Legal Definitions - control test

The control test, also known as the irresistible-impulse test, is a legal standard used in some jurisdictions to determine if a defendant is legally insane and therefore not criminally responsible for their actions. This test focuses on whether a mental disease or defect prevented the defendant from controlling their conduct, even if they understood that their actions were wrong. Unlike other insanity tests that might focus solely on a defendant's ability to understand the nature or wrongness of their actions, the control test specifically addresses the capacity for self-control.

Here are some examples illustrating the control test:

• Example 1: Involuntary Physical Action

  A person with a severe, diagnosed neurological condition that causes sudden, uncontrollable physical spasms is driving a car. During a particularly strong spasm, their foot involuntarily presses the accelerator, causing them to collide with another vehicle. They are charged with reckless driving.

  Under the control test, the defense could argue that while the individual generally understood the rules of the road and the wrongness of reckless driving, their mental or neurological condition caused an irresistible, involuntary physical action that they could not control, despite their awareness. This demonstrates a lack of control over their actions due to a medical condition.

• Example 2: Psychotic Delusion Leading to Action

  During a severe psychotic episode, an individual with a diagnosed mental illness believes they are receiving direct commands from a divine entity to destroy a specific piece of public art to prevent an imminent global catastrophe. They proceed to damage the artwork, even though they generally understand that vandalizing property is illegal and wrong.

  The control test would examine whether the individual's severe mental illness, despite their general understanding that vandalism is wrong, created an irresistible impulse or compulsion to act that they could not overcome. The delusion, stemming from their mental disease, overrode their capacity for self-control, leading to the act.

• Example 3: Impulse Control Disorder

  An individual diagnosed with pyromania, a recognized impulse control disorder characterized by an irresistible urge to set fires, deliberately sets fire to an abandoned shed. They are fully aware that arson is illegal and dangerous, and they feel remorse afterward, but they were unable to resist the overwhelming compulsion.

  Here, the control test would assess whether the individual's pyromania, a recognized mental disorder, created an overwhelming and irresistible urge to set the fire that they were powerless to resist, even though they knew the act was wrong. The focus is on the inability to control the impulse, rather than a lack of understanding of the wrongfulness of the act.