A recent decision from the Indiana Court of Appeals reminds us that you cannot drink and drug yourself into a state of temporary insanity. In the case of Townsend v. State, the Defendant was appealing convictions for felony burglary and felony criminal confinement. Among other things, he argued that the jury’s rejection of his insanity defense was “contrary to law” and that the trial court abused its discretion by not taking it easy on him because of his alleged temporary insanity. The Court of Appeals affirmed his convictions.
As the Court explained, “Mental disease or defect, for purposes of the insanity statute, does not include temporary mental incapacity that results from voluntary intoxication.” Indiana does recognize that voluntary intoxication can — with enough time and enough commitment — result in a permanent mental disease or defect, but it can’t make you temporarily insane.
The only way that Townsend’s argument works is if he had been involuntarily intoxicated. You can become involuntarily intoxicated in one of two ways: either 1) someone slips you something without your consent; or 2) you take something without knowing it might cause intoxication. Unfortunately for Townsend, neither applies to him. He was drinking heavily and ingested at least three different kinds of medication. Thus, even though two separate medical experts testified at trial that Townsend was suffering from psychosis when he committed the crimes for which he was convicted, both doctors also “agreed that his psychosis was caused by his voluntary consumption of medications.”
To recap: For intoxication to result in temporary insanity, it must have been involuntary. Voluntary intoxication can never render you temporarily insane. Voluntary intoxication on a long enough timeline (think chronic alcoholism or heroin abuse) may eventually render you permanently insane, but by that point, legal distinctions will probably be the least of your worries.
Insanity and involuntary intoxication are just two of the defenses available to those accused of a crime in Indiana. If you would like to discuss a possible defense, call the Marc Lopez Law Firm at 317-632-3642. Or contact us by email.