Reference no: EM133453941

Case Study: Ed, 28, a beloved High School history teacher and very involved dad to two young kids had been paralyzed by depression and anxiety after the loss of his job and break-up of his marriage. When he first starting feeling unwell he visited his doctor. The doctor prescribed him a very common psychiatric medication, referred him to a counselor, and asked him to return for follow-up in 3 weeks. He tried to book an appointment with the counselor but could not get an appointment until a month later.

Ed' thoughts and behavior became increasingly bizarre over the next several weeks but he failed to recognize this. Ed believed that the President was sending him telepathic messages and needed Ed's help to thwart an impending nuclear disaster. Ed was seeking additional clarification from the President as to his mission, but his calls and emails to the White House had gone unanswered. In his desperation he thought a drastic action would draw the attention of the President. He ultimately obtained weapons, selected a location, and took several hostages whom he promised to release unharmed as soon as he was put in contact with the White House. He knew that taking hostages was illegal, but he was desperate to save the Country from impending doom and believed much greater harm would come if he was unable to carry out his mission. He believed that once he spoke with the President any criminal charges etc would be dropped and he would be allowed to continue his mission. After 18 hours the hostages were saved (physically unharmed) and Ed was arrested; it was determined that the drug was causing him hallucinations and psychosis, an incredibly rare and very unexpected side effect. Ed's case was in fact the worst ever documented. After stopping the drug he returned to acting like himself and was horrified by his actions.

(Note: All drugs have potentially serious side effects ... google "NSAID-related deaths" for some eye opening stats... and it would not be uncommon to book an appointment several weeks out for a commonly used and generally benign drug. Ed's doctor likely has no culpability here).

Questions:

(1) Should Ed be able to raise the insanity defense?

Note: Assume the jurisdiction relies in the modern federal formulation of insanity
(2) Would any other criminal defense be of possible use?

(2) Would your answer be the same if Ed's behavior was due to a brain tumor (there have been several cases where folks with brain injuries and illnesses have engaged in criminal behavior following injury/illness)?

(3) Would your answer be the same if Ed's behavior was due solely to use of non-prescription (illegal) drugs and alcohol?