State v. DeMoss

Vietnam War veteran Robert DeMoss (defendant) and his wife, Brenda DeMoss, divorced in 1986 after four years of marriage. Robert threatened to kill Brenda and everyone she worked with, prompting Brenda’s employer, Leland Anderson, to obtain a restraining order against Robert. The order prohibited Robert from harassing Brenda at her home or workplace. A month later, Robert entered Brenda’s workplace carrying a loaded rifle and a bottle of alcohol. Robert ordered Brenda to enter a coworker’s office, then forced both women into a bathroom. He later moved Brenda to a breakroom, where he started talking about Vietnam. He told Brenda it was judgment day and that he planned to shoot Leland Anderson, then Brenda, then himself. Eventually Robert ended up in the file room with both Brenda and the coworker and either fell asleep or passed out. Police woke Robert when they arrived at the scene. They found him confused and disoriented. Robert was charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated burglary, and criminal property damage. At trial, he asserted insanity as a defense, relying on the testimony of psychiatrist James Horne. Horne testified that Robert suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because of his military service and that the symptoms included a tendency to relive traumatic events, vulnerability to alcohol and drug use, and physical conditions like hyperactivity, paranoia, and insomnia. Horne also testified that Robert suffered from cocaine and alcohol abuse, with the alcohol abuse predating his military service. Horne claimed that both alcohol use and PTSD had contributed to Robert’s behavior at the time of the offenses. However, he testified that it was the intoxication that rendered Robert legally insane, unable to understand his conduct and differentiate between reality and unreality. After instructing the jury on insanity and voluntary intoxication, the judge issued an instruction stating that temporary insanity caused by voluntary intoxication was not a defense to criminal liability. The jury found Robert guilty of all charges. Robert appealed, arguing that the jury instruction regarding temporary insanity was erroneous.