Daniel McNaughtan

Daniel McNaughtan was a man involved in a famous legal case that helped establish the legal standard for insanity in criminal law. In 1843, he attempted to kill a British Prime Minister, believing he was acting on impulse and misunderstood reality, claiming he thought the Prime Minister was an evil spirit. His actions led to the "McNaughton Rule," a principle used to determine whether a defendant was legally insane at the time of committing a crime. This rule assesses if the person knew what they were doing or understood that it was wrong, shaping modern insanity defenses worldwide.