holding that defendant claiming Moscovite belief system that calls for killing as retribution for adultery is not entitled to deifie-eommand adjustment to jury charge on criminal insanity
How later courts described this case
- holding that defendant claiming Moscovite belief system that calls for killing as retribution for adultery is not entitled to deifie-eommand adjustment to jury charge on criminal insanity
- holding that, to support an insanity defense, defendant must show both an inability to appreciate moral wrongfulness and an inability to appreciate legal wrongfulness
- concluding that personal moral beliefs will not exculpate defendant when he or she knew killing was contrary to societal moral and legal norms
- acknowledging Schmidt 's view that even when a defendant "knows that the law and society condemn [her] act," she should not be held responsible if "her free will has been subsumed by her belief in [a] deific decree"
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
Williams, C.J.
(concurring)—I concur in parts 2, 3, 4, and 5, and the result of the majority opinion.