Guilty but mentally ill - 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 314

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     § 314.  Guilty but mentally ill.
        (a)  General rule.--A person who timely offers a defense of
     insanity in accordance with the Rules of Criminal Procedure may
     be found "guilty but mentally ill" at trial if the trier of
     facts finds, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the person is
     guilty of an offense, was mentally ill at the time of the
     commission of the offense and was not legally insane at the time
     of the commission of the offense.
        (b)  Plea of guilty but mentally ill.--A person who waives
     his right to trial may plead guilty but mentally ill. No plea of
     guilty but mentally ill may be accepted by the trial judge until
     he has examined all reports prepared pursuant to the Rules of
     Criminal Procedure, has held a hearing on the sole issue of the
     defendant's mental illness at which either party may present
     evidence and is satisfied that the defendant was mentally ill at
     the time of the offense to which the plea is entered. If the
     trial judge refuses to accept a plea of guilty but mentally ill,
     the defendant shall be permitted to withdraw his plea. A
     defendant whose plea is not accepted by the court shall be
     entitled to a jury trial, except that if a defendant
     subsequently waives his right to a jury trial, the judge who
     presided at the hearing on mental illness shall not preside at
     the trial.
        (c)  Definitions.--For the purposes of this section and 42
     Pa.C.S. § 9727 (relating to disposition of persons found guilty
     but mentally ill):
            (1)  "Mentally ill."  One who as a result of mental
        disease or defect, lacks substantial capacity either to
        appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his
        conduct to the requirements of the law.
            (2)  "Legal insanity."  At the time of the commission of
        the act, the defendant was laboring under such a defect of
        reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature
        and quality of the act he was doing or, if he did know it,
        that he did not know he was doing what was wrong.
        (d)  Common law M'Naghten's Rule preserved.--Nothing in this
     section shall be deemed to repeal or otherwise abrogate the
     common law defense of insanity (M'Naghten's Rule) in effect in
     this Commonwealth on the effective date of this section.
     (Dec. 15, 1982, P.L.1262, No.286, eff. 90 days)

        1982 Amendment.  Act 286 added section 314. Section 4 of Act
     286 provided that Act 286 shall apply to all indictments or
     informations filed on or after the effective date of Act 286.
        Cross References.  Section 314 is referred to in section 9727
     of Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure).

Last modified: November 27, 2007