bridgewater State Hospital in
southern Massachusetts has
been the subject of numerous
controversies for inmate deaths,
inmate abuse, and overuse of
restraints by hospital workers.
On the other hand, staff are
also at risk. Stephen Seager’s
Behind the Gates of Gomorrah
gave a damning account of the
chronic violence committed by a
small number of patients that he
witnessed when working as a
psychiatrist at California’s Napa
State Hospital.Lunatic asylums housed Britain’s
insane murderers until 1863, when
Broadmoor, the first high-security
psychiatric hospital, was founded.The M’Naghten Rule
His or her legal
representatives establish a
defence that proves he is
not saneDefendant is presumed to be saneVerdict of not guilty by reason of insanity
Defence shows that the
defendant did not
understand the crime or
know right from wrong204-205_Daniel_MNaghten.indd 205 02/12/2016 15:03