On 5/13/2022 6:35 PM, Rhino wrote:
> Yes, you read that subject line correctly:
>
> https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/supreme-court-calgary-case-assault-mushrooms-extreme-intoxication-brown-1.6451012
>
>
> Something tells me that this is NOT going to help reduce crime....
>
> It reminds me of the era when a lawyer came up with the idea of
> "temporary insanity" and the courts said it was valid. For the next
> several years, this became a frequently invoked defense, so much so that
> it became a cause of cynicism among the general public. I believe that
> even the courts realized that it was being severely overused and that
> defense (largely?) disappeared.
>
> For the next several years, I expect to see "But Your Honour, I was
> pissed to the gills / high as a kite / wasted so I couldn't control the
> formation of the intent to do violence. Please find me not guilty by
> reason of intoxication!" Sanity may eventually prevail but given how
> topsy turvy the world has gotten, maybe that's overly optimistic.
>
I don't know about Canada but in the US there has to actually be a
medical diagnosis to support an insanity plea and even when it does, it
comes in to effect _after_ sentencing. So instead of a set prison term
the defendant is committed to a medical facility and every X number of
years the court revisits the case until the judge AND the medical doctor
agree they have been successfully treated. And it is extremely rarely
invoked.

As for the "too drunk" defense, that's simple. Everyone who gets
arrested has to have a blood draw to run a BAC. If their BAC isn't high
enough, PPHHHHFFFFTTTT, sorry bubba.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.