State v. Montague

SMITH, Presiding Judge.

In 1963, Missouri enacted a new code dealing with criminal proceedings involving mental illness — a “mental responsibility law”. Chapter 552. 1 This case presents for the first time in the state the question of what standards are to be applied under Section 552.040 in determining whether an individual should be released from a state mental hospital.

Charles Eugene Montague was tried for Murder in the first degree in 1959. The jury verdict found him not guilty “on the sole ground that the defendant was insane at the time of the commission of the offense charged” and that…