Ruffin v. State

Ruffin (defendant), suffering from deteriorating mental health including auditory and visual hallucinations, shot at responding police officers while yelling obscenities, later claiming at trial that he genuinely believed he was shooting at Muslims rather than police officers; witnesses corroborated his recent erratic behavior. The trial court excluded expert psychiatric testimony that Ruffin suffered from severe depression and delusions, he was convicted of first-degree aggravated assault, and the court of appeals affirmed on the theory that mental-illness evidence only negates intent in murder cases.