Posted September 20, 2010 in
Criminal by Arthur Buono
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Would you like some coffee with your Twinkie? A Kentucky man accused of killing his wife blames it on caffeine insanity. He says a steady intake of sodas, energy drinks, and diet pills robbed him of the mental wherewithal to have killed her knowingly.
- Chronic overdose of caffeine said to cause insanity
- Standard psychiatric reference book says three cups of coffee enough to OD
- Insanity defense requires mental defect and inability to know right from wrong
Shades of Dan White, Harvey Milk, Twinkies
Students of the law or just pop culture know this is not the first time food’s been fingered as the culprit in murder. Observers coined the phrase "Twinkie defense" after Dan White blamed his murders of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk on depression and used his recent conversion from a healthy diet to snack foods as evidence of depression.
This is the real deal, however. Caffeine intoxication’s been used recently to beat a vehicular assault case. A mere three cups of coffee can trigger an overdose, according to the standard psychiatric reference manual. This may account for a lot the crazy stuff you encounter on the streets day-to-day.
The law recognizes temporary insanity as a defense to murder. To use the defense, a person must have a mental disease or condition making him unable to know the criminal act is wrong or to prevent himself from committing it. It’s interesting that the insanity defense might follow from voluntary consumption of caffeine. Compare this with voluntary intoxication, which the law generally does not recognize as a defense to a crime.
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