Garrett v. State

HERRMANN, Chief Justice:

In this murder case, the defendant entered separate pleas of “not guilty” and “not guilty by reason of mental illness”. The defendant made pretrial application for bifurcated trial of the defense of mental illness. At trial, the defendant sought a jury instruction upon the consequences to the defendant of a verdict of not guilty by reason of mental illness. 1 Both applications were denied. The jury found the defendant guilty of murder in the second degree. This appeal brings up for review the propriety of the denial of those applications.

I

The defendant claimed amnesia…