Interface between psychiatry and the law on the issue of murder.

Not guilty by reason of insanity is a legal defense of murder. The acquittal of such an act is based on the court finding that the crime was due to the defendant's mental illness and not to criminal intent. The author presents characteristic case histories, as seen by him in the role of expert witness, that may serve as paradigms when the doctrine "not guilty by reason of insanity" is an appropriate defense.