CRIMINAL DISCUSS 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

CRIMINAL DISCUSS 7 - Essay Example For a defendant to be considered a person with diminished capacity, they must demonstrate a reduced mental capacity. This could be from a disease, mental retardation or substance abuse. Anything that keeps the person from determining right from wrong can be a cause for diminished capacity (http://law.yourdictionary.com/capacity). In order to prepare a legal defense for a person suffering from diminished capacity, I would begin with documenting the cause for the diminished capacity. If the defendant was a steroid user, I would create a history or steroid use. How long have they been taking them? Where did they come from? Why did they start using them? I would then research the possible effects of steroid use in order to prove that steroids can affect a person’s mental capacity. Once this has been researched, I would connect the effects of steroids and the person’s crime together to show that the defendant was not able to distinguish right from wrong during the time of the crime. I would have to prove that the defendant was experiencing the effects of steroids at the time of the crime. It would also be pertinent to have an expert on the effects of steroids as a defense witness during the trial process. As the paralegal on the case, I would research experts in the field in order to select the best one based on the defendant’s crime. In terms of diminished capacity, I think there should be two different levels. One is for people who truly have a mental issue such as developmental delays or mental retardation and one level for those who choose to purposefully alter their mental state by using substances. I agree that if a person has a diminished capacity due to something that has altered their state of mind, they should still be convicted. I also like the idea that they will be convicted of a lesser crime. That seems fair to