Opinion ID: 804000
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Insanity Defense

Text: It is an affirmative defense that, at the time of the offense, the defendant was unable to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of his acts as a result of a severe mental disease or defect. 18 U.S.C. § 17(a). A mental disease or defect alone is not a defense. Id. The defendant bears the burden of proving an insanity defense by clear and convincing evidence. Id. § 17(b). Collins did not show that he was prejudiced by trial counsel’s alleged failure to investigate his mental health and raise an insanity defense. Neither the information contained in the presentence investigation report concerning his psychological history, nor the evidence of his offense conduct, tended to establish that he was insane at the time of his offenses, and Collins’s bare and unsubstantiated assertions that a reasonable probability existed that a jury would have found him insane had trial counsel conducted an investigation were insufficient to support his motion to vacate. 9 After careful review of the record and the parties’ briefs, we affirm the district court’s denial of Collins’s motion to vacate. AFFIRMED. 10