Criminal activity is multifaceted and can be influenced by several factors, including a person's mental health. The connection or relationship between mental health and criminal law is complex and confusing, yet very critical. A mental health issue could significantly impact your conduct and decisions, attracting possible legal consequences.

Untreated mental health issues can be significant contributing factors in criminal cases, frequently resulting in a pattern of arrests, imprisonment, release, and rearrest. Therefore, addressing your mental health issues when preparing legal defenses for an alleged crime is vital to ensuring justice and fair treatment in court.

Your attorney will use this legal defense approach to acknowledge the main causes of your unlawful conduct and advocate for treatment and rehabilitation instead of punitive consequences. When dealing with sensitive criminal cases where your mental health comes into play when preparing your criminal defenses, retaining the services of a skilled attorney is key.

Mental Health and Criminal Behaviors

Before delving into legal defenses and how the court treats cases where the defendant has a mental disorder, you would want to understand what qualifies as a mental health issue and how it can affect the outcome of your case. The connection between criminal behaviors and mental health is a well-researched field in psychology.

Generally speaking, a mental health disorder could significantly impact a person's ability to control impulses, make rational decisions, and comprehend the possible legal repercussions of his/her behavior. Examples of mental health disorders that could impact your judgment include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Severe depression, bipolar disorder, psychosis, schizophrenia, personality disorders, and alcohol and drug addiction

These impairments or mental health problems could play a vital role in a criminal case. For example, if you have schizophrenia, you could engage in criminal activity unknowingly while you are in a delusional state, attracting serious legal consequences, including incarceration. Also, if you have bipolar disorder, it could make you engage in risky or impulsive behaviors during your manic episodes, resulting in legal repercussions.

Recognizing how these conditions influence a defendant's behavior or conduct is critical in understanding the complexities of his/her criminal acts and the appropriate cause of action. If you have any of these mental disorders, the court will consider your mental state at the time of the offense to know whether you are fit to stand trial.

If the alleged offense requires the prosecutor to prove your mental intent at the time of the offense to secure a conviction against you, doing that could be challenging if you have a mental disorder that can influence your behavior. For example, if you have severe depression, your attorney can argue that you committed the act due to desperation or a profound sense of helplessness, meaning you did not have any criminal intent.

In that case, the judge and your attorney must carefully evaluate your mental health condition and history to assess your culpability fairly. This understanding is critical in this situation because it could shift the focus of the case from punitive measures toward more rehabilitative remedies, recognizing that a mental health issue often requires treatment and management rather than imprisonment alone.

Standard punitive approaches to crimes, like incarceration, typically will not address or help fix the underlying mental health issue that contributed to the offense. Lawmakers argue that imprisonment could sometimes exacerbate a defendant's mental health issues due to the stress and tough conditions you must comply with while behind bars.

Hence, integrating mental health assessments and treatment solutions into the legal justice system could eventually lead to more positive outcomes for you, the defendant, and the entire society. Generally, advocating for mental health rehabilitation and treatment as part of the criminal process emphasizes the importance of taking an informed and compassionate approach to legal defense.

In addition to helping in the well-being and stabilization of the defendant, incorporating mental health considerations when deciding his/her sentencing and rehabilitation plans could help lessen the chances of re-offending.

Specifically, rehabilitation programs or plans that offer counseling, psychiatric treatment, and support services could help address the root causes of a defendant's behavior, leading to better mental health and community safety.

By identifying and addressing the effects of mental health disorders on people's behavior and conduct, the criminal justice system can take a more humane and comprehensive approach to criminal offenses and sentencing.

The Roles of Mental Health Evaluation When Crafting Defenses for the Alleged Offense

Building viable legal defenses for the alleged criminal charge requires an understanding of your mental health and how it could impact your behaviors. If you have a mental health issue, your attorney or the prosecutor can request an evaluation to determine your mental state at the time of the alleged offense and during your trial.

Explained below are the different roles of mental health evaluation when crafting legal defenses to help challenge the criminal allegations you are up against:

Helps Determine Your Competency to Stand Trial

Competency to stand trial is a prerequisite in criminal cases, ensuring that the defendant understands the allegations they are up against and can assist in his/her defense. Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) 13-4501 points out the standard and criteria for determining whether a defendant is fit to stand trial.

Generally, this process begins once your attorney, the prosecutor, or the court raises a concern about your fitness to stand trial. In that case, the court will order a competency assessment conducted by a licensed mental health expert (psychiatrist or psychologist). His/her evaluation will help answer vital questions about whether:

• You have the mental ability to comprehend the nature and the goal of criminal court proceedings

• You can help in your legal defense

These evaluations are vital and significantly influence your case's outcome. When deemed incompetent or unfit to stand trial, the court will determine whether your competence could be restored through treatment and rehabilitation. That means postponing your trial until you receive the appropriate mental health treatment and rehabilitation necessary to help restore your competency.

