Re: Insanity Defense/The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do it (2021), The Devil on Trial (2023)

What is an insanity plea and is it a get out of jail free card?  Can someone be acquitted of a crime due to demonic possession?

Sources:

 Insanity Defense Reform Act of 1984, 18 U.S.C. § 17(a) (1984).

 Federal Rules of Evidence, 704(b).

General Statutes of Connecticut, § 53a-54a, 53a-13 (2023 Edition).

Durham v. U.S., 214 F.2d 862 (D.C. Cir. 1954).

U.S. v. Freeman, 357 F.2d 606 (2nd Cir. 1966).

U.S. v. Freeman, 804 F.2d 1574 (11th Cir. 1986).

State v. Conte, 157 Conn. 209 (Conn. 1968).

State v. Rossier, 175 Conn. 204 (Conn. 1978).

Elizabeth Nevins-Saunders, Not Guilty as Charged: The Myth of Mens Rea for Defendants with Mental Retardation, 45 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 1419 (2012).

Phillip J. Resnick, The Andrea Yates Case: Insanity on Trial. 55 Clev. St. L. Rev. 147 (2007).

Marco Margaritoff, “Andrea Yates, The Texas Woman Who Drowned Her Kids to Save Them From the Devil.”  All That’s Interesting (May 21, 2023). https://allthatsinteresting.com/andrea-yates 

“A Crime of Insanity: Insanity on Trial” Frontline.  https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/crime/trial/faqs.html .

“The Insanity Defense Among the States” FindLaw.com, reviewed Jan. 23, 2019.

“Insanity Defense” Wikipedia, accessed Oct. 23, 2023.

Written, Researched, and Recorded by Céleste Young, 2023-2025.
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