Colorado shooter James Holmes - NGRI?

[PistolPete]

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So the judge in the Colorado shooting case involving James Holmes has accepted his plea of not guilty and ordered a mental health evaluation by the Colorado Mental Health Institute. Presumably they will plead NGRI. Anyone know how often a NGRI defense succeeds? What are the odds of it succeeding in this case, do you think?

 

[Leo Aquarius]

This isn't answering your question, but I wanted to make a comment. Insanity is very rare, and a ridiculous and overused plea. Lawyers who pull that card should be put in the stocks.

 

[billypilgrim37]

This is much less true since changes to criminal law after Hinckley shot Reagan. Ngri is actually a pretty rare plea nowadays, and often unsuccessful now even when appropriate (see Andrea Yates, though on retrial she was found ngri). Juries are more likely to convict as "guilty but mentally ill," which is basically guilty with slight considerations during sentencing. Colorado case will be interesting. Clearly haven't examined, but in depth articles about the guy over the past year make him clearly sound pretty sick. Confusing thing is always that an elaborate plan requires a lot of mental clarity that you wouldn't expect when psychotic. Case is worth following closely. I don't know if he's ngri, but a lawyer working with the plea certainly shouldn't be "put in stocks." Lawyer's ethical obligation is to their clients' wellbeing only, period. A physician's ethical obligations are very different.

 

[DynamicDidactic]

I believe that this allows the state to gain access to all of his health records. Thus, we will get an idea what happened along the way and if someone (e.g., treatment provider or law enforcement) dropped the ball on protecting the public. From what I read this was one of the reasons why the defense was hesitant to plead NGRI.

 

[vistaril]

This is much less true since changes to criminal law after Hinckley shot Reagan. Ngri is actually a pretty rare plea nowadays, and often unsuccessful now even when appropriate (see Andrea Yates, though on retrial she was found ngri). Juries are more likely to convict as "guilty but mentally ill," which is basically guilty with slight considerations during sentencing. Colorado case will be interesting. Clearly haven't examined, but in depth articles about the guy over the past year make him clearly sound pretty sick. Confusing thing is always that an elaborate plan requires a lot of mental clarity that you wouldn't expect when psychotic. Case is worth following closely. I don't know if he's ngri, but a lawyer working with the plea certainly shouldn't be "put in stocks." Lawyer's ethical obligation is to their clients' wellbeing only, period. A physician's ethical obligations are very different.

I love the "guilty but mentally ill" angle.....it's ideal for so many cases imo.

As to Holmes, I don't think there is any way he is ngri. At least from what I've read about the case. Even if he was, no way that's going to be the verdict. Do they have DP in colorado?

 

[billypilgrim37]

I love the "guilty but mentally ill" angle.....it's ideal for so many cases imo.

It cuts both ways. Sometimes much more appropriate, sometimes not.

 

[hamstergang]

I remember being told that the insanity plea is tried in 1% of cases and successful 25% of the time. No idea if this is true or even makes sense, however.

EDIT: From the wiki article: "According to an eight-state study, the insanity defense is used in less than 1% of all court cases and, when used, has only a 26% success rate. Of those cases that were successful, 90% of the defendants had been previously diagnosed with mental illness."

 

[PistolPete]

Wow, thanks guys! This will be an interesting case to follow for sure. I'd be cool to get access to those forensic psychiatry reports, it they are accessible to the public.