Opinion ID: 1498122
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: modified ali standard adopted

Text: We turn now to the specific language of the standard which we adopt for the insanity defense. [29] We make certain minor modifications in § 4.01; the standard for our court system henceforth thus will be: (1) A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct as a result of a mental disease or defect he lacked substantial capacity either to recognize the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law. (2) As used in this standard, the terms mental disease or defect do not include an abnormality manifested only by repeated criminal or otherwise antisocial conduct. [30] A majority of the federal circuits has adopted the standard in the form set forth in Brawner. [31] Other versions have reflected modifications such as the substitution of the word know for appreciate, and the use of criminality rather than wrongfulness. [32] Our own modifications of the ALI's language may be explained briefly. [33] First, while the semantic differences between appreciate, know, and recognize may be relatively slight, we find the word appreciate to be undesirable because of its multiple connotations  including, for example, to enjoy. We believe that recognize will be more readily understood by jurors. Second, our decision to employ the word wrongfulness rather than criminality rests upon several considerations. Initially, we agree with those courts which have concluded that the defense of insanity should not be foreclosed in all cases to those who may be fully aware of the law's requirements, but because of a delusion resulting from a mental disease or defect believe their conduct to be morally justified. See, e.g., Wade v. United States, supra, 426 F.2d at 71-72; Blake v. United States, 407 F.2d 908, 915-16 (5th Cir. 1969) (en banc); United States v. Freeman, supra, 357 F.2d at 622 n.52. Cf. Chase v. United States, 468 F.2d 141, 148 (7th Cir. 1972). Moreover, except in such a circumstance of moral delusion, the concept of wrongfulness normally would be interpreted to embrace the more restrictive notion of criminality. As both witnesses and jurors almost invariably are laymen with respect to the law, it appears to us that an attempt to subdivide the accused's cognitive capacity into awareness of criminality as distinct from wrongfulness risks confusion and may detract from the proper inquiry of whether the defendant had the general capacity to appreciate the nature and quality of his acts. [34] As noted, we adopt today the substance of section 4.01(2) of the ALI's Model Penal Code, which has been accepted by four of the federal circuits. [35] The government joins the proponents of that provision who contend that it is necessary to reduce the likelihood of the improper exculpation of defendants who are free of mental disease or defect but who knowingly and deliberately seek a life of crime. [36] United States v. Freeman, supra, 357 F.2d at 625. The core of their argument is that to permit an exculpating impairment to be established by a showing of no more than continuing sociopathic behavior would threaten to truncate improperly the issue of responsibility through the syllogistic absurdity that normal people do not break laws; defendant has broken the law; therefore defendant is abnormal (and should be excused). Cf. Campbell v. United States, supra, 113 U.S.App.D.C. at 272 n.10, 307 F.2d at 609 n.10 (Burger, J., dissenting). A further justification for the language of § 4.01(2) is its inherent inducement to a more complete exposition of the psychiatric circumstances surrounding the asserted disability. See United States v. Freeman, supra, 357 F.2d at 625. While the caveat requires no more than that there be some demonstrable dimension to the alleged impairment beyond the simple fact of criminal behavior, the distinction is significant. It is not enough that an expert witness is satisfied that an illegal act alone conclusively establishes a mental illness or defect. Without more, such a determination would come too close to the ultimate question of responsibility. While the witness is competent to express his medical conclusions as to the existence of a cognizable disability and its relationship to the defendant's criminal behavior, the ultimate issue belongs to the trier of fact. It is therefore incumbent upon the expert witness to provide the trier with more than a bare conclusion resting on the single obvious symptom of a pattern of antisocial conduct. See generally Washington v. United States, supra, 129 U.S.App.D.C. at 36-39, 390 F.2d at 451-54. The expert must inform the jury as to the bases for his conclusions as well as the nature of the disability, its characteristics, and its symptomatology. See Carter v. United States, supra, 102 U.S.App.D.C. at 236, 252 F.2d at 617. Such information is necessary to provide the jury with a proper perspective of the accused's