What legal ruling established that defendants can be acquitted of a crime if it is proven that during the act of the crime the individual did not know the nature of his or her actions or did not know that what he or she was doing was wrong?

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The M'Naghten Rule established that a defendant could be acquitted of a crime if it is proven that at the time of committing the act, the individual was suffering from such a defect of reason, from a disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing, or if he did know it, that he did not know he was doing what was wrong. This rule focuses on the defendant's ability to understand the nature of the act and to distinguish right from wrong at the time of the crime.

What Legal Ruling Established That Defendants Can Be Acquitted of a Crime