Lorena Bobbitt had been accused of allegedly severing and mutilating her husband’s private parts in a case that has been described by her attorneys as being “one of the most bizarre episodes in US judicial history” (Ross, 1994, p. 2). Through her legal attorneys, Mrs. Bobbitt managed to convince the jury that she committed the offense of cutting off her husband’s penis using a knife while in a moment of temporary insanity that arose out of many years of abuse by John Wayne Bobbitt, her husband. She claimed that her husband had come home drunk like fish and demanded coitus with her. The jury acquitted her of malicious wounding and sent her to a mental hospital.
According to Rolf (2006), the defense of insanity was enunciated in the case of Daniel M’Naghten in 1843 and has since been commonly referred to as the M’Naghten rule. For a defendant such as Lorena Bobbitt to successfully rely on the defense of insanity, they must prove to the court that at the material time, they were suffering from a disorder, defect, condition or disease that distorted their mental faculties. Also, the offender must establish that as a result of this condition, he or she either did not know what they were doing and its consequences, or that they knew not that what they were doing was both legally and morally wrong. In most cases, a medical expert has to be called by the defense to give opinion expert evidence of the existence of these elements.
Margolick also observes that during her trial, Bobbitt through her lawyers argued that she was under an irresistible impulse caused by her husband’s constant abuse that led to her suffering from a series of mental illnesses and affected her psychological condition. However, this argument was rejected by the juror though it forms part of elements that a defendant must normally prove for insanity defense to succeed. Therefore, as Ewing (2008) observes, insanity is not an absolute defense and has very strict legal proof requirements.
References
Ewing, C. P. (2008). Insanity: Murder, madness and the law. New York: Oxford University Press.
Margolick, D. (1994, January 22). Lorena Bobbitt acquitted in mutilation of husband. The New York Times. Retrieved February 27, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/22/us/lorena- bobbitt-acquitted-in-mutilation-of-husband.html?pagewanted=all
Rolf, J. D. (2006, Spring). From M'Naghten to Yates- Transformation of the insanity defense in the United States- Is it still viable? Rivier College Online Academic Journal, 2(1), 1-18. Retrieved February 27, 2016, from https://www.rivier.edu/journal/ROAJ-2006-Spring/J41-ROLF.pdf
Ross, M. (1994, January 22). Lorena Bobbitt acquitted in mutilation of husband: Maiming: Jury agrees abuse triggered insanity that led to attack. She is sent to a mental hospital for 45 days. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 27, 2016, from http://articles.latimes.com/1994-01- 22/news/mn-14293_1_lorena-bobbitt
