Insanity.
Known as the Washington Criminal Code
The act spans §§ 9A.04.010 to 9A.98.020 (401 sections).
Applied in 38 court decisions — leading case Clark v. Arizona (2006)
Most recently applied in State Of Washington, V. Michael Sean Thompson (November 2021)
2011 c 336 s 353; 1975 1st ex.s. c 260 s 9A.12.010.
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
To establish the defense of insanity, it must be shown that:
(1) At the time of the commission of the offense, as a result of mental disease or defect, the mind of the actor was affected to such an extent that:
(a) He or she was unable to perceive the nature and quality of the act with which he or she is charged; or
(b) He or she was unable to tell right from wrong with reference to the particular act charged.
(2) The defense of insanity must be established by a preponderance of the evidence.
Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.