Case 3: The Delusional Informer
Emotional Intelligence: Use of the Insanity Defense Part 3
Case 3: The Delusional Informer. Calvin Ellery was a paranoid schizophrenic
who experienced delusions and hallucinations, and who believed that the Masons
were plotting to take over the government. He believed, moreover, that the
Masons had learned that he was aware of their intentions, and that because he was
a potential informer, the Masons had determined to do away with him.
As a result of delusional misinterpretation of certain things he had heard on a
news broadcast, Ellery believed that "today is the day for his execution." When a
salesman with a Masonic button on his lapel came to the front door, he was sure
that the salesman had been sent to kill him. When the salesman reached into his
pocket for his business card, Ellery was convinced that he was reaching for a revolver,
Ellery drew his own weapon and shot first in self-defense.
The trial was remarkable in that M'Naghten's defense counsel relied
heavily ori Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity (1838), a recently published
t work by Dr. Isaac Ray. M'Naghten, the defense counsel argued, was clearly
deranged, in that he suffered delusions of persecution (and, in modern
terms, command hallucinations). It was one of the first times that psychiatric
testimony had been permitted in a murder trial, and the judges were so
impressed that the Lord Chief Justice practically directed a verdict for
M'Naghten. Subsequently, the judges enunciated the M'Naghten rule,
which holds that:
It must be clearly proved that, at the time of the committing of the act, the party
accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as
not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing; or, if he did know it,
that he did not know he was doing what was wrong.
The M'Naghten test is widely used in the United States. Nearly half of the
states use it alone as the yardstick for insanity, while other states use the
M'Naghten rule in conjunction with other rules. It is a relatively narrow
test, which relies merely on what the accused knew and whether he knew it
was wrong.
Under the M'Naghten rule, only Calvin Ellery, the delusional informer,
would be acquitted, for only he clearly did not "know the nature and quality
of the act he was doing," believing that he was acting in justifiable self-defense.
the axe-handle murderer's behavior was clearly bizarre, yet because
there was no evidence that he failed to distinguish right from wrong, he
could not be acquitted according to the M'Naghten rule. Similarly, Weiner,
the pigtail snipper, though clearly disturbed and seemingly caught up in an
impulse that ultimately overcame his best efforts at suppression, could not
be acquitted under the M'Naghten rule. He, too, knew right from wrong.
DURHAM: "THE PRODUCT OF MENTAL DISEASE."
In Durham v. United States, * Judge David Bazelon
broadened the insanity defense to state that
"an accused is not criminally responsible if his unlawful act was the product
of mental disease or mental defect." Notice the difference between the Durham
"mental disease" and the M'Naghten "right-wrong" test. In the Durham
test, incapacitating conditions, such as the inability to tell right from
wrong are not specified. One goes directly from "mental disease" to the act
(Brooks, 1974), leaving it to advanced knowledge in psychiatry and psychology
to determine whether the act was or was not a product of mental disease
or mental defect. Under the Durham rule, the axe-handle murderer would
probably have been acquitted on the grounds that, absent his schizophrenic
conditions, he would not have murdered his mother. Likewise, defining fetishism
as a "mental disease," the pigtail snippet, too, would have been acquitted
on the grounds that were he not a fetishist, he would not have had
such a prurient interest in little girls' pigtails. And of course, Calvin Ellery,
the delusional informer, would also have been acquitted under the "mental Illness".
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who experienced delusions and hallucinations, and who believed that the Masons
were plotting to take over the government. He believed, moreover, that the
Masons had learned that he was aware of their intentions, and that because he was
a potential informer, the Masons had determined to do away with him.
As a result of delusional misinterpretation of certain things he had heard on a
news broadcast, Ellery believed that "today is the day for his execution." When a
salesman with a Masonic button on his lapel came to the front door, he was sure
that the salesman had been sent to kill him. When the salesman reached into his
pocket for his business card, Ellery was convinced that he was reaching for a revolver,
Ellery drew his own weapon and shot first in self-defense.
The trial was remarkable in that M'Naghten's defense counsel relied
heavily ori Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity (1838), a recently published
t work by Dr. Isaac Ray. M'Naghten, the defense counsel argued, was clearly
deranged, in that he suffered delusions of persecution (and, in modern
terms, command hallucinations). It was one of the first times that psychiatric
testimony had been permitted in a murder trial, and the judges were so
impressed that the Lord Chief Justice practically directed a verdict for
M'Naghten. Subsequently, the judges enunciated the M'Naghten rule,
which holds that:
It must be clearly proved that, at the time of the committing of the act, the party
accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as
not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing; or, if he did know it,
that he did not know he was doing what was wrong.
The M'Naghten test is widely used in the United States. Nearly half of the
states use it alone as the yardstick for insanity, while other states use the
M'Naghten rule in conjunction with other rules. It is a relatively narrow
test, which relies merely on what the accused knew and whether he knew it
was wrong.
Under the M'Naghten rule, only Calvin Ellery, the delusional informer,
would be acquitted, for only he clearly did not "know the nature and quality
of the act he was doing," believing that he was acting in justifiable self-defense.
the axe-handle murderer's behavior was clearly bizarre, yet because
there was no evidence that he failed to distinguish right from wrong, he
could not be acquitted according to the M'Naghten rule. Similarly, Weiner,
the pigtail snipper, though clearly disturbed and seemingly caught up in an
impulse that ultimately overcame his best efforts at suppression, could not
be acquitted under the M'Naghten rule. He, too, knew right from wrong.
DURHAM: "THE PRODUCT OF MENTAL DISEASE."
In Durham v. United States, * Judge David Bazelon
broadened the insanity defense to state that
"an accused is not criminally responsible if his unlawful act was the product
of mental disease or mental defect." Notice the difference between the Durham
"mental disease" and the M'Naghten "right-wrong" test. In the Durham
test, incapacitating conditions, such as the inability to tell right from
wrong are not specified. One goes directly from "mental disease" to the act
(Brooks, 1974), leaving it to advanced knowledge in psychiatry and psychology
to determine whether the act was or was not a product of mental disease
or mental defect. Under the Durham rule, the axe-handle murderer would
probably have been acquitted on the grounds that, absent his schizophrenic
conditions, he would not have murdered his mother. Likewise, defining fetishism
as a "mental disease," the pigtail snippet, too, would have been acquitted
on the grounds that were he not a fetishist, he would not have had
such a prurient interest in little girls' pigtails. And of course, Calvin Ellery,
the delusional informer, would also have been acquitted under the "mental Illness".
- Durham v. United States, 214 F. 2d 862 (D. C. Cir. 1954).
- * People v. Wolff, 61 Cal. 2d 795,800. Drummond, his secretary, rode in the vehicle
that normally would have been reserved for the Prime Minister, and was mistaken for him by
M'Naghten.
Looking for treatment?
If you are ready to schedule a FREE Consultation...
I encourage you to access this website
for the treatment I recommend here:
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