Watts v. State

The appellant was convicted of robbing a Baltimore bank. Through counsel, he relied upon a special plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. The first contention raised on appeal is that, although the defendant committed the acts charged, he was insane “within the purview and meaning of modern enlightened medical, psychiatric and legal evaluation of human behavior and therefore not responsible for the offense committed.” Dr. Nelson, a qualified and experienced psychiatrist on the medical staff of the Supreme Bench, testified that the defendant at the time of the commission of the alleged…