The truth of the matter is that the insanity defense is rarely ever successful. As the public cries that this defense is a “get out of jail” free card it really isn’t. Statistics show that less than 1 percent of all felony cases are successful pleading insanity (Worrall, 2014). If a defendant is legally insane, it does not necessarily mean that he or she can plea insanity.
Crutchfield stated that sanity is a legal concept, not a psychological one (2009). Another public outcry is that, NGRI acquittees are quickly released from custody, the public has never been more wrong. Only 15 percent of NGRI acquittees have been released on restraints. An example of an NGRI that was never released is Daniel Mc’Naghten. Mr. Mc’Naghten died in the mental asylum where he spent 20 years, and he found guilty by reason of insanity. Also, another 35 percent of the NGRI acquittees are still in institutional custody to this date (Crutchfield, 2009).
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A huge advantage is that this here defense when successful can save a life, in which it can avoid a defendant from being put on death row. When a defendant pleas insanity, in the courtroom it creates an insanity atmosphere of guilt. When a defendant pleas insanity, the attorney admits that the crimes happen, but the defendant is innocent because of his or her mind (Samaha, 2015).
By having a successful insanity defense, this can cause for the defendant to have a lenient charge when the jury reaches the verdict. The defendant would be declared either medically or criminally insane, he would not be trued under the same conditions of someone accused who is in the right state of