Insanity defenses: contested or conceded?

Abstract

The authors examined 316 Oregon criminal cases in which the accused successfully pleaded the insanity defense. Prosecutors agreed to the insanity verdict in more than four out of five cases. In most cases all examining experts diagnosed the defendant as psychotic. The smaller number of defendants who were diagnosed by the state hospital staff as displaying only personality disorders accounted for a disproportionately large percentage of the contested trials. Observing that Oregon's insanity defense system is run by consensus, the authors suggest a reorientation of the insanity defense debate.