HB 1707 and our existing insanity laws

Insanity is a complete defense to a crime. A person found to be insane at the time of a crime is “not guilty,” and cannot be punished (although s/he can be committed to a mental institution for treatment).

HB 1707 disqualifies a person suffering from a severe mental disorder at the time of a murder from death penalty eligibility, but does not provide a defense to murder. It is a “defense” to the death penalty only. If convicted of aggravated murder (the only crime that carries the possibility of a death sentence), that person would serve life without parole.

Both insanity and a severe mental disorder require proof of a mental disease or defect at the time of the crime. The difference between the two provisions is that insanity requires proof of a complete inability to know right from wrong, while severe mental illness requires proof of substantial impairment in the ability to know right from wrong or to control his/her actions. In short, the standard for insanity is slightly higher than for severe mental illness.


It is important to further point out that our insanity law employs the strictest test recognized in this country. This is the reason so few juries have found defendants charged with murder not guilty by reason of insanity.

In fact, the definition of “severe mental disorder” used in this bill is the insanity standard used in 17 other states and in the Model Penal Code (laws drafted to attempt to standardize criminal laws). Thus, a person charged with murder in any of those 17 states would not only be ineligible for the death penalty, but would be “not guilty” of the crime.

Thus, this bill prohibits death sentences, but does not alter the proof necessary for a conviction nor change “life without parole” as the sentence resulting from a conviction for aggravated murder. Additionally, it protects only those individuals who suffer from a profound mental disease or defect. Finally, that severe mental disease or defect must have caused a substantial impairment in the person’s ability to know right from wrong or control his/her actions at the time of the crime. This is a difficult standard--one that will only be met by individuals who are truly severely mentally disordered and whose crime is the product of that severe disability.