A defendant can claim they are not guilty by reason of temporary insanity if they believe they blacked out or otherwise were not in control of their actions at the time of the crime. That said, this defense can be quite complicated and will require a lot of convincing evidence for a judge or jury to find it believable. If you are going to use this defense in court, you need to find an expert in criminal defense law in your state who will know how to best present this kind of case. Here are some basic tips to keep in mind if you are going to go down the path of claiming innocence due to temporarily losing your mind.

Most Effective with Crimes of Passion

A temporary insanity defense tends to be more successful if it can be argued that the crime happened quickly and suddenly like with a crime of passion. Something happened with someone close to you and you immediately blacked out and reacted without really thinking about the act or the consequences. In other words, if it's clear that you were planning the crime for weeks or months and there is an evidence trail showing that you carefully considered various steps of your criminal plan before putting it into motion, a temporary insanity plea is not likely to work. But if a perfectly normal person suddenly acts out in a way that is not like them due to a very specific incident occurring, temporary insanity might be an option as a defense.

You Will Need Experts

For this kind of defense to work, you will need to hire more help than just an attorney. You will likely need an psychiatrist or another health professional who can testify that you temporarily losing your mind is something that is possible. Keep in mind that the other side might hire their own experts to argue the opposite. Your mental health experts will have to make a compelling case for this defense to work.

A Previous History Can Also Help

Is this not the first time you've ever blacked out or temporarily lost it? If there is medical documentation that proves that you have previously acted irrationally or that you have a condition that can cause you to black out from time to time, your temporary insanity plea will have better chance of success because there will be an established track record you can take to court.

Contact criminal defense lawyers like those at Shefferman Law today to discuss your defense