mental deficiency in crimes

8/12/2019 Mental Deficiency in Crimes

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mental-deficiency-in-crimes 1/23

Mental Deficiency inCrime

Group II

Galvez, Kristine Joy

Kairupan, Gerald Immanuel

Panduyos, Master Hope Elmer IIRefuerzo, Katrina Concesa

Tjakrapawira, Victor Noli Mattathias



Definitions of Mental Retardation

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

("DSM-IV")

• someone who has "significantly subaverage

general intellectual functioning" accompanied

with "significant limitations in adaptive

functioning in at least 2 of the following skill areas:

• Communication

• self-care• home living

• social/interpersonal skills

• use of community

resources

• self-direction

• functional academic skills• Work

• Leisure

• Health

• safety




• To fit within this definition, one's intellectualand adaptive deficits must manifestthemselves by the time the individual is 18years old

• A determination that an individual has sub-average intelligence is based on IntelligenceQuotient ("IQ") scores that may be obtainedthrough the administration of one of severalstandardized intelligence tests, includingWechsler Intelligence Scales for Children--Revised, Stanford-Binet, and Kaufman

Assessment Battery for children.




• The mean score for intelligence is an IQ of 100.

• The DSM-IV rates the following IQ scores as

indicative of mental retardation:

IQ 50-55 to approximately 70: mild mentalretardation

IQ 35-40 to 50-55: moderate mental

retardation

IQ 20-25 to 35-40: severe mental retardation

IQ below 20-25: profound mental retardation




• However, the DSM-IV notes that individuals

with IQ 71-75 mentally retarded if they

have significant deficits in adaptive

functioning • Individuals' adaptive functioning "refers to

how effectively individuals cope with

common life demands and how well they

meet the standards of personalindependence expected of someone in their

particular age group, socio-cultural

background, and community setting."




• Persons classified as mildly retarded, formerly

referred to as "educable," constitute approximately

85% of the mentally retarded population."

• These mildly retarded individuals have a substantial

disability.

• They can attain academic skills only up to a 6th

grade level.

• Such individuals may achieve skills adequate for

self-support; however, to achieve independence in

living, these individuals may require supervision,

guidance, and other support.




• 3-4% of the mentally retarded population are

classified as severely retarded

• The severely retarded may learn to talk

during the school-age period and may betrained in elementary self-care skills.

• The profoundly retarded, which constitute

1-2% of the mentally retarded population,

display considerable impairments and

require constant care in a highly structured

setting.




• The AAMR sets forth similar, although not

identical, standards for determining mental

retardation.

• According to the AAMR, a person is deemedmentally retarded if he or she has:

• (1) an IQ below 70-75,

• (2) concurrently existing with limitations intwo or more adaptive skill areas,

• (3) which is manifested by age eighteen




• AAMR no longer uses the terms "mild,"

"moderate," "severe," and "profound" to

describe an individual's mental retardation

• Instead, the AAMR has developed a "Profileand Intensities of Needed Supports," which

sets out levels of support that a mentally

retarded person may require

• This profile is intended to allow a more

functional, service-oriented description of the

mentally retarded individual



Mental Retardation as

Distinguished from Mental Illness

• For centuries, the law has recognized that an

individual's mental retardation may affect his or

her capacity to face criminal charges and be

found criminally liable.

• At common law, persons who were defined as

"idiots," which today would correspond with the

DSM-IV's classification of severely or

profoundly retarded, 53 were not subject tocriminal liability.

• This rule, with its corollary that "lunatics" were

also excluded from criminal liability, was the

precursor to the modem insanity defense."





• In this context, the term "idiot" usually

referred to a person with such a limited

reasoning capacity that he could not form

the requisite criminal intent or could notdistinguish between good and evil

• A few states still use the term "idiot" and

provide a corresponding exemption from

criminal liability."

• However, in general, modern laws subject

persons with mental retardation to criminal

liability





• In the early twentieth century, the mentally retarded

were viewed as threatening, dangerous, and a

source of criminal conduct or immoral behavior."

