History Main / InsanityDefense

* Another presidential assassin ([[AssassinOutclassin or attempted one, at any rate]]) was Richard Lawrence, who tried and failed to kill UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson. Upon this failure, Jackson would respond by [[CaneFu clubbing Lawrence into submission with his walking stick]]. Lawrence's worldview had already been delusional before he made the attempt on the president's life ([[NapoleonDelusion believing himself to be King Richard III]], [[InsaneTrollLogic who despite being dead for 350 years was somehow owed money by a country that had not even existed for 60 years at that time]]) and having the bloody snot beaten out of him by an enranged US president probably did his mental state no favors. Fortunately, a security detail had responded quickly enough that Jackson couldn't add Lawrence's name to his already impressive kill tally and the would-be assassin was examined in court. His paranoia, constant unprovoked ranting, and repeated refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the proceedings convinced the jury that Lawrence was indeed completely out of his gourd and he was found not guilt by reason of insanity. That said, with such a verdict in hand and a vivid public demonstration that he was a danger to others, Lawrence was committed to institutions and would spend the remaining 26 years of his life in mental wards until his death at age 60.

* Another presidential assassin ([[AssasssinOutclassin or attempted one, at any rate]]) was Richard Lawrence, who tried and failed to kill UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson. Upon this failure, Jackson would respond by [[CaneFu clubbing Lawrence into submission with his walking stick]]. Lawrence's worldview had already been delusional before he made the attempt on the president's life ([[NapoleonDelusion believing himself to be King Richard III]], [[InsaneTrollLogic who despite being dead for 350 years was somehow owed money by a country that had not even existed for 60 years at that time]]) and having the bloody snot beaten out of him by an enranged US president probably did his mental state no favors. Fortunately, a security detail had responded quickly enough that Jackson couldn't add Lawrence's name to his already impressive kill tally and the would-be assassin was examined in court. His paranoia, constant unprovoked ranting, and repeated refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the proceedings convinced the jury that Lawrence was indeed completely out of his gourd and he was found not guilt by reason of insanity. That said, with such a verdict in hand and a vivid public demonstration that he was a danger to others, Lawrence was committed to institutions and would spend the remaining 26 years of his life in mental wards until his death at age 60.

** During the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] and UsefulNotes/TheInterregnum, ComicBook/TheJoker was not considered insane enough to qualify for this defense. When he tried it, Batman easily proved that despite Joker's eccentricity, he was fully capable of understanding the illegality and consequences of his actions. It was only when the Joker became a homicidal maniac in the 1970s that Arkham Asylum became a necessity for him.

** One episode has the unusual spectacle of a guy using an insanity defense while [[AFoolForAClient defending himself]]. His claim is that he was insane when he committed the crimes, but now is normal thanks to medication, so it's not as ludicrous as it first seems. He is a paranoid schizophrenic, leading to him becoming homeless and murdering people due to his delusions. Before, however, he earned a law degree and is practicing (while defending himself) for the first time.

* In ''Film/ATimeToKill'', the defense lawyer protagonist argued that the rape of his client's daughter combined with the likelihood of the culprits getting off lightly drove the defendant temporarily insane, [[RapeAndRevenge causing him to kill both rapists with an assault rifle]]. This plea is somewhat undermined when the prosecution points out that the psychiatrist he brings in to support his argument was convicted of statutory rape and pressures the defendant into angrily declaring that he still thinks the rapists deserved to die, but in the end, he's found not guilty. They didn't find him "not guilty by reason of insanity", just "not guilty", and thus he couldn't be committed without evidence that he really ''was'' mentally ill -- which the prosecution had not accepted. The insanity defense is not what gets him off at the end, anyway, but the jury sympathizing with him via his lawyer's speech. This is arguing for jury nullification, though, since he never mentions the insanity defense in his closing argument, and [[HollywoodLaw no judge would permit it]]. Some of this is down to the film being a slightly CompressedAdaptation of the book that cuts out a lot of the nuance that made the story just barely plausible.

