Articles Tagged with Criminal Defense Lawyer Raleigh NC

It was popular in the 80’s and early 1990’s.  Some of the best defense lawyers in larger jurisdictions like California, Florida, and New York alleged diminished mental capacity as a defense to criminal charges.  High profile cases like the murder of Harvey Milk in San Francisco caught the eye of the national media, coining the phrase the “Twinkie Defense.”  The Insanity Defense in North Carolin involving assertions of schizophrenia became, a key issue in highly publicized murder charges in UNC Chapel Hill in 1995.

If a loved one is facing North Carolina murder charges or some other extremely serious criminal charges involving Sex Offenses, Rape, and Indecent Liberties with a minor, you may wonder if the “insanity defense” is available.

Pleading insanity is intended for people whose mental disabilities or illness prevent them from knowing that their actions were wrong. Invoking this defense requires a thorough knowledge of how courts regard mental impairment as it pertains to culpability, normally reserved for felony criminal charges in North Carolina.