“It’s crazy to plead insanity” says law professor Dr. Charles Ewing.
The plea rarely works.
And yet, some of the most famous mass murderers have attempted it.
Just this month, Eddie Ray Routh, the killer of ‘American Sniper’, Chris Kyle, was
deemed sane by the jury, despite his insanity plea, and convicted of murder.
So why is it so hard to prove insanity?
First of all, pleading insanity means that you admit to the crime itself, but you’re
not responsible - because you’re insane.
Also, you should not be put in prison or sentenced to death.
The problem is, that it’s hard to prove insanity.
In most US courts, the burden of proof is on the accused.
A defendant must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he or she was SO mentally ill,
they didn’t know right from wrong during the crime.
In the Routh case, during the closing argument, the prosecution highlighted the fact that
Routh DID have enough mental capacity after the murder to order a burrito at a fast food
restaurant.
If he was insane, according to the prosecution, this food-trip would be unlikely.
Another reason the insanity plea usually doesn’t work, according to several lawyers, is that
jurors are hesitant to acquit people who have committed horrible crimes.
The insanity plea, at its basic level, is a plea of innocence.
People often feel that someone who knowingly commits murder deserves to be convicted, and
that the insanity plea is an “easy way out”.
Routh confessed to committing murder, yet pleaded insanity.Despite a history of schizophrenia
and PTSD, the jury convicted him.
Similarly, in May 2014, David Tarloff, also tried the insanity plea, after he brutally
killed his psychologist.
He, too, suffered from schizophrenia, necessitating several hospital stays.
But again, the jury found him sane and guilty.
A 1995 report from “The American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law” says that on
average, insanity pleas are raised in less than 1% of criminal trials.
And only about a quarter of those pleas are successful.
Often, the media frenzies over famous murderers who plead insanity - like Ted Bundy.
And that creates the false idea that insanity pleas are common, and that they work.
Many criminals do have severe mental health issues, and there are many ways of criminally
processing them.
But for the majority of cases, in the United States, the insanity plea doesn’t work out.
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