Court Opinion

ID: 9611574
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 03:58:10.29141+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:34:48.210385
License: Public Domain

Prager, J.,
dissenting: I respectfully dissent for the reasons set forth in my dissent in State v. Smith, 223 Kan. 203, 574 P.2d 548 (1977). Since the time of that decision, yet another state has joined the increasing majority of states rejecting the outmoded M’Naghten test. In People v. Drew, 22 Cal. 3d 333, 583 P.2d 1318, 149 Cal. Rptr. 275 (1978), the California Supreme Court recognized “the continuing inadequacy” of the M’Naghten standard and adopted the test proposed by the American Law Institute’s Model Penal Code.
I would reverse the judgment and remand the case for a new trial on the issue of the defendant’s sanity under the ALI standard for determining legal insanity.