By GREGORY D. KESICH
MaineToday Media, Inc. Thursday, May 17, 2007

MaineToday Media, Inc.

Ever since Christian Nielsen was arrested for killing four people connected with a Bethel-area bed and breakfast over Labor Day weekend, people have raised questions about his sanity.

The questions took on new meaning this week when his lawyer filed notice in Oxford County Superior Court that Nielsen would change his plea from "not guilty" to "not criminally responsible," more commonly known as an insanity defense.

Nielsen's mental state will now become the concern of the judicial system, where a judge, or possibly a jury, will decide whether Nielsen "lacked substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the criminal conduct," the standard laid out in state law.

It is a difficult burden to meet, said Dr. Ann Leblanc, director of the State Forensic Service, the agency that evaluates criminal defendants who may have mental health issues.

Although still controversial, successful insanity defenses speak to a basic premise of the criminal justice system, Leblanc said.

"We believe that to commit a crime you have to have free will," she said. "We don't punish people who acted without free will."