30 Jessica Adcock – The Insanity Defense

Jessica M. Adcock is a first-year student majoring in Criminal Justice.  This paper was a discussion post on the Insanity Defense for her Intro to Criminal Justice Class.  Professor Carrie Mier notes, “Jessica discussed this topic in-depth and thoroughly applied it to a relevant case. Detailed description and empathetic review of this defense.”

The Insanity Defense

After watching the videos about the insanity defense, I was surprised to find out how little it is used and how often it is successful. I feel the failure of the defense itself in trial comes from two things.

One is the lack of understanding of the general population and of juries of how one with severe mental illness may not have the same understanding of their behaviors as themselves. In our criminal justice system, we tend to blame the defendant that has mental illness for their actions because we don’t understand the behavior is different than our own. Because there is a lack of first-hand knowledge of “insanity”, we are expected to trust secondhand sources of actions we did not witness and about which we do not understand the inner biophysical workings (Blumoff, 2014/2015). It is hard for the average person to understand that while “insane,” the consequences of our actions do not mean the same thing compared to someone who is sane. As well as the fact that in many cases, by the time an offender appears before a jury, they have had treatment, and do not appear to be insane.

Two, the feeling that someone is getting away with a crime, by pleading guilty but by reason of insanity. As a people, we expect that when someone is murdered, there should be retribution. We expect that justice should be served for the victim. I don’t believe the average person comes to the realization that with insanity, or mental illness, the offender is likely a victim as well. A victim of mental illness. A stigma still exists around mental illness.

I believe that the guilty but by reason of insanity defense is an essential defense in our criminal justice system. It is important that we strive to understand the nature of mental illness, and how it works. It is important that we view crimes committed while under the duress of a mental illness in a serious and valid way. These crimes affect not only the victim and the victim’s family but the offender and the offender’s family as well. How can we hold someone responsible for a crime that their mental illness perpetrated when they had no rational control over it? I believe to have true justice; one must have a true understanding of the definition of insanity by law. Insanity, defined in criminal law, is a condition of mental disorder or mental defect that relieves persons of criminal responsibility for their conduct (Norton, 2023).

The case example I would like to bring to your attention is the case of Michael Winchester vs Oregon. This case was featured on an episode of the A&E television show Accused: Guilty or Innocent, titled “Wife Killer or Medically Insane?”, which was released July 7th, 2022 (IMBD, 2022).

Michael Winchester brutally murdered his terminally ill wife of 30 years, Heidi (Annie) Winchester, on January 30th, 2019. He also tried to commit suicide. Michael’s wife had been fighting cancer for over 10 years, and he was a supportive, loving, working husband and father, raising their two sons. After an unknown illness in 2018, Michael’s mental state completely changed. This was testified to by several people, including his own sons. He fully admits to the murder but couldn’t rationally wrap his head around why it happened.

Michael Winchester’s attorney, Benjamin Kim, enlisted the expertise of a neurobiologist and a forensic psychologist, to review his medical records during his 2018 illness. The findings concluded that he suffered severe encephalitis due to a viral infection. The pressure on his brain was causing extreme mental distress that affected his reasoning, thought, speech, and processing faculties. After his arrest, he was treated at a hospital and returned to his normal mental state. His two sons also supported their father, knowing how out of character it was for him to act like this, and how much he loved their mother.

Michael Winchester pled guilty but by reason of insanity in Oregon. His trial was three weeks in length, and the jury deliberated for two days. The jury found Michael Winchester guilty of manslaughter but by reason of insanity on July 7th, 2022. He was evaluated at the hospital, and released, as the illness that caused his insanity was treated previously, and he was no longer a risk to the community or others (Crombie, 2022).

This case shows us a black-and-white case of mental defect that caused a horrific crime to occur. It would have done an injustice to lock him away from his family, as he had undergone treatment, and ALL aspects of this crime were out of his control. This shows us how complex the human mind can be, and that we need to look deeper than the image of a brutal, bloody murder scene sometimes. There are legitimate cases of guilty (or not guilty) by reason of insanity. If it were not for this defense, justice would not be done, in some cases.

References

Blumoff, T. Y. (2015). Rationality, insanity, and the insanity defense: Reflections on the limits of reason. Law & Psychology Review, 39, 161-203. Retrieved from https://proxyeast.uits.iu.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/rationality-insanity-defense-reflections-on/docview/1706579190/se-2

Crombie, N. (2022, Jan. 7). Jury verdict spares Lake Oswego man prison time in killing of terminally ill wife. Oregonlive. https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2022/01/clackamas-county-jury-verdict-spares-lake-oswego-man-prison-time-in-killing-of-terminally-ill-wife.html

Norton, J. (2023). Insanity. In Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/insanity

“Accused: Guilty or innocent?” Wife killer or medically insane? (TV Episode 2022). Documentary. (2022, July 7). IMDB. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21111674/