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	Diminshed Responsibility
		Diminished Responsibility (In the USA it is called Diminished Capacity) is used to reduce the charge of Murder to Manslaughter thus allowing the judge more discretion in sentencing.
		It seems that the major problem with the present arrangement for Diminished Responsibility is in the words that psychiatry uses and the words that law uses use and this could be overcome by redefining this defence in the statutes.
		The problem that has developed concerning Diminished Responsibility is not about the basic concept because most people agree with it when it is really used in the role of the merciful function of the law in cases deserving of this as it has developed historically.
	www.priory.com /psych/diminshe.htm (3535 words)

	Diminished Responsibility
		This book is primarily designed as a sourcebook for lawyers and psychiatrists who are interested or involved in the subject of diminished responsibility.
		The book begins with an overview and analysis of the concept of diminished responsibility and a general introduction of where law and approach of describing and discussing basic principles in relation ot the various aspects of "abnormality of mind" as envisaged under the definition of diminished responsibility, before passing to a study of actual cases.
		The final chapter is an attempt to deal with and confront what are percieved to be the potentially problematical issues (recommending proposals wherever feasible) in which the complex relationship between law and psychaitry is presently concerned in interpreting diminished responsibility.
	www.coronetbooks.com /books/d/dimi1388.html (189 words)

	The Defence of Diminished Responsibility in England and Wales
		Diminished responsibility is a partial defence available to reduce a charge of murder to one of manslaighter.
		Diminished responsibility has been the focus of a great deal of critical attention from legal academics, law reform commissions and feminist theorists, among others.
		This paper places the defence in the context of other mental incapacity defences in the criminal law and argues that diminished responsibility must be understood in a wide context, and particularly in relation to the insanity defence.
	www.allacademic.com /meta/p66737_index.html?type=info (210 words)

	Diminished responsibility
		In jurisprudence, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a defense by excuse via which a defendant argues that that although they broke the law, they should not be held criminally liable for doing so, as their mental functions were "diminished" or impaired.
		Peter Arenella, in the Columbia Law Review (1977 p.830), stated, "the defense [of diminished responsibility]...was first recognized by Scottish common law to reduce the punishment of the 'partially insane'." An example of a "diminished capacity" might be extremely low intelligence.
		This defense usually does not necessarily result in a verdict of "not guilty"; it often results in the substitution of a lesser offence (eg manslaughter instead of murder), or a mitigated sentence.
	www.xasa.com /wiki/en/wikipedia/d/di/diminished_responsibility.html (164 words)

	NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Diminished responsibility in English law (Site not responding. Last check: )
		In criminal law, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a potential defense by excuse by which defendants argue that although they broke the law, they should not be held criminally liable for doing so, as their mental functions were diminished or impaired.
		Whereas diminished responsibility requires a substantial impairment caused by an abnormality of mind which may cover not only abnormalities of perception or cognition, but also an abnormality affecting the ability to exercise will power, and extreme emotional states falling outside the medical definitions of illness and abnormality.
		The direction to a jury facing both diminished responsibility and drunkenness should be: An intoxication defense, in criminal law, is a defense by excuse, via which a defendant argues that they should not be held criminally liable for actions which broke the law, because they were intoxicated.
	www.nationmaster.com /encyclopedia/Diminished-responsibility-in-English-law (3135 words)

	Women's Aid - Consultations - Partial Defences to Murder
		Women's Aid recommends that the defence of diminished responsibility should be retained, regardless of the position on the mandatory life sentence, because those suffering mental disorders cannot be fully held to account for their actions.
		There is a further danger of using the defence of 'diminished responsibility' to pathologise abused women who kill, instead of seeing their behaviour as a normal rational response to the abuse they have suffered.
		Diminished responsibility consists of a partial denial of responsibility, which is not the case for provocation.
	www.womensaid.org.uk /landing_page.asp?section=000100010009000300040004 (4398 words)

	Omnipelagos.com ~ article "Diminished responsibility"
		In a series of decisions, given mainly by Lord Deas, a doctrine grew that various types of mental weakness could have the effect of reducing what would otherwise be a conviction for murder (which attracted capital punishment) to one for culpable homicide (where the courts had greater discretion in sentencing).
		This statement became the authoritative version of the test for diminished responsibility and the various factors mentioned by Lord Alness were regarded as being cumulative in nature.
		Instead the court ruled that diminished responsibility required the existence of an abnormality of mind which had the effect that the accused's ability to determine or control his actings was substantially impaired.
	www.omnipelagos.com /entry?n=diminished_responsibility (842 words)

