My mom has a sleep walking issue. If she is woken up out of a deep sleep she will walk to the kitchen and begin acting as though she is highly intoxicated despite having had nothing to drink. She will speak about things that make absolutely no sense to those around her. Upon waking up in the morning, she will have no recollection of her journey through our house the previous evening. After witnessing her behavior, one could argue that she is not quite in control of her actions or responsible for her words when in her sleepy state. To me, this seems like an innocent, hilarious problem; however, WHAT IF… God forbid… my mother was to murder someone during one of her nightly escapades? What if she attempted driving a car and in her dreamy state of mind robbed a store? Would her “sleepwalking” be a legitimate defense? In my criminology class, we learned that throughout the history of the criminal justice system, this excuse has indeed been applicable in certain cases.
US News and World Report released an article on “7 Criminal Cases That Invoked the ‘Sleepwalking Defense'”. The first successful case in which this defense was used was Massachusetts v. Tirrell. in 1846. Tirrell was a chronic sleepwalker who nearly decapitated a prostitute, yet was believed by the jury and found not guilty. Two cases in which the defendant was originally found guilty yet had the decision reversed on appeal were Fain v. Commonwealth and State v. Bradley, both claiming to have been in somnambulistic states upon murdering their victims. In Regina v. Parks a man drove to his in-laws house and viciously murdered them, following which he drove to a police station. He had severed many tendons in both of his hands but seemed oblivious to the pain, causing the police to believe he was sleepwalking. He was found “not conscious, not responsible, not guilty”. In 1994 Pennsylvania v. Ricksgers , Michael Ricksgers was found guilty despite his defense of previous sleep apnea/ sleep walking episodes. The jury believed that he had alternative reasons to kill his victim (his wife).
Just how many people are actually affected by sleepwalking? Is it possible that something tragic could happen as a result of one of your unconscious habits? The Official Journal for the American Academy of Neurology released a study on the “prevalence and comorbidity of nocturnal wandering among US adult general population”. The results showed that out of 19,136 American adults, 3.6% reported that they had experienced night wandering within the previous year. Science Daily has an article describing a study done by The American Academy of Sleep Medicine on the potential dangers of sleep walking. The results of the study done on 100 diagnosed sleep walking adults showed that “a positive history of violent sleep related behaviors was found in 58 percent, including 17 percent who experienced at least one episode involving injuries to the sleepwalker or bed partner that required medical care”.This leads us to understand the possibility of someone committing a crime similar to those mentioned above.
The Wikipedia page for homicidal sleepwalking has an immense amount of interesting information and more example cases if you found this blog post interesting. Medical Daily also has an article on a rare but not unheard of disease/ criminal defense called “Sexomnia” in which rape is committed during sleep. In Sweden, people have been found not guilty using this as an excuse.
What exactly causes sleepwalking? It is not entirely known. Web M.D. tells us that the disorder seems to be highly biologically influenced. You are 10 times more likely to experience this sleep disorder if someone in your immediate family sleepwalks then someone in a family with no sleepwalkers. Other potential factors of this occurring are a chaotic sleep schedule, drunkenness, sleep deprivation, and some types of medication.
There are strong conflicting opinions about using sleep walking as a defense in a murder case. At first glance, it sounds legit and I feel sorry for the perpetrator as I imagine my mom not able to control her actions. However, I find it hard to distinguish someone claiming to be sleep walking from someone claiming to be under the strong influence of alcohol or drugs. I would argue that it is 100% possible for someone to lose complete control of their actions when highly intoxicated, yet this would not be considered an excuse for a crime. I suppose a reason for this could be because people do not choose to sleep, yet they do chose to drink or do drugs. Another reason why I believe the sleep walking defense is illegitimate is because when I imagine the family of the victim hearing that as an excuse, I can not fathom that being enough of a reason for them to have lost a loved one.
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I think the fact that someone could be not guilty of a murder due to sleep walking is TERRIFYING! I think that for those who do this, murder is something that these people subconsciously think about, and are only able to commit when they are sleepwalking. I believe the same goes for drinking, as people act in ways they typically wish to but would not while sober. This could include anything from talking to your crush to dancing in front of multiple people. The alcohol is the extra push they need to perform these activities. I think that this can relate to sleepwalking. I know that my grandmother is diabetic, yet she absolutely loves junk food. She was not permitted to eat certain foods due to her blood sugar levels. One night, my aunt found my grandmother on the kitchen floor with a mouth full of chocolate ice cream and an empty container next to her. She had sleepwalked and was still in the process. Sleepwalking is a scary thing, and the fact that some commit heinous crimes while doing so is even scarier.