Newton v. Brooks

The superintendent of the Oregon State Hospital appeals an order in habeas corpus discharging from his custody a person who had been committed under ORS 136.730 following acquittal of criminal charges on the ground of “insanity”. The controlling statute reads as follows:

ORS 136.730. “If the defense is the insanity of the defendant, the jury shall be instructed to state, if it finds him not guilty on that ground, that fact in the verdict, and the court shall thereupon, if it deems his being at large dangerous to the public peace or safety, order him to be committed to any hospital or…