People v. Fields
California Supreme Court
35 Cal. 3d 329 (1983)
Relevant factsFree
After a violent crime spree resulting in the death penalty, Fields (defendant) raised an insanity defense supported by expert testimony that he suffered from an antisocial personality (psychopathy/sociopathy) that impaired his ability to conform to legal requirements; on cross-examination, the same expert conceded Fields would not qualify as having a mental disease under a definition excluding disorders manifested only by repeated criminal or antisocial conduct, and the trial court so instructed the jury, which convicted him.
IssueFree
Whether, for the insanity defense, the term "mental illness or defect" includes an illness that is manifested only by a series of criminal or antisocial acts.