History Main / InsanityDefense

** The [[NecessaryWeasel nearly abusive use of this defense]] among Batman villains in particular has caused more than one [[DanBrowned 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.

* An interesting case is an ongoing thread of Jon Ronson's book ''The Psychopath Test'', where he meets a man who pleaded insanity in the expectation that this would be a lighter sentence. Pleading insanity under those circumstances was seen by his doctors as evidence that he actually ''was'' insane -- but not the kind of insane he claimed to be; it checked the item "Cunning / Manipulative" on the aforementioned Psychopath test, so he was held far longer than he would have been if he had pleaded guilty to the original offense. The book also covers a fairly chilling [[Catch22Dilemma catch-22]];if he expresses no remorse for his crime, he meets one criteria for psychopathy, but if he does express remorse, that could easily be viewed as yet another reason to check "Cunning / Manipulative". Ronson has a TED talk where he [[http://www.ted.com/talks/jon_ronson_strange_answers_to_the_psychopath_test.html discusses this case]].

* An interesting case is an ongoing thread of Jon Ronson's book ''The Psychopath Test'', where he meets a man who pleaded insanity in the expectation that this would be a lighter sentence. Pleading insanity under those circumstances was seen by his doctors as evidence that he actually ''was'' insane -- but not the kind of insane he claimed to be; it checked the item "Cunning / Manipulative" on the aforementioned Psychopath test, so he was held far longer than he would have been if he had pleaded guilty to the original offense. The book also covers a fairly chilling [[Catch-22 Dilemma catch-22]];if he expresses no remorse for his crime, he meets one criteria for psychopathy, but if he does express remorse, that could easily be viewed as yet another reason to check "Cunning / Manipulative". Ronson has a TED talk where he [[http://www.ted.com/talks/jon_ronson_strange_answers_to_the_psychopath_test.html discusses this case]].

* An interesting case is an ongoing thread of Jon Ronson's book ''The Psychopath Test'', where he meets a man who pleaded insanity in the expectation that this would be a lighter sentence. Pleading insanity under those circumstances was seen by his doctors as evidence that he actually ''was'' insane -- but not the kind of insane he claimed to be; it checked the item "Cunning / Manipulative" on the aforementioned Psychopath test, so he was held far longer than he would have been if he had pleaded guilty to the original offense. The book also covers a fairly chilling [[Catch-22Dilemma catch-22]];if he expresses no remorse for his crime, he meets one criteria for psychopathy, but if he does express remorse, that could easily be viewed as yet another reason to check "Cunning / Manipulative". Ronson has a TED talk where he [[http://www.ted.com/talks/jon_ronson_strange_answers_to_the_psychopath_test.html discusses this case]].

* An interesting case is an ongoing thread of Jon Ronson's book ''The Psychopath Test'', where he meets a man who pleaded insanity in the expectation that this would be a lighter sentence. Pleading insanity under those circumstances was seen by his doctors as evidence that he actually ''was'' insane -- but not the kind of insane he claimed to be; it checked the item "Cunning / Manipulative" on the aforementioned Psychopath test, so he was held far longer than he would have been if he had pleaded guilty to the original offense. The book also covers a fairly chilling [[Catch-22Dilemma catch-22;]] if he expresses no remorse for his crime, he meets one criteria for psychopathy, but if he does express remorse, that could easily be viewed as yet another reason to check "Cunning / Manipulative". Ronson has a TED talk where he [[http://www.ted.com/talks/jon_ronson_strange_answers_to_the_psychopath_test.html discusses this case]].

* An interesting case is an ongoing thread of Jon Ronson's book ''The Psychopath Test'', where he meets a man who pleaded insanity in the expectation that this would be a lighter sentence. Pleading insanity under those circumstances was seen by his doctors as evidence that he actually ''was'' insane -- but not the kind of insane he claimed to be; it checked the item "Cunning / Manipulative" on the aforementioned Psychopath test, so he was held far longer than he would have been if he had pleaded guilty to the original offense. The book also covers a fairly chilling catch-22; if he expresses no remorse for his crime, he meets one criteria for psychopathy, but if he does express remorse, that could easily be viewed as yet another reason to check "Cunning / Manipulative". Ronson has a TED talk where he [[http://www.ted.com/talks/jon_ronson_strange_answers_to_the_psychopath_test.html discusses this case]].