* ''Literature/ATimeToKill'' handles this ''slightly'' better than its movie counterpart, with the lawyer devoting more time to demonstrating the defendant's mental state and actually making a proper closing statement (the lawyer's statement in the film is drawn from part of the jury discussion in the book).

* In ''Film/ATimeToKill'', the defense lawyer protagonist argued that the rape of his client's daughter combined with the likelihood of the culprits getting off lightly drove the defendant temporarily insane, [[RapeAndRevenge causing him to kill both rapists with an assault rifle]]. This plea is somewhat undermined when the prosecution points out that the psychiatrist he brings in to support his argument was convicted of statutory rape and pressures the defendant into angrily declaring that he still thinks the rapists deserved to die, but in the end, he's found not guilty. They didn't find him "not guilty by reason of insanity", just "not guilty", and thus he couldn't be committed without evidence that he really ''was'' mentally ill -- which the prosecution had not accepted. The insanity defense is not what gets him off at the end, anyway, but the jury sympathizing with him via his lawyer's speech. This is arguing for jury nullification, though, since he never mentions the insanity defense in his closing argument, and [[HollywoodLaw no judge would permit it]].

** Harley herself almost qualifies, as she's something of a textbook case of {{Love Martyr}}dom made worse by being sent back to Arkham right along with Joker, her abuser. Her ComicBook/{{New 52}} origin story retconned this to some form of permanent psychosis from brain damage or drugging, with Harley eventually rejecting Joker outright. In this version of events, she's not legally insane and sent to [[Comicbook/SuicideSquad Belle Reve Penitentiary]] instead of Arkham.

** A 2009 ComicCon panel of lawyers noted that nearly all of Batman's villains did not qualify, including Joker.

** The nearly abusive use of this defense among Batman villains in particular has caused more than one rant from [[http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/law/back20030401.shtml real legal professionals]]. It concluded that only ComicBook/TwoFace and [[DependingOnTheWriter sometimes]] The Joker are "legally" insane, though it's an old and incomplete list. For those who don't feel like reading the linked article in full, what the article concludes is that sometimes the Joker does appear to have a valid insanity defense for his actions (wrongfulness test: sometimes he literally doesn't think what he's doing is wrong; at other times he knows it's wrong but does it anyway ForTheLulz, which is ''not'' a valid defense), and Two-Face pretty much always appears to have one (irresistible impulse test: he knows it's wrong, but can't stop himself because the coin came up scarred). It specifically lists those two as examples of Arkham inmates who probably do belong there; it then gives a (short) list of others that ''don't'': the Scarecrow, the Mad Hatter, the Penguin, Poison Ivy, Tweedledum and Tweedledee. They don't exhibit any behavior compatible with the legal definition of insanity... mental illness, maybe; they're ''certainly'' eccentric... but they fail both prongs of the insanity definition: wrongfulness and irresistible impulse. The author explicitly mentions that he's not trying to give an exhaustive list either way, just examples so that readers can understand what the actual criteria for being judged legally insane are. It also concedes that the audience doesn't know that Gotham uses the same test the real-world US legal system does (which varies from state to state, but they're all more or less based on the Model Penal Code), so maybe under Gotham's definition voluntarily being seen in public in green spandex is all it takes.

** Harley herself almost qualifies, as she's something of a textbook case of StockholmSyndrome made worse by being sent back to Arkham right along with the Joker, her abuser. Her ComicBook/{{New 52}} origin story retconned this to some form of permanent psychosis from brain damage or drugging, with Harley eventually rejecting Joker outright. In this version of events, she's not legally insane and sent to [[Comicbook/SuicideSquad Belle Reve Penitentiary]] instead of Arkham.

