Defense attorneys and law professors agree that the insanity defense is difficult and jurors are skeptical. It
comes down to a “battle of the experts.” The defense’s medical expert
testifies that the accused has a mental disease, the state counters
with an expert who finds the person sane and the jury has to decide
which diagnosis is credible. “Jurors don’t like the insanity
defense,” said Robert Rigg, associate professor and director of the
Criminal Defense Program at Drake University Law School in Des Moines.
This is what Mark Becker, 24, accused of shooting Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas to death, faces in his first-degree murder trial set for September. He filed this week his intent to claim insanity and/or diminished responsibility as a defense. Becker’s is the latest in a recent string of insanity defenses.
Excerpted from GazetteOnline.com.
This is what Mark Becker, 24, accused of shooting Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas to death, faces in his first-degree murder trial set for September. He filed this week his intent to claim insanity and/or diminished responsibility as a defense. Becker’s is the latest in a recent string of insanity defenses.
Excerpted from GazetteOnline.com.
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