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MCNAGHTEN RULE

The most frequent test used to determine whether a defendant is criminally insane and not guilty of the crime since the defendant could not appreciate the consequence of his or her actions. Essentially, the criminal defendant is determined to be legally insane only if the defendant could not distinguish right from wrong at the time he committed the crime. For example, a psychotic who suffers from hallucinations and believed that his acts were in response to provocation from Satan.

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