• The eugenics movement advocated sterilization and

segregation of the mentally retarded positions that

met with remarkable success in the political and

judicial arenas.

• By the middle of the century, however, society

soundly rejected this view of the mentally retarded.

• It is now well-accepted that mental retardation

rarely, if ever, causes criminal behavior.




Distinguished from Mental Illness• Nonetheless, mental retardation may have a

significant impact on an individual who finds himself

involved with the criminal justice system, particularly in

the context of confessions and interrogations.

• It is well recognized that mental retardation is not a perse bar to voluntary interrogations and confessions,

although it may be a factor to be weighed in evaluating

the voluntariness of a confessions

• Many mentally retarded people may be less likely towithstand police coercion or pressure due to their

limited communication skills, their predisposition to

answer questions so as to please the questioner rather

than to answer the question accurately, and their

tendency to be submissive





• Further, it is not unusual for a mentally

retarded individual to have an incomplete or

immature concept of blame and/or causation

• This characteristic may cause the mentallyretarded defendant to confess to an act he

did not commit, or to accept greater blame or

responsibility for criminal activity than he

realistically should

• Accordingly, the veracity and accuracy of a

confession by a person with mental

retardation may be suspect.





• Further, mental retardation, in and of itself, does not

render an individual incompetent to stand or

incompetent to enter a guilty plea

• However, certain characteristics that are common

among people with mental retardation, such as the

tendency to be easily led, a poor understanding of

the consequences of one's actions, the desire to

hide one's mental retardation, and the desire to

please authority figures, can affect the quality andability of a mentally retarded person to make

decisions that are in his best interest."



Beaufort County submits mental-health records

to gun background-check system

BY LAURA OBERLE AND ZACH MURDOCK

• Beaufort County has submitted

1,083 mental-health records to the

S.C. Law Enforcement Division to

comply with a year-old law intended

to prevent those with mental

illnesses from buying firearms.

• Boland Bill" was named after a

mentally ill Lady's Island woman,Alice Boland, who was charged with

brandishing and attempting to fire a

handgun outside a private school in

Charleston last year.



• Boland, 30, was charged with attempting to fire

a .22-caliber gun outside Ashley Hall girls school

in downtown Charleston last year. • The gun was loaded when Boland pulled the

trigger, but didn't fire because there was no

round in the chamber, authorities have said.

• After Boland's arrest, court documents revealed

she had a history of mental illness. In 2005, she

was charged with threatening the lives of

President George W. Bush and other federalofficials. A judge declared Boland mentally

incompetent, and the charges were dismissed

when she pleaded guilty by reason of insanity in

2009.



• Nonetheless, Boland cleared the background

check when she bought the handgun from

the Walterboro store.• Authorities said her court history had not

been reported.

• While South Carolina's law takes effect, afederal bill sponsored by U.S. Sen. Lindsey

Graham, also in reaction to the Boland case,

has stalled.

• Graham's bill also seeks to prevent the

mentally ill who are a danger to themselves

or others from purchasing firearms.



• Boland has been charged by the state with

attempted murder, two counts of pointing a

firearm, unlawful carrying of a firearm andpossession of a firearm during the commission of

a violent crime.

• She is being held at the Al Canon Detention

Center in North Charleston in lieu of $900,000bond, according to the jail log.

• Attempts to reach the 9th Circuit Solicitor's

Office, which is prosecuting the state charges,were unsuccessful.



• Boland also has been indicted on four federal

charges: making a false statement to purchase a

firearm; illegally possessing a firearm because ofher status as a person who had been previously

committed to a mental institution or who had

been adjudicated as mentally incompetent;

possession of a firearm in a school zone andattempted discharge of a firearm in a school

zone.

• That case was sealed in July 2013 by the U.S.

District Court in Charleston, so more information

on the case will not be available until the

proceedings are over, said U.S. Attorney's Office

spokeswoman Beth Drake

mental deficiency in crimes

Documents