Abstract
A criminal defendant found not guilty by reason of insanity was found not guilty. Commitment to a state mental facility is not designed to be punishment for a crime. The commitment is meant instead to address the acquittee’s insanity. Involuntary commitment strips a person of a vital liberty interest, and under our Constitution it should be done only with adequate due process. Recommitment of the person, though, is due that same protection. Accordingly, use of unfairly prejudicial evidence should be limited unless a court deems it necessary to a jury’s determination.
Recommended Citation
McCreary, Jana R.
(2009)
"Not Guilty…Until Recommitment:
The Misuse of Evidence of the Underlying
Crime in NGRI Recommitment Hearings,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 2009:
No.
4, Article 7.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol2009/iss4/7