** Villain Sin Eater (famous for killing Spidey's long-time ally Jean DeWolff) is a notable example of this trope being done correctly; Sin Eater actually ''was'' legitimately mentally ill (a drug he tested during his [=SHIELD=] days left him with psychotic urges that manifested as an alternate personality that urged him to kill) and committed his murders because of this. His insanity defense led to him getting the psychotherapy he needed, and when we next see him, he's slowly recovering and guilt-ridden from the crimes he committed. Either way, he isn't a threat to anyone else now, as his final fight with Spider-Man was [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown so brutal]], it left Sin Eater a stuttering wreck who needs help getting around.

** There was a period where Comicbook/WarMachine had an advanced interface that displayed how many people his foes had killed, allowing him to decide whether or not it was okay for him to use lethal force against said bad guys. When he faced ComicBook/NormanOsborn, Osborn pointed out that War Machine couldn't kill him since all of the Goblin's murders were committed while either being certifiably insane as the Goblin (such as [[Comicbook/TheNightGwenStacyDied Gwen Stacy]] and Terri Kidder) or while in the service of his country ([[ComicBook/SecretInvasion Queen Veranke]]). War Machine's response was to say "Interesting theory" [[AvertedTrope and then blast him with a rocket]]. For the record, Osborn was lying- he attempted, arranged, and committed plenty of murders even after being (temporarily) "cured" of the Goblin personality, and the first time he was thrown in jail it was actually because he was [[SerialKiller murdering young women for kicks]] as Norman Osborn, not as the Goblin; Rhodey (hopefully) blasted him because he knew this.

* ''Franchise/TheDCU'':

** The conclusion of ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'' may be an indicator of how easily anyone can be committed to Arkham without any legal proceedings. After discovering his EX-wife, Jean Loring, killed Sue Dibny, [[Comicbook/TheAtom Ray Palmer]] simply dumps her in Arkham. The crime was committed nowhere near Gotham, she clearly understood it was illegal considering the steps she took to cover it up (she is a criminal lawyer, after all), and since they're divorced Ray had no legal standing to commit her.

* When Hal Jordan, Franchise/GreenLantern, fought an opponent code-named the Aerialist, it became obvious that the Aerialist was under a severe delusion making him believe that his criminal actions were entirely legal and correct. Hal referenced the M'Naghten rules when wrapping up the case, his opinion being that the Aerialist would qualify for an insanity defense.
* Black Hand's current backstory strongly implies he's legitimately insane, compulsively wallowing in death as an erotic experience, often hearing voices compelling him to kill. Mind, Black Hand hears voices because [[EldritchAbomination someone's]] legitimately talking to him...
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** Villain Sin Eater (famous for killing Spidey's long-time ally Jean Dewolff) is a notable example of this trope being done correctly; Sin Eater actually ''was'' legitimately mentally ill (a drug he tested during his [=SHIELD=] days left him with psychotic urges that manifested as an alternate personality that urged him to kill) and committed his murders because of this. His insanity defense led to him getting the psychotherapy he needed, and when we next see him, he's slowly recovering and guilt-ridden from the crimes he committed. Either way, he isn't a threat to anyone else now, as his final fight with Spider-Man was [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown so brutal]], it left Sin Eater a stuttering wreck who needs help getting around.

* Attempted in ComicBook/{{Diabolik}}'s trial, though only out of desperation: Diabolik had not named an attorney nor collaborated with the one assigned to him, so the lawyer, not having anything to work with, tried that when he noticed his charge seemed to have a blinking tic. It failed and Diabolik was sentenced to death, though he escaped just in time... But years later this and other irregularities at the trial were used by anti-death penalty activists as evidence that Diabolik had been subjected to a KangarooCourt and that he should be retried, convicted properly, and sentenced to life in prison (as in the meantime more than enough evidence of his ''many'' crimes has emerged).
* A ''Lighter Side'' cartoon about trials in ''Magazine/{{Mad}}'' had the judge mock the defendant for wasting his insanity plea on ''a parking ticket''.