Man Pleads Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity
Miguel Ramos, a 28-year-old Chino man, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges that he murdered his cousin after finding out that his wife and cousin had an affair. According to this news report in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Ramos shot and killed 25-year-old Valentin Barria at a house party in front of Barria’s wife and the couple’s 5-year-old son.
Ramos pleaded both not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity to a murder charge. Ramos will be tried on the murder charge first. If convicted, then the trial will move to the next phase where the same jurors will determine whether Ramos was “legally sane” at the time of the shooting.
“Legal insanity” is very much different from the psychological definition of mental illness. For a person to be punished for his or her crime, the prosecutor must establish during the trial that he or she possessed the mental capacity to justify intent. The prosecutor must prove that the defendant set out to commit a crime and then went through with it. In other words, without the “intent” to commit a crime, a crime is not considered a crime at all. Although prison is ruled out, the defendant who is determined to be “legally insane” at the time of committing the crime, will serve time in a mental institution until physicians declare that he or she is capable of returning to society.
If you or someone you love has been accused of murder, please contact a Southern California criminal defense attorney for a free consultation and case evaluation.
