Insanity - 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 315

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     § 315.  Insanity.
        (a)  General rule.--The mental soundness of an actor engaged
     in conduct charged to constitute an offense shall only be a
     defense to the charged offense when the actor proves by a
     preponderance of evidence that the actor was legally insane at
     the time of the commission of the offense.
        (b)  Definition.--For purposes of this section, the phrase
     "legally insane" means that, at the time of the commission of
     the offense, the actor 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 the actor did know the
     quality of the act, that he did not know that what he was doing
     was wrong.
     (Dec. 15, 1982, P.L.1262, No.286, eff. 90 days)

        1982 Amendment.  Act 286 added section 315. 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.

Last modified: November 27, 2007