Commonwealth v. Chatman

In this appeal, we address a question of first impression in this Commonwealth, whether a 13-year-old juvenile has either a constitu*565tional or statutory right to assert an insanity defense at the adjudicatory phase of a juvenile delinquency proceeding. Because we conclude that a juvenile does not have that right in such proceedings under either the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment or the statutes of this Commonwealth, we will reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals holding that the availability of the insanity defense in such juvenile proceedings is essential to due process.

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