Submitted by: Carl Iwanicki

Criminal defense is tough. Pleading insanity as a defense requires the assistance of an experienced criminal defense attorney. Get in touch with a criminal defense lawyer.After reviewing the facts and circumstances of your case and if insanity is a viable defense strategy in your case, a seasoned criminal defense law firm will help you collect the required evidence. The law firm will also arrange expert testimonial. The attorney will arrange for a physiatrist to examine you. The psychiatrist s will investigate the circumstances of the crime, your past history and will also conduct a few personal interviews with you. Generally the prosecution will ask the court to have you examined by a government psychiatrist.

A criminal defense law firm will review you case and locate other witnesses who can offer testimony supporting your insanity pleas. Generally jurors do not give much importance to reports of medical experts who declare a person insane after having spoken to them once or twice. The strongest evidence of insanity is often provided by friends and relatives who have known the defendant long enough to form a reliable opinion that the defendant is mentally ill.

A seasoned criminal defense lawyer can demonstrate your insanity to the court. If you plead insanity as a defense, you must prove you insanity to the judge or jury. Generally a defendant can prove insanity by a preponderance of the evidence, the lower burden of proof commonly used in civil cases. However at times, the facts of the case may require a defendant to demonstrate insanity by clear and convincing evidence, a burden of proof somewhere in between the lower preponderance and a reasonable doubt standards. Diminished capacity is a partial defense akin to insanity. In jurisdictions that accept diminished capacity as a defense, the criminal liability of a person is reduced if his actions are caused by mental defects that fall short of the legal definitions of insanity. The attorney will review your case to see if you can plead this defense of diminished capacity.

A seasoned criminal defense lawyer understands that whether or not a defendant pleads insanity as a defense to criminal charges, an issue can arise as to a defendant s sanity at the time of trial. You cannot be put on trial if you are suffering from a mental disease that prevents her from understanding the proceedings and assisting in the preparation of the defense. When the defendant claims incompetence to stand trial, the judge will hold a hearing and take evidence about the defendant s current competence. During this hearing, the defendant must demonstrate that he or she is incompetent to stand trial by a preponderance of the evidence. When it is established that the defendant is incompetent to stand trial, the judge will generally order the defendant to be placed in a mental institution until competency is reestablished. If you want to plead any of these defenses, contact an experienced criminal defense attorney immediately. The attorney will review your case and advise you on the use of such defense and the consequences.

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