§ 6-14 Guilty but Mentally Ill

LibrarySouth Carolina Requests to Charge - Criminal (SCBar) (2012 Ed.)

§ 6-14 Guilty but Mentally Ill

The defendant in this case has raised the issue for your consideration of a verdict of guilty but mentally ill.

Section 17-24-20(A) of the South Carolina Code of Laws provides:

A defendant is guilty but mentally ill if, at the time of the commission of the act constituting the offense, he had the capacity to distinguish right from wrong or to recognize his act as being wrong as defined in Section 17-24-10(A), but because of mental disease or defect he lacked sufficient capacity to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.

Section 17-24-10(A) states: "It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution for a crime that, at the time of the commi ssion of the act constituting the offense, the defendant, as a result of mental disease or defect, lacked the capacity to distinguish charged as morally or legally wrong."

To return a verdict of "guilty but mentally ill," the burden of proof is upon the State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to the jury that the defendant committed the crime. The burden of proof is upon the defendant to...

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