Advanced bill would end temporary insanity from intoxication defense

Senators advanced a bill March 15 that would eliminate the defense of temporary insanity when a defendant committed crimes while voluntarily under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Under LB100, introduced by Lincoln Sen. Colby Coash, a defendant charged with committing a crime while intoxicated could no longer use intoxication as a defense, unless he or she can prove they did not know that the substance was a toxicant when they used it.

Coash referred to a 2006 Lincoln case in which Shane Tilley fatally stabbed a friend, Andy Lubben, after intentionally overdosing on cold medication. Tilley was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

A person who makes a conscious choice to drink or get high should be held responsible for their actions, Coash said.

A Judiciary Committee amendment, adopted 37-2, made the bill apply only to temporary conditions.

Ashford said the amendment would ensure the bill would not pertain to mental conditions resulting from years of chronic drug abuse. In order to meet constitutional requirements, he said, the bill cannot exclude insanity as a defense.

Lincoln Sen. Amanda McGill spoke in support of the bill.

“Injustice was done in this case,” McGill said of the Tilley case. “I hope this bill will prevent other families from going through the things this family has had to go through.”

Sen. Brenda Council of Omaha opposed the bill and said taking away individuals’ rights is problematic.

“It was a bad decision that Shane Tilley was found not guilty by reason of insanity,” Council said. “But I am troubled by the fact that we are going to make a new law based upon a bad decision.”

“If we want to correct juries every time [they] make improper decisions … we will be going back and trying to rewrite every criminal code in the State of Nebraska,” she said.

The bill advanced from general file on a 40-2 vote.