A 35-year-old man with chronic schizophrenia, currently well controlled on medication, commits theft. He understands the nature of the act and knows stealing is wrong. Legally, he is:

• A Fully exempt from criminal liability because he has a diagnosed mental illness
• B Partially liable, receiving half the usual sentence
• C Liable only if the victim presses charges
• D Fully criminally liable, because mere presence of mental illness does not confer exemption ✓

Explanation

Legal insanity requires cognitive impairment at the time of the act: inability to know the nature of the act or that it was wrong. Medical insanity (the diagnosis itself) is not the test. A schizophrenic in remission who retains cognition is fully responsible. Option A reflects the common error of equating diagnosis with exemption, which is precisely why courts distinguish medical from legal insanity.

Reference: Parikh's Textbook of Medical Jurisprudence, Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, 7th ed.

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Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.