Federal Criminal Lawyers: The Insanity Defense

Insanity Defense in a Federal Criminal Case:

Under Rule 12.2 the Federal Criminal Lawyers may provide notice of an insanity Defense on behalf of their client in a Federal Criminal Case. This notice is required by Rule 12.2 if the Defense intends to assert a defense of insanity at the time of the alleged offense. There are specific guidelines that must be followed for filing a notice of insanity defense. These guidelines require specific timelines to be complied with. If the guidelines are not met, then the Court can prevent counsel from presenting an insanity defense on behalf of his client. There are of course exceptions to this, such as a good-faith basis that would justify the late filing.

Federal Criminal Lawyers: The Insanity Defense

Mental Examination:

When Federal Criminal Lawyers file a notice of insanity defense on behalf of their client, then under subsection (c) of Rule 12.2, there is a language that states, “If the Defendant provides notice under Rule 12.2(a), the Court must, upon the government’s motion, order the Defendant to be examined under 18 U.S.C. 4242.” The results of these examinations must be provided under the Court seal.

The Risks of an Insanity Defense in a Federal Criminal Case:

Understand that there is always a certain risk in any criminal trial. However, there is often even more risk where a core component of the Defense’s case involves admitting that the criminal event actually occurred. An insanity Defense does just that: admits that the criminal conduct actually occurred but then attempts to provide a justification and a basis for why that behavior was acceptable.

For example:

An insanity defense would look something like this: In a battery case, the Defendant would argue that he committed the battery, but that he was insane at the time he committed the battery.

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