The Migration of Arizona's Post-Insanity Defense Procedures to a Modified GBMI Model

Abstract

Arizona's insanity defense and post-insanity procedures have evolved over the last 30 years into a unique system. Arizona moved from a typical M'Naughten-based insanity defense to an adaptation of the Oregon Psychiatric Security Review Board (PSRB) model and then to its current form, in which the PSRB is cast in a correctional framework. These changes have resulted in a correctional statute, with outcomes that may subject the guilty except insane (GEI) offender to a disposition similar to that of someone found guilty but mentally ill (GBMI). We review the literature on the GBMI defense first developed in Michigan in the 1970s and compare Arizona's current system to the earlier GBMI models. We conclude with a discussion of Arizona's GEI verdict and implications of managing these offenders in a correctional framework, resulting in a modified GBMI statute.