* [[UsefulNotes/CanadianHistory Louis Riel]]'s lawyers wanted him to plead insanity to be found not guilty of treason. People will never know if it would have worked, because Riel wanted to use his time in court as a final opportunity to make public the natives' problems. He was found guilty and hanged.

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* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'': The DL-6 incident in the backstory has the defendent, Yanni Yogi, get off because his lawyer claimed insanity (specifically, that he'd suffered brain damage from oxygen deprivation after being trapped in an elevator for several hours). [[spoiler: It's a DeconstructedTrope, because said lawyer was an AmoralAttorney who pressured his client into entering an insanity plea because the lawyer didn't believe in his innocence, but was too crooked to advise a plea bargain. Yanni Yogi was both innocent and sane, but being forced to pretend to be crazy to keep up his insanity plea ruined his life and caused his fiancee to kill herself. He later murders his lawyer for what the guy had done to him.]]

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* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Insane in the Mainframe", SimpleCountryLawyer Hyperchicken uses the insanity defense in favor of Fry and Bender, and offers as proof the fact that "they done hired me as their lawyer." What then happens is that they're put in the mental institution, similar to what would have happened now if they weren't found "Guilty but Insane". Note that this in a country where being poor has recently been classified as a mental illness.

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** The Great White Shark was a white-collar criminal who committed massive embelement and fraud, then got himself sent to Arkham under the imression that this was an easy out, negotiating with the therapist for a reduced sentence. Unfortunately, said therapist was actually a supervillain in disguise (specializing in KillAndReplace), so any deals he cut with her had no basis in reality. Then demons invade, he loses his nose and his mind, all in all a standard week in Arkham.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', Sam is a larcenous, silver-tongued alien squid. He mentions that spending more than three weeks with him is legally grounds for an individual insanity plea.

** In ''The Joker: Devil's Advocate'' , a new D.A. decides to go for broke and push for the death penalty after a series of killings with the Joker's MO. After a "Trial of the Century" with accompanying media circus, he is found guilty and sentenced to death. However, he claims to have no knowledge of the murders. Batman, who has never known the Joker to deny any of his crimes, investigates and finds out that this time he really is innocent. Joker is returned to Arkham when this is revealed.

** The general consensus is that the insanity defense is almost guaranteed to work in the Gotham court system regardless of how much sense it makes legally, but since it means going to Arkham, [[IncrediblyLamePun you'd need to be crazy]] to try it. In ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumLivingHell'', Warren White, an embezzler who stole millions of dollars and unfamiliar with Gotham, made this mistake and found himself in Arkham instead of the cushy rehab center he expected to be sent to. Things didn't go well for him. Killer Croc attacked him, slashing his throat and giving him "gills". Then an encounter with with Jane Doe in Mr. Freeze's specialized cell left him without hair, ears, nose, and lips. Then White filed his teeth to points and took the name "Great White Shark". Essentially, while he might not have been crazy ''before'' his insanity defence worked, he certainly was ''after'' it.

* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' had an AmoralAttorney pressure his client into using an insanity defense. [[spoiler:[[DeconstructedTrope It worked, but the defendant's life was ruined as a result, when he could have been found Not Guilty because he hadn't committed the crime.]] So he killed the attorney fifteen years later.]]

** DependingOnTheWriter, [[Characters/BatmanPoisonIvy Poison Ivy]] may be a valid case. Creator/NeilGaiman's origin story strongly implied that [[RapeAsBackstory Jason Woodrue raped and experimented on her]] to the point that her original identity is barely a memory, and her current personality is either a trapped plant spirit or so warped that it believes such, making her thought processes so alien that the only one who really "gets" her is [[Characters/BatmanHarleyQuinn Harley Quinn]].

