Mental Health Cases

Colorado statutes define "mental disease or defect" as "severely or abnormal mental conditions that grossly and demonstrably impair a person's perception or understanding of reality and are not attributable to the voluntary ingestion of alcohol or any other psychoactive substance." When a mentally ill person is incapable of distinguishing right from wrong at the time of committing an act, the person is not accountable. However, Colorado law makes it clear that this mental state is not to be confused with mental diseases or defects with "moral obliquity, mental depravity, or passion growing out of anger, revenge, hatred or other motives and kindred evil conditions." When committing an act based on these latter diseases or defects, the person is held accountable under the law. Mental retardation alone is not sufficient to prove mental illness, but neither may it be a reason to exclude mental illness.

In certain cases, a plea of "not guilty by reason of insanity" may be an appropriate affirmative defense. A plea of "not guilty by reason of temporary insanity" is not allowed in Colorado courts.

Once a plea of insanity is entered, the defendant is mentally examined in compliance with examination standards set by the law to determine evidence of insanity. If the court accepts the plea, the prosecution then has the job of disproving insanity. The prosecutor bears the burden of proving that the defendant is sane beyond a reasonable doubt.

See examples of Colorado mental health casework Patrick Mulligan has successfully litigated here.

To find out how Patrick Mulligan can help you with Colorado mental health casework, go here or call (303) 860-8100.