CO Lawmakers Consider New Insanity Defense Bill

The shooting rampage at a Colorado movie theater last summer has one state lawmaker proposing a bill that would make it more difficult to plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

FOX News Radio’s Jessica Rosenthal has details:

Republican Rep. Frank McNulty says he’ll introduce a bill this week that would force the defense, rather than the prosecution, prove a defendant’s insanity at the time of the crime.

(Rep. McNulty) “It simply comes down to are we going to have a process that is centered on the victim, while recognizing the rights of criminals, or are we going to side with criminals?”

Larry Pozner is the past President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

(Pozner) “Shifting that burden is almost like saying to a person, ‘We’ve decided you have to prove you’re innocent.’  And we’ve never done that in America.”

Thirty-five other states and D.C. put the burden of proving insanity on the legal team of the suspect.

Jessica Rosenthal, FOX News Radio.