Durham rule

A Durham rule, product test, or product defect rule is a rule in a criminal case by which a jury may determine a defendant is not guilty by reason of insanity because a criminal act was the product of a mental disease. Examples in which such rules were articulated in common law include State v. Pike (1870) and Durham v. United States (1954). In Pike, the Superior Court of Judicature of New Hampshire wrote, "An accused is not criminally responsible if his unlawful act was the product of mental disease or mental defect."

The Durham rule was abandoned in the case United States v. Brawner, 471 F.2d 969 (1972). It is the jury's job to decide whether a defendant's actions were the product of their mental disease or defect. The expert witness' job is to determine whether the defendant possesses a mental disease or defect. Further, often conflicting 'expert witnesses' were put on the witness stand by the prosecution and defense to draw the opposite conclusions regarding the cause of an individual's actions.

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