	NCJRS Abstract - National Criminal Justice Reference Service
		The acceptance rate for diminished responsibility, however, was lower than the acceptance rate for provocation, while the combination defense of diminished responsibility and provocation had the highest acceptance rate.
		Sentences for diminished responsibility cases fell at the upper end of the sentencing range for manslaughter.
		Juries rejected the defense of diminished responsibility in over half of cases where that defense was argued.
	www.ncjrs.gov /app/publications/Abstract.aspx?id=173472 (339 words)

	Singapore University Press
		The book begins with an overview and analysis of the concept of diminished responsibility and a general introduction of where law and psychiatry intersect in this area.
		Thereafter the authors adopt the traditional approach of describing and discussing basic principles in relation to the various aspects of "abnormality of mind" as envisaged under the definition of diminished responsibility, before passing to a study of actual cases.
		The final chapter is an attempt to deal with and confront what are perceived to be the potentially problematical issues (recommending proposals wherever feasible) in which the complex relationship between law and psychiatry is presently concerned in interpreting diminished responsibility.
	www.nus.edu.sg /npu/9971-69-138-8.html (163 words)

	Berry, The State v [1977] PNGLR 128 (5 May 1977)
		(2) The extent to which such diminished responsibility can be taken into account is, however, limited; the court has to consider the deterrent effect generally of its sentences on those minded to commit the particular crime, no matter what their motives or their physical or mental state.
		But a case has been put forward on your behalf that at the time of the offence you were by reason of a personality disorder in such state of abnormality of mind as substantially to impair your capacity to know what you were doing or to control your actions.
		That was a case of a prisoner of diminished responsibility, retarded mentality, low intelligence and physical incapacity.
	www.worldlii.org /pg/cases/PNGLR/1977/128.html (2023 words)

	Vanhan Vaasan Sairaala - Gamla Vasa sjukhus - Vanha Vaasa hospital
		The concept of criminal responsibility has been a controversial one throughout its history, and both the legal and the medical professions have debated it.
		The level of responsibility depicts the evaluated psychiatric state of the offender at the time of the crime - to what degree the offender is "in possession of one's faculties".
		Offenders with no responsibility are not sentenced at all, but are usually committed to state mental hospitals as criminally insane patients.
	www.vvs.fi /index_vvs.html?kieli=en&sivu=examination (465 words)

	Crimes Amendment (Diminished Responsibility) Bill - 12/11/1997 - 2R - NSW Parliament
		There is no doubt in the public’s mind that the Premier sought to represent to the families of the deceased and to the community that the defence of diminished responsibility was to be abolished.
		The bill is a breach of a clear commitment given to the families of the victims of murder, the perpetrators of which have received a lesser penalty because of the defence of diminished responsibility.
		The result was that the off-duty officer beat the offence on the grounds of diminished responsibility because he said that at the time he was so intoxicated that he was incapable of forming mens rea - a criminal intent.
	www.parliament.nsw.gov.au /prod/parlment/HansArt.nsf/66662d17d79b79d7ca256cfd000e0c22/ca256d11000bd3aa4a25656e0019e157!OpenDocument (1386 words)

	Urban Legends Reference Pages: Legal Affairs (The Twinkie Defense) (Site not responding. Last check: )
		White's defense was that he had been suffering from a long-standing and untreated depression that diminished his capacity to distinguish right from wrong, and thus he was not capable of the premeditation required to support a charge of first degree murder.
		Junk food was used as evidence that White was depressed; White's depression was used to establish grounds for a successful diminished capacity plea; and therefore White was judged incapable of the premeditation required for a murder conviction.
		When the diminished capacity defense was successful and White was convicted of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, an outraged media and public skipped the middlemen.
	www.snopes.com /legal/twinkie.htm (643 words)

	mywordsontheweb.com » Blog Archive » The Responsibility Deficit
		But if responsibility is something you can arbitrarily reduce, perhaps it is an important quantity we should take greater pains to measure and account for, especially since we are indulging to adjust its value as often as we do.
		As parents, we may not even be aware that there is an inescapable connection between reducing responsibility in one person and increasing it in another.
		The sum of the responsibility bourne by the parent and the child is greater than 100% — there is a surplus of responsibility.
	www.mywordsontheweb.com /jack/responsibility-deficit (752 words)

