Washington state relies on what is known as "McNaughten's Rule," a test originated in England in 1843. The rule represented enlightened thinking in the 1840s when the insane were kept in bedlams and the guilty were dispatched at public hangings. The McNaughten test, used here and in 15 other states, is simple: Did the person know right from wrong? The test is the most difficult to prove of any used in the United States, with the exception of Montana and Idaho, which don't recognize insanity. Other states have a version of the American Law Institute model code which changes the test from a simple "Did the defendant know right from wrong?" to a test that asks: "Did the defendant have substantial capacity to conform his or her conduct to the requirements of the law?"
Using the McNaughten test, it's almost never possible to prove insanity. To plead insanity under the law, a defendant must first admit committing the crime. Then the defense attorney must try to prove insanity.
"Insanity in this state is one of the hardest defenses to raise," says defense attorney Floris Mikkelsen. "It's something an attorney would never use, not unless the defendant had significant mental problems."
A look at a few recent capital cases, some involving insanity pleas and some not, shows how skewed justice has become:
Tanya Adams. In 1979, Adams, a distraught Tri-Cities woman, threw her two young children into the Columbia River to keep them from going to hell. The jury concluded that Adams, a devout Mormon who believed that children under 8 would go straight to heaven, knew right from wrong but could not resist her irrational impulse. She was convicted of two counts of first- degree murder. Afterward, the jury unanimously condemned the McNaughten Rule as "morally objectionable." Adams, unlike Rice, was spared the death penalty. Her sentence? She was given two years in a mental institution and five years' probation.
Angus MacFarland. In 1978, after being refused admission to Western State Hospital, MacFarland returned to his Windermere home and bludgeoned to death neighbors Burle and Olive Bramhall, 83 (age) and 85 (age).
He was convicted despite testimony that he acted in response to voices and had a 16-year history of mental illness. He is now serving a life sentence. He did not get the death penalty.
Benjamin Ng. He was one of three men implicated in the massacre of 13 Chinese at the Wah Mee gambling club in 1983. The victims were first tied, robbed and shot. Ng didn't plead insanity, but his defense included testimony that he had suffered a blow to the head as a child. He received 13 life sentences for his part in the Wah Mee murders. Later he received a life sentence for first- degree assault against the massacre's only survivor and a 15th life sentence for the 1981 killing of an elderly Seattle man. Despite the 14 deaths, Ng did not receive a death sentence.
Clark Hazen. In 1986, the Vancouver teen-ager confessed to killing Donna Russell, 27 (age), because he wanted to have sex with her and "didn't want to fight with her." When her father, Shirley Russell, 65 (age), returned home unexpectedly, Hazen shot and killed him.
Both victims were robbed. Donna Russell's corpse may have been raped. The jury heard testimony that Hazen (18 (age) at the time) was mentally impaired. He had suffered brain damage and childhood abuse. The jury deliberated less than 31/2 hours before sentencing the mentally impaired Hazen to death.
As these cases show, there doesn't seem to be any predictability to capital case verdicts. Medical professionals generally agree that Adams, MacFarland and Hazen were crazy. Certainly their crimes were irrational. Yet none of the three was able to prove insanity.
Bad deal all around.