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NEWS ABOUT: insanity

Reagan Shooter Seeks More Time on the Outside

'Convalescent leave' could get John Hinckley out full time

(Newser) - Ronald Reagan shooter John Hinckley is seeking more time outside a mental health facility, and might leave permanently, AP reports. Hinckley was sent to a Washington mental hospital after a jury decided he was insane when he wounded the president and three others in 1982. But he was granted a... More »

Breivik Likely Won't Be Declared Insane

His alleged actions too carefully planned, executed for psychosis

(AP) - Anders Behring Breivik, who admitted killing dozens in Norway last week, will likely not be declared legally insane because he appears to have been in control of his actions, the head of the panel that will review his psychiatric evaluation tells the AP . The July 22 attacks were so carefully... More »

Insanity Defense Will Be Tough for Loughner

Lawyer will be lucky if he avoids death penalty

(Newser) - Once upon a time, it would have been easy for Jared Lee Loughner’s lawyers to mount an insanity defense—after all, the guy sure seems nuts . But these days, that's easier said than done, legal experts tell the AP . Congress made it drastically harder to mount an insanity defense... More »

Britney Counseling Mel—Seriously

They're having late night heart-to-hearts

(Newser) - For advice on how to get re-hinged, lunatic ranter Mel Gibson has apparently been turning to ... Britney Spears. The disgraced star, 54, has been pouring his heart out to the poptart, sharing his fears that his recorded rants to his babymama Oksana Grigorieva are destroying his career, Britney has told... More »

Accused Ala. Shooter Bishop Likely Insane: Lawyer

Being denied tenure contributed to fatal shooting spree

(AP) - The lawyer for an Alabama college professor accused of killing three colleagues during a faculty meeting said today he believes the teacher is insane, and that she says she can't remember the shooting. Amy Bishop, who has taught at the University of Alabama in Huntsville since 2003, has severe mental... More »

NYC Man: Alter-Ego Killed Son, Wife

'Roberto' vowed to do wrong; relatives say baloney

(Newser) - When New York cops busted a Manhattan hotel janitor in the murder of his wife and 14-year-old son, he had one defense: his imaginary alter-ego "Roberto" did it. Otto Herrarte admitted stuffing the bodies in garbage bags at his Queens home, but said Roberto slit their throats. "I... More »

Elizabeth Smart Recounts Daily Sexual Abuse

She testifies that captor uses religious rants to get his way

(Newser) - Elizabeth Smart delivered frank testimony in federal court today on the abuse she suffered at the hands of Brian David Mitchell during a 9-month abduction, describing how Mitchell used religion to justify repeatedly raping her. Smart, 14 at the time, said Mitchell chained her leg to a tree at the... More »

Kidnapper's Dad: My Son Is a 'Crazy Person'

Manuel Garrido says LSD drove Phillip to madness

(Newser) - The father of the man accused of kidnapping, raping, and imprisoning Jaycee Dugard says his son was a model youth—until he discovered acid, reports the Los Angeles Times. "Everyone loved him," Manuel Garrido says of Phillip, who played guitar in a band, cracked jokes, and always helped... More »

'Mad Pride' Calls for Rethink of Insanity

(Newser) - A growing grassroots movement called Mad Pride is urging Americans to reconsider mental illness as a "dangerous gift" rather than a disease, Newsweek reports. Spearheaded by the 8,000-member-strong Icarus Project, based in Manhattan, Mad Priders are "pro-choice" about meds—take them if you want—and... More »

Tyson: I Hear Voices

(Newser) - Mike Tyson’s handlers want him to stay on task, to talk about his new movie Tyson. The notorious heavyweight has other ideas. “I’ll talk about anything,” he says. “I’m not ashamed of anything I’ve done in my life.” And talk he does,... More »

Madoff May Plead Insanity

Sources say attorneys are considering multiple personality disorder argument

(Newser) - You'd have to be a little bit crazy to cook up a $50 billion Ponzi scheme, but Bernard Madoff’s lawyers are exploring taking things a bit further with an insanity defense. “They may even say he has a multiple personality disorder,” a source tells the New York ... More »

UK Asylum Releases Ripper Suspect's Notes

Victorian madman's 117-year-old medical records offer new clues

(Newser) - A British institution for the criminally insane has released the medical records of a madman long suspected of being Jack the Ripper, the Independent reports. The documents contain no conclusive proof, but offer enough to keep Thomas Cutbush on the suspect list. The "very insane" young man threatened to... More »

Court Orders Fritzl Held 1 More Month

Will now likely face manslaughter charges in baby's death

(Newser) - An Austrian court today ordered Josef Fritzl to remain in custody for another month while the investigation continues, reports Reuters. In addition, reports the Times of London, prosecutors say Fritzl will probably now face manslaughter charges after admitting in an interview that one of the children he fathered with his... More »

Fritzl Blames Nazis, Says He Was Trying to Save Daughter

Didn't plan incest; gave in to taste for 'forbidden'

(Newser) - In jail-cell notes released by his lawyer, Josef Fritzl goes to bizarre lengths to defend the rape and imprisonment of his daughter, citing his Nazi upbringing for instilling “a high regard for decency and uprightness,” and a need to save the 18-year-old Elisabeth from drinking and dissipation. “... More »

Fritzl Will Plead Insanity

Lawyer says man who raped daughter for 24 years' is mentally ill, not responsible for actions

(Newser) - The man charged with imprisoning his daughter for 24 years and repeatedly raping her may not spend long behind bars, reports the Times of London, as Josef Fritzel's lawyer plans to plead insanity to avoid a prison term. “Josef Fritzl is mentally ill and therefore not responsible for his... More »

Nowak to Argue Temporary Insanity

Ex-astronaut's lawyer says he may cite mental disorder

(Newser) - Former astronaut Lisa Nowak will plead temporary insanity if she goes to trial on kidnapping and assault charges next month. A notice her lawyer filed today says she was experiencing a major depressive disorder when she attacked her ex-lover's girlfriend at the Orlando airport in February, the Sentinel reports. More »

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