	Sem to use insanity defense at murder trial
		A notice of Sem's intention to rely on the insanity and diminished responsibility defenses was filed last week in Iowa District Court for Jefferson County by his attorney, Les Lamping of Washington, Iowa.
		Unlike an insanity plea, diminished responsibility does not relieve the defendant of responsibility for his or her actions.
		In a first-degree murder case, according to Iowa's criminal jury instructions, diminished responsibility means the defendant was not capable at the time of forming "a premeditated, deliberate, specific intent to kill." To get a first-degree murder conviction, the prosecution must prove the crime was premeditated.
	www.rickross.com /reference/tm/tm96.html (424 words)

	Consilio LAWinaBOX Forums - diminished responsibility due to drugs.
		Horrace Rumpole Qc diminished responsibility due to drugs.
		The jury should then consider whether the combined effect of the other matters which did fall within the section amounted to such abnormality of mind as substantially impaired the defendant's responsibility within the meaning of "substantial" set out in R.
		Sanderson (1994) 98 Cr.App.R., the prosecution called evidence to the effect that whilst alcoholism may reach the stage where the brain itself is being injured, there was no medical science to indicate that such damage results from drugs as opposed to alcohol.
	www.spr-consilio.com /vbulletin/upload/printthread.php?t=1253 (249 words)

	Women and Men on Trial
		In 1995 Brian Steadman was jailed for three years after he hit her 13 times with a hammer, he pleaded diminished responsibility due the his wife's constant nagging.
		He pleaded manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was given 3 year probation.
		She pleaded guilty on grounds of diminished responsibility, she was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
	www.jfw.org.uk /ONTRIAL.HTM (720 words)

	Southall Black Sisters: Campaigns
		At the appeal in July 1992 which was presided over by the then Lord Chief Justice, Taylor, the defence argued both provocation and diminished responsibility, both partial defences to murder.
		They accepted the notion of cumulative provocation, which was an important plank in the defence of most battered women, and also accepted that the period of time which lapsed between an act of provocation and the defendant's response was not necessarily a cooling down period but could be seen as a boiling over period.
		Kiranjit Ahluwalia was released in September 1992, three years and three months after she had first entered prison to scenes of jubilation from the large number of supporters who had gathered outside the court.
	www.southallblacksisters.org.uk /campaign_kiranjit.html (549 words)

	Court upholds conviction of Ruth Ellis \| Special reports \| Guardian Unlimited
		Michael Mansfield QC, appearing for her sister, Muriel Jakubait, asked judges to quash the murder conviction and substitute a verdict of manslaughter on the grounds of provocation or diminished responsibility.
		He said the trial judge, Sir Cecil Havers, had made a "substantial error" in withdrawing the defence of provocation from the jury, which took just 14 minutes to convict Ellis of murder, and claimed she was suffering "battered woman syndrome".
		But the judges ruled that the defence of diminished responsibility was not available at that time and for provocation to succeed it had to be proved that Ellis was subjected to an immediate affront and all her normal self-control had been lost.
	www.guardian.co.uk /crime/article/0,2763,1102551,00.html (483 words)

	The Namibian (Site not responding. Last check: )
		Dr Maslowski diagnosed Campbell as suffering from chronic schizophrenia which is in remission, as well as substance abuse and dependence.
		Campbell should be regarded as having had a diminished responsibility for his act, the psychiatrist found.
		He recommended that Campbell should be declared a patient of the President - meaning that he would be kept in a mental hospital or prison until the President authorised his release - "as he constitutes a significant danger to society".
	www.namibian.com.na /Netstories/June98/childrapebrickie.html (279 words)

	Royal College of Psychiatrists
		In fact, diminished responsibility is a verdict that juries reach with sympathetic defendants—battered women or mercy killers.
		He noted that the absolute number of diminished responsibility verdicts has remained constant over a 15-year period in which the number of murders has increased substantially.
		Self-induced intoxication is not a basis for diminished responsibility.
	www.emory.edu /AAPL/newsletter/N241_Royal_College_meeting.htm (1075 words)

	BLIND JUSTICE: The creation of criminals - NI 154 - Beyond Punishment
		Peter Sutcliffe, the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’ murderer of 13 women attacker of seven other, was able to plead diminished responsibility as a schizophrenic, and so was found guilty of manslaughter rather than murder.
		The modern legal system is caught between a diagnostic scheme which denies responsibility and the older legal one which asserts it.
		The resulting compromises create inconsistent judgements – sometimes harshly punitive and at others therapeutic – in which criminal law usually reflects the prejudices of society, punishing those who are already disadvantaged and offering psychological help to those who are more privileged.
	www.newint.org /issue154/beyond.htm (557 words)

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