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In criminal law, irresistible impulse is a defense by excuse, in this case some sort of insanity, in which the defendant argues that they should not be held criminally liable for their actions that broke the law, because they could not control those actions, even if they knew them to be wrong. [1]
The irresistible impulse test is a legal doctrine that applies to the insanity defense in criminal cases. Under this test, a defendant may be found not guilty by reason of insanity if they demonstrate that they suffered from a mental disease or defect that made it impossible for them to resist an impulse to commit a crime .
Dec 5, 2023 · The Irresistible Impulse Test is used in some states to test the validity of an insanity defense. Learn about affirmative defenses, the Modern Penal Code, and much more at FindLaw.com.
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The meaning of IRRESISTIBLE IMPULSE is an overpowering impulse produced by mental disease or defect that leads to the commission of a criminal act (as murder).
Irresistible Impulse Insanity Defense. Another variation of the insanity defense is the irresistible impulse defense. This defense has lost popularity over the years and is rejected by most of the states and the federal government (18 U.S.C., 2010).
IRRESISTIBLE IMPULSE. A test applied in a criminal prosecution to determine whether a person accused of a crime was compelled by a mental disease to commit it and therefore cannot be held criminally responsible for her or his actions; in a wrongful death case, a compulsion to commit suicide created by the defendant.
Such a test would encompass not only whether defendants know right from wrong but also whether they could control their impulses to commit wrong-doing. The Irresistible Impulse Test was first adopted by the Alabama Supreme Court in the 1887 case of Parsons v. State.
