Legal Question in Criminal Law in Maryland

Temporary insantiy

I have done a little research, and I have read that temporary insantity is no longer an effective defense. So, this is my question. What if a person committed a crime such as attempted murder when extremly intoxicated? By itself i know, it wont hold up. But extreme clinical depression mixed with anxiety, coupled with the fact that the man was drinking at a bar and the bar sat a bottle in front of him and told him to drink his fill instead of giving him single drinks could be said to be exteuating circumstances. Would this hold up? The logic I conclude is that a major symptom of depression is substance abuse. Well if this is a symptom of a clinical issue, then him sitting at a bar w/ a bottle infront of him would in essence be an irresistible impulse to drink untill he physically couldn't anymore right? And taking that to be true, then the man was involuntarly intoxicated because of his condition and the circumstances. Well after drinking the entire bottle, he stabbed a man during an argument (not self defense apparently). Because he was not in the correct mindstate and it was not of his own free will could this defense be empoyed possible as a form of temporary insanity?


Asked on 10/25/05, 11:51 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Temporary insantiy

No, I'm afraid that your theory which really is one of diminished capacity or some version thereof would be unlikely to "hold up" in front of a jury either as a defense to a charge of homicide or even as a mitigating circumstance for purposes of sentencing.

Self adminstered drugs which may exacerbate a preexisting mental depression or other ailment in the perpetrator and which result in behaviour which causes or contributes to the perpetrator's killing of another person, will not provide him with a way out of his legal dilemma.

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Answered on 10/25/05, 12:14 pm
Fred Kaufman Fredrick S. Kaufman, Esquire

Re: Temporary insantiy

No.

Voluntary intoxication is never a defense. Insanity must be a medically uncontrollable condition not a voluntary one. Irresistible impulse is also based upon a chemical imbalance within the person and must be supported by expert opinion.

Im sorry.

Good luck

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Answered on 10/25/05, 8:49 pm


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