mental condition as measured against both the standards established by the law and the community's values. We adopt § 4.01(2) in the belief that it will encourage the type of communication which properly should provide the foundation for the resolution of the exculpation issue. We specifically retain the McDonald definition of mental disease or defect as an integral part of the ALI standard. See note 11, supra. We also reaffirm the essential principles expressed in the Carter and Washington cases (discussed below) as a necessary bulwark against the tendency of the analytical fulcrum of the responsibility issue to shift from the jury to the witnesses. Underlying those decisions was an effort to preserve for the trier its proper authority by emphasizing that neither the presence of medical issues nor the complexity of psychiatric terminology should be permitted to obscure the fact that the ultimate question of responsibility is to be determined through conventional legal analysis. Thus, for example, while the standard now asks not whether the act was a product of the impairment, but whether the impairment resulted in the absence of a substantial capacity to obey the law, that aspect of the jury's analysis which focuses on the relationship between the asserted disability and such capacity properly may be cast in the law's traditional molds of causality. [37] We agree with the Brawner court's conclusion that the dilemma of encouraging a maximum of informational input from the expert witnesses while preserving to the jury its role as trier of fact cannot be resolved by the simple expedient of barring the use of certain words or terminology. See note 22, supra. The attempt in Washington to avoid what has been characterized as adjudication by label  by creating a blacklist of forbidden phrases  has proved ineffective, and often counterproductive. The adjudicatory process encourages a creative intelligence in its participants which quickly seizes upon alternative means of communicating the same ideas. If the response to the problem were to be merely to lengthen the list of prohibited speech, both the quantity and the quality of the information essential to the jury's deliberations would be impaired. To restrict further the modes of communication would result in a diminution of a witness' ability to relate fully his observations and conclusions, and, as the lawyers and experts attempt to conform to language prohibitions, likely would result in the testimony becoming increasingly artificial and incomprehensible to the lay trier. We therefore conclude that the witnesses should be free to testify directly in an unrestricted manner concerning all relevant matters to which their competence extends, including their conclusions as to the existence of a mental impairment and its relationship to the condemned behavior. See United States v. Brawner, supra, 153 U.S. App.D.C. at 14-15, 38-39, 471 F.2d at 982-83, 1006-07. While we thus conclude there should be no ban on expressions of causality, we retain in all other respects the instructions to the expert witnesses (given prior to their testifying) promulgated in Washington v. United States, supra, 129 U.S.App.D.C. at 42-43, 390 F.2d at 457-58. We also reaffirm that decision's direction that the trial court carefully supervise the testimony and examination of such witnesses in an effort to ensure that the factual bases for their proffered conclusions are aired fully in a manner which is comprehensible to laymen. Id. at 39-40 nn. 30 & 31, 390 F.2d at 454-55 nn. 30 & 31 [quoting Campbell v. United States, supra, 113 U.S.App.D.C. at 277-78, 307 F.2d at 614-15 (Burger, J., dissenting)]. See also United States v. Brawner, supra, 153 U.S. App.D.C. at 50 n.21, 471 F.2d at 1018 n.21 (Bazelon, C. J., concurring in part and dissenting in part). Finally, the charge to the jury must include unambiguous instructions emphasizing that regardless of the nature and extent of the experts' testimony, the issue of exculpation remains at all times a legal and not a medical question. Cf. Holloway v. United States, 80 U.S.App.D.C. 3, 5, 148 F.2d 665, 667 (1945), cert. denied, 334 U.S. 852, 68 S.Ct. 1507, 92 L.Ed. 1774 (1948); United States v. McCracken, 488 F.2d 406, 412 (5th Cir. 1974); United States v. Currens, supra, at 765 n.20. The charge should leave no doubt that it is for the jury alone to determine (1) the existence of a cognizable mental disease or defect, (2) whether such a disability resulted in a substantial impairment of the accused's capacity to obey the law, and consequently (3) whether there existed a sufficient relationship between the mental abnormality and the condemned behavior to warrant the conclusion that the defendant should not be held responsible for his acts. [38] We are confident that with adequate guidance as to the nature of their task and the scope of their authority, the jurors properly will discharge their responsibilities. [39]