Helps Determine Whether You Were Insane at the Time of the Offense

While it is less commonly applied in criminal cases, the insanity defense could work in your favor at trial to secure the best possible outcome. ARS 13-502 is the statute that defines what qualifies as insanity and what your attorney should prove at trial when he/she decides to use this legal defense to challenge the allegations you are up against.

Typically, the court will use the M'Naghten Rule to determine whether you were able to understand the quality and nature of behavior or distinguish between wrong and right due to your mental health issue. If your attorney decides to use this legal defense argument, he/she will bear the legal burden to prove the following facts:

• You had a mental health problem at the time of the offense

• The mental health issue affected your ability to comprehend the quality and nature of your actions or differentiate between wrong and right

For the court to accept insanity as a legal defense to the allegations you are up against, your attorney must be ready to prove the above facts beyond a reasonable doubt. Eyewitness testimonies, mental evaluation reports, and surveillance videos could help prove this legal defense and secure the best possible outcome.

Helps Determine Whether You Had Diminished Capacity to Form Criminal Intent

Another way your attorney can use mental health as a legal defense to the allegations you are up against is by arguing that you had diminished capacity to form criminal intent at the time of the offense. That defense argument could work in your favor if the charges you are up against require the prosecutor to prove that you had criminal intent when performing the act.

When your defense attorney argues that you had diminished capacity, he/she is telling the court that your mental health issue affected your ability to form requisite criminal intent for the alleged crime. While this defense argument will not necessarily make the court drop your case, the judge could reduce your charges to a lighter offense or penalties upon conviction.

Sentencing Options Available for People With Mental Health Disorders

Effective legal defenses in mental health criminal cases go beyond usual legal strategies and require a broader approach. Your defense attorney will have to collaborate and work closely with mental experts to collect evidence regarding your mental health, including medical records that show your mental health history and the severity of your unique condition.

In addition to gathering adequate convincing evidence to help challenge the charges you are up against at trial, pursuing alternative and lighter sentencing options, like diversion programs and mental health courts, could also work out in your favor. Here is what you need to know about diversion programs and mental health courts, respectively:

Diversion Programs

The main aim of diversion programs is to redirect a defendant with mental health problems away from the legal justice system and into appropriate mental health treatment programs. These diversion programs recognize that addressing your underlying mental health problems could help prevent possible future criminal behaviors and lead to positive results for you and the public.

By focusing on the rehabilitation and treatment of defendants instead of punishing them, these diversion programs help reduce crime rates and ensure the seamless reintegration of these defendants with their communities. Once you complete the court-ordered diversion program, the judge could reduce your sentence or dismiss your entire case.

Mental Health Courts

Mental health courts are special judicial processes that aim at addressing the unique needs of a defendant with mental health problems, offering you a pathway to rehabilitation and treatment instead of incarceration. As part of your probation terms, the court will require you to comply with the proposed treatment plans to ensure fast recovery and reduce your chances of reoffending.

Probation

With the help of your attorney, you could qualify for probation by convincing the court incarceration would not be a fair sentence due to your mental health condition. If the judge imposes probation, you will avoid incarceration, but you must comply with certain strict terms and conditions during the set duration. Examples of these terms and conditions include the following:

• Enrol in a court-approved substance abuse treatment program

• Enrol in a counseling session

• Agree to routine mental health assessments

• Agree to regular check-ins with a court-appointed probation officer

Since the court will closely monitor you during the probation, you should adhere to these terms for the required period. Failure to adhere to the probationary terms could lead to revocation of your probation and harsher penalties.

Drug Court

If your offense is drug-related, you can help determine whether you are eligible for a drug court. The primary aim of drug courts is to address the underlying causes of your drug-related offense, particularly addiction. Generally, the drug court will give you a chance to seek rehabilitation and treatment services for your addiction as an alternative to imprisonment.

However, to determine your eligibility for drug court and the appropriate treatment plan to address your addiction and any other associated mental health problems, a thorough mental health evaluation will be necessary.

The attorney you choose must keenly assess and evaluate your unique case to know how to use your mental health as a legal defense to challenge the allegations you are up against for the best possible outcome.

Considering the intricate nature of criminal defense matters, especially where a defendant's mental health comes into play, retaining the services of an attorney would be a wise move. An experienced attorney with experience handling similar or related cases could increase your odds of securing a favorable outcome.

In a legal justice system that is not on your side, having a skilled attorney on your side upon an arrest for any offense could mean the difference between dismissal of the case and incarceration or a lighter sentence.

Find a Defense Attorney Near Me

By navigating the confusing legal justice system with specialized legal expertise and a holistic approach, a seasoned defense attorney could convince the court you deserve rehabilitation and treatment rather than imprisonment due to your mental health issue.

We invite you to call our credible defense attorneys at Phoenix Criminal Attorney at 602-551-8092 if you or a loved one with mental health issues is under arrest or investigation for any criminal offense.