CO · jury_instructions
COLJI-Crim. F:183
INSANITY
Under the two legal tests defining “insanity,” a person is not
accountable if:
1. he [she] was so diseased or defective in mind at the time of the
commission of the act as to be incapable of distinguishing right
from wrong with respect to that act; or
2. he [she] suffered from a condition of mind caused by a mental
disease or defect that prevented him [her] from forming a
culpable state of mind that is an essential element of a crime
charged.
But, under both tests, care should be taken not to confuse mental
disease or defect with moral obliquity, mental depravity, or passion
growing out of anger, revenge, hatred, or other motives and kindred evil
conditions because, when an act is induced by any of these causes, the
person is accountable to the law.
History
COLJI-Crim. (2025), Colorado Supreme Court Model Criminal Jury Instructions Committee. The committee's page: "The 2025 edition was published online on February 25, 2026." © 2025 Supreme Court of Colorado for the State of Colorado.
Provenance
- Source
- www.coloradojudicial.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-24
- Edition
- crim-2026-02-25
- Content hash
53bcc93ee1c49e605b5d24d538a093b1a7c2a9a7e6a0b410f3a710008e330138
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