Crime and punishment in society

Healing East to West

The case of Raskolnikov -- not guilty by reason of insanity

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, we have before us a young man accused of a seemingly indefensible crime. Raskolnikov, the defendant, admittedly murdered an elderly woman in cold blood. Then, again, by his own admission, when taken by surprise by the woman's sister, he took the other woman's life as well in an unplanned but apparently unprovoked attack. However, although Raskolnikov today repents of his crimes this does not mean that he was morally aware of the repugnance of his actions at the time of the murder. It is thus the defense's contention that his actions were delusional, because he believed, in a confused manner, that killing a pawnbroker was the 'correct' thing to do, for his family and for society. He saw

Alyona Ivanovna, not as an old woman, or a human being at all, but as the representation and incarnation of all moral and societal evil. He killed her sister as a result of the brain-fevered state that generated his originally morally confused plan to kill the pawnbroker to help society.

The prosecutor, because of the previous relationship of the victim and the defendant and the clumsy and half-hearted attempt by the defendant to conceal his actions after the fact, alleges that Raskolnikov was in his right mind. However, even the most cursory interview with the admitted killer underlines the motiveless nature of the attack. At times, Raskolnikov considered killing the pawnbroker to prove he was capable of committing the perfect crime. His thoughts raged in his head, in a confused swirl, that he was a superman, a Napoleon. Then, the next minute he believed he was not a superman, he only wanted the woman's money, to enable his mother and sister to be free of supporting his education as, ironically, a law student. His family was poor and owed the old woman rent and faced eviction, which made her seem like the reason for his family's difficulties. Then, around the time of the crime the defendant spoke with a man who had prostituted his own daughter to support his family. Raskolnikov came to the conclusion with the death of Alyona Ivanovna he would have money to give to the poor and help society. The old woman became the devil in his mind, a representation of cruelty and self-enrichment. With her death, many would benefit, morally and spiritually as well as economically. The poor girl would no longer have to be a prostitute, and the defendant's sister and mother would not have to become indigent.

Contrary to the prosecution's allegation, Raskolnikov's murderous plot was only half-heartedly constructed, with many gaping logical holes in its execution, most notably how the defendant would fence the old woman's largesse and dispense her money to the poor. True, Raskolnikov has expressed regret after the fact for his actions; this does not mean that at the time he was cognizant of their implication at the time of the murder. A man who believes he is saving his child's life by killing an intruder while he is delusional and sleepwalking who accidently kills an innocent man is not guilty of murder, even if he may be horrified upon awakening. Raskolnikov was in a parallel delusional state.

His motivation was clearly not monetary. After the crime, the defendant took only a few valuable items, which he hid rather than pawned. He left most of Alyona Ivanovna's money back in the residence. If money was his motivation, this hardly seems like a logical way to proceed. This also undercuts the idea that there was premeditation of how to use the funds, as he had no evident plot to hide the goods or to fence them. His actions after the murder actually highlight his delusional and confused state of mind.

The prosecution has called Raskolnikov's subsequent feverish illness evidence of remorse, and evidence of his knowledge that his actions were wrong. Immediately after committing the crime, including the unexpected murder of the woman's sister, he took to his bed, raving, according to his friends and family, like a lunatic. This supports, however, the idea that Raskolnikov was suffering a mental and physical illness that inhibited his ability to discern right from wrong. Friends and neighbors of the accused note that before the crimes took place he was taken to wandering the streets at night, often muttering to himself, with a dazed, seemingly insane expression.

In1843 Daniel McNaughtan harbored the delusion that Prime Minister was persecuting and stalking him. He then in turn stalked and killed the man's secretary, whom he mistook for the Prime Minister. The jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity because he suffered from paranoid as delusions (Freedman 1983). This delusion seems to parallel Raskolnikov's own, whereby Raskolnikov fixated on the pawnbroker as an evil representation of all his problems, of all the world's ills. The defendant was convinced that his validation as a worthy man would be established, if she was dead, and this would free his family and the world. How could he possibly be worthy of his sister's and mother's love, except if he were a Napoleon? In his brain-feverish state he also believed that he could use what he stole to help others, help the world, again, with delusions of moral grandeur.