State v. Guido
New Jersey Supreme Court
191 A.2d 45 (1963)
Adele Guido (defendant) intended to shoot herself over her failing marriage but instead shot and killed her sleeping husband when she saw him upon returning the gun to the living room. Two court-appointed psychiatrists initially found her legally sane, then changed their conclusion to insane after consulting with defense counsel, without altering their underlying medical findings — a change the trial court treated with suspicion, ordering production of the original report and accusing defense counsel of fraud in front of the jury, with the prosecutor repeating the fraud accusation in closing. Guido was convicted of second-degree murder and appealed directly to the state supreme court.
Whether an individual will be found not guilty by reason of insanity under the M'Naghten rule if she is suffering from a disease of the mind that precludes her from distinguishing right from wrong.