First, Changshu "sleepwalking" murder case
In May this year, a wounding case occurred in Yang Ren Town, Changshu. A couple growing vegetables were seriously injured while sleeping at home. They got up and turned on the light. It turned out to be the neighbor's boy, Xiao Zhang. The murderer made a hullabaloo about and committed suicide by jumping off a building with a knife. After everyone stopped him, they asked him why he wanted to kill his neighbor. There was no injustice. Xiao Zhang said he was asleep and didn't know anything. Everyone in the village said that the children were sleepwalking, and the police at the police station felt strange. By visiting relatives, friends and classmates, I found that Xiao Zhangjia had no history of sleepwalking, and it had never happened before.
At that time, the police extracted a murder weapon at the scene, which was identified as a brand-new fruit knife. The police found the monitoring of buying knives. Just five hours before the incident, Xiao Zhang went to a supermarket in the town to buy this fruit knife. At that time, Xiao Zhang also compared the sharpness of several knives. Therefore, the police suspect that Xiao Zhang's "sleepwalking" is actually fake. After interrogation, Xiao Zhang could not justify himself and confessed! Xiao Zhang, who was originally at school, is addicted to online gambling. For more than a year, he lost all the living expenses given by his family and failed in his studies. He thought of suicide when he was in love with life and death, and he wanted to get a companion when he died. Just when the key on the neighbor's house was forgotten, he opened the door and went in. ...
Second, what is sleepwalking? Sleep disorder is also a mental illness.
Sleepwalking is an autonomous action that is not dominated by the brain during sleep, and it is a sleep disorder in neurology. Symptoms are: doing some activities indoors in a semi-conscious state, such as washing clothes, cooking or aimless activities. Sometimes I go out to engage in complex activities and hold sharp weapons to avoid obstacles without being injured by collisions. After the action, go back to bed and go back to sleep. Adult sleepwalking is mostly related to schizophrenia and neurosis. During this period, the surface layer of the brain responsible for advanced thinking and self-awareness is still asleep, but the lower part of the brain responsible for physiological activities will wake up and let them get up. Because they are in a state of amnesia, they will not remember anything when they wake up the next day.
Three, mental patients in completely unable to identify and control their own behavior caused by the injury, not criminal responsibility.
According to the provisions of China's criminal law, mental patients who cause harmful results when they can't identify or control their own behavior are not criminally responsible if they are identified and confirmed by legal procedures. In other words, after sleepwalking and killing, it is innocent to be identified by medical institutions as unable to fully identify and control their own behavior! Seeing this, some people killed the enemy without thinking, saying that they were sleepwalking and defending their actions. It's just the law. Is it sleepwalking? Is it a sleep disorder? You don't recognize your behavior at all? This requires experts to conduct appraisal according to legal procedures, and empty talk is useless. What procedure? I won't say, in fact, I don't understand either. There is no innocence in sleepwalking in our country, so don't get me wrong!
Article 18 of the Criminal Law: Criminal responsibility of special personnel. If a mental patient causes harmful results when he cannot identify or control his own behavior, he shall not bear criminal responsibility if he is confirmed by legal procedures, but his family members or guardians shall be ordered to strictly guard and treat him. When necessary, the government forces medical treatment. Intermittent mental patients who commit crimes when they are mentally normal should bear criminal responsibility. If a mental patient who has not completely lost the ability to identify or control his own behavior commits a crime, he shall bear criminal responsibility, but he may be given a lighter or mitigated punishment.
Foreign case: unlucky mother-in-law
1On May 23rd, 987, Parks, a man from Toronto, Canada, suddenly got up after falling asleep and went to the garage. Drive 23 kilometers to my mother-in-law's house. He took out the tire crowbar from the trunk, broke into his mother-in-law's house, pulled her out of bed and whipped her hard. The poor old woman died on the spot and hurt her own hand. Father-in-law stepped forward to stop him, but Parks strangled him tightly and almost choked. After that, Parks drove home and went back to sleep. The next morning, Parks woke up, looked at his bloodstained hand doubtfully and said, "I'm afraid I killed someone. Look at my hands! " "But he has no memory of last night's murder. Because Parks' performance and arguments are very consistent with typical sleepwalking, scholars in the sleep center strongly support Parks, proving that Parks is indeed a heterosomnia patient (including nightmares, sleepwalking, grinding teeth, etc.). ) Finally, because Parks had a history of sleepwalking and had no obvious motive for killing, the jury acquitted him. In this regard, the legal profession has always been controversial.
Conclusion:
Sleepwalking does exist in real life. Because of its contingency and privacy, even if a criminal case occurs, it is difficult for experts and scholars to master it. Some scholars believe that with the acceleration of social rhythm, people's sleep quality is getting lower and lower, and the number of people with sleep disorders is increasing, resulting in more and more problems. There will be more and more self-defense by sleepwalking in the future. This allows psychiatrists and scholars in China to study overtime. Let's close the doors and windows and sleep in peace!