Have you read the New Jersey Court’s Model Criminal Jury Charges for Insanity? This is a direct quote from the document:
‘If you find that the State has proved all the elements of the crime and the defendant’s
participation therein beyond a reasonable doubt, and if you also find that the defendant has
established the defense of insanity by a preponderance of the credible evidence, your verdict
must be “not guilty by reason of insanity” and you shall so report and declare your verdict.
A verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity does not necessarily mean that the defendant
will be freed, or that the individual will be indefinitely committed to a mental institution. Under
our law, if you find the defendant not guilty by reason of insanity, it will then be for the court to
conduct a further hearing and among other matters determine whether or not the defendant’s
insanity continues to the present and whether defendant poses a danger to the community or to
himself/herself. The resolution of those issues will ultimately determine what appropriate
restrictions need to be placed on the defendant. Thus, procedures exist to adequately provide for
the defendant and to protect the public in the event defendant is found not guilty by reason of
insanity.’
No where in the document does it say the defendant didn’t do the guilty act for NGRI verdict? No where does the document say if you find the prosecution didn’t prove all the elements of the crime and the defendant’s participation beyond a reasonable doubt and if you find the that the defendant has established the defense of insanity, your verdict must be NGRI. The finding of insanity resolves the individual of responsibility for the guilty act, but the defendant still did do the guilty act. He gets treatment instead of incarceration. He is not a felon.
