State v. Wilson
Supreme Court of Connecticut
700 A.2d 633 (1997)
Wilson (defendant) developed a delusional belief that his former classmate Dirk and Dirk's father, Jack Peters, were conspiring to destroy his life through poisoning, hypnotism, and other harms. After months of unsuccessfully warning police, Wilson shot and killed Jack Peters and turned himself in, saying he had no choice. At trial for murder, Wilson pleaded insanity; expert witnesses testified he believed the killing was necessary to save others and that he had a higher moral duty to act. Wilson asked the court to instruct the jury that "wrongfulness," under the state's Model Penal Code insanity test, meant whether he personally believed his conduct was morally justified, even knowing it was illegal. The trial court refused, and Wilson was convicted.
Whether the "wrongfulness" element of the cognitive prong of the Model Penal Code insanity test should be defined by the defendant's personal sense of morality or by an objective societal standard.