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* In most Christian Denominations, insanity reduces or outright eliminates someone's responsibility for a sin he commits.
** In Catholicism the three requirements for a sin to be mortal (i.e. severe enough to warrent eternal damnation) are Grave Matter, [[ObliviouslyEvil Full Knowledge]], and [[ForcedIntoEvil Deliberate Consent]]. Since insanity takes away the second two, people who are insane are incapable of committing mortal sins.
* In Islam, the Prophet Muhammad is recorded as saying the following with regards to this trope.
--> “The Pen has been lifted from three [[note]]in other words, Allah won't hold these three accountable for their actions[[/note]]: from the sleeper until he awakens, from [[ChildrenAreInnocent the child until he reaches puberty]] and from the insane person until he comes to his senses.”
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** 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...

* ''Literature/TheZombieSurvivalGuide'': In one account of a zombie incident that took place in apartheid-era South Africa, a black South African named Simon is accused of the murder of a white South African called Schmidt. Simon's lawyer states that Simon's people believe in an illness that causes corpses to rise and attack the living, and his decapitation of Schmidt and [[BurnTheUndead burning of his body]] was motivated by the belief that Schmidt had contracted this illness and wanted to stop it spreading. He then quickly adds that he himself doesn't believe in this illness and only mentions it to the court because he believes it qualifies Simon as insane. Unfortunately [[DeliberateValuesDissonance the court rules that only white South Africans qualify for the insanity defence]] and sentences Simon to death.

* ''Film/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest'' deconstructs the trope; playing insane got [=McMurphy=] transferred into a mental institution, which he ''knows'' about and thinks is better than prison. [[BedlamHouse He is sorely mistaken]]: the head nurse is sociopathic and psychologically abusive, he has a near meltdown when he learns that, unlike prison where he has a set release date, the mental institution can keep him indefinitely until they deem him sane, and [[spoiler:it ends with him lobotomized after he snaps and attacks Nurse Ratched after she inadvertently causes an inmate to commit suicide and shows no remorse over it]].

* One episode of ''Series/JudgeJohnDeed'' had a man on trial for causing death by dangerous driving (his car ploughed into a woman and her daughter while he was sending a text message). In court he pretended to be borderline catatonic, unaware of his surroundings and therefore unfit for trial. [[spoiler:He was exposed due to his involuntary reaction when the judge ordered he be sent to Broadmoor, a hospital for the criminally insane where he would be locked up with the likes of the Yorkshire Ripper and one of the Kray Twins.]]

* John Hinckley, Jr. attempted to assassinate UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan and is one of the few "successful" insanity defense stories. The verdict led to widespread dismay; as a result, the U.S. Congress and a number of states rewrote laws regarding the insanity defense. Idaho, Montana, and Utah have abolished the defense altogether. The dismay is ironic, as he has been in a mental institution for over 30 years, probably more time than he would have spent in prison if convicted, certainly longer than many "sane" murderers spend in prison. Judging by what he did before the attempt and the way he defended himself during trial, he had been everything but sane. Unfortunately, the only way to be sure is to release him now and provide the logistics needed to trace back his obsession -- Creator/JodieFoster -- if [[TheDeterminator he could cling to it for 35 years and still not give up]], he's too insane to count. In August 2016, it was announced that Hinckley would be released, so we'll possibly see now.

** 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 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 so brutal, it left Sin Eater a stuttering wreck who needs help getting around.

A variant is "Temporary Insanity," in which the defendant is claimed to have been suffering from an "irresistible impulse" during the crime, but is now sane. Thus, they can be released immediately, rather than being incarcerated for psychiatric treatment. This defense was first used in the United States by U.S. Congressman Daniel Sickles of New York in 1859, after murdering [[{{Cuckold}} his wife's lover]]. It was most prevalent as a defense during the 1940s and '50s. Most states do not allow this defense today.