Fare v. Ramon M.

Opinion

TOBRINER, J.

Penal Code section 26 codifies the rarely used defense of idiocy as well as the better known defense of insanity. The California courts until recently have employed the same standard, the M’Naghten test,1 to govern both defenses. In People v. Drew (1978) ante page 333 [149 Cal.Rptr. 275, 583 P.2d 1318], however, this court repudiated the M’Naghten test of insanity and adopted instead the American Law Institute (ALI) formulation: “A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect he lacks substantial…