Dear fans
of the (name of host) show:
My name is (your name), and I am a forensic
psychologist. I understand that many people are upset about a recent case
in which the defendant was judged not guilty of murder by reason of insanity.
When
a person is found "not guilty by reason of insanity," it doesn't mean
that they didn't commit the crime. It does mean that they did not understand
what they were doing. In our legal system, we believe in the principle of
mens rea.
Basically, mens rea means the intent to commit a crime. If
a person who committed a crime was too mentally ill to know what they were
doing, then they were not able to form the intent to commit the crime. In
our society, we believe it is not right to make these people criminally responsible
for their actions. Instead of prison, they need treatment.
When a defendant
is judged to be not guilty by reason of insanity, this does not mean they
have gotten away with murder. The defendant is not free to leave the courthouse.
Instead, the judge signs an order committing them to a psychiatric hospital.
It
is much harder to be released from a psychiatric hospital than from prison.
Prisoners are paroled early, or released when they have served their sentence.
In order to leave a psychiatric hospital, patients must prove they have recovered
from their mental illness. It is a fact that persons found not guilty by reason
of insanity normally spend more time in a mental hospital than they would
have in jail.
This is one of the reasons why defendants don't
use the insanity defense more often. Only a small percentage of defendants
plead insanity. Of those, only 10 percent succeed in proving they are unfit
to stand trial.
I know it can be very upsetting when we believe that
justice has not been done. But the truth is that the person who committed
this terrible crime is going to be removed from society for a very long time.
Yours,
(Your
name)
"The ability to communicate effectively is the
heart and soul of what I do," says forensic psychologist Len Diamond. "I have
to be able to explain very difficult psychological dynamics and constructs
in a way that juries made up of laypeople will understand. In addition, I
have to be able to cut through the legal tricks, listen carefully, and communicate
my points so that the judge will understand my position."