- Joined
- Apr 1, 2019
Yes and no. I can't see it helping him too much if his lawyer submits a not guilty by reasons of insanity defense later, but it could be used for competency to stand trial.If I'm understanding you correctly, the autism defence is essentially being used to bolster the schizophrenia one? I wasn't aware that it was considered as a substantial aggravating factor in that way (vs. say, multiple severe mind-altering conditions such as bipolar in combination with schizophrenia) - more just to affect sentencing where there is room for discretion. What you say does makes sense however, as autism being used alone really isn't going to do anything for a murder case. (More edits - tiredposting.)
Competency to stand trial: "I have some condition which makes it impossible for me to receive a fair trial"
In these instances the defendant is taken into care in order to make them competent to stand trial, but only up to what their maximum sentence would have been.
Not guilty by reasons of insanity: "My condition either caused my actions, or prevented me from abstaining from my actions, or prevented me from understanding the results of my actions."
This is during the actual trial if the defendant is found competent to stand trial. The results of being found not guilty by reasons of insanity differ by state, and the burden of proof is on the defendant. For them to ever get out of psychiatric care, it has to be proven that they are no longer "manifestly dangerous."
This is what I was talking about by the schizophrenia mattering more in the not guilty by reasons of insanity in this case, and the ASD possibly mattering more in the competency side of this case.
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