The M'Naghten rule is the foundation for most state definitions of this defense.

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The M'Naghten rule is a test for determining the criminal responsibility of a person who commits a crime, based on their sanity or insanity at the time of the offense. It states that a person is not criminally responsible if, at the time of the offense, they were laboring under such a defect of reason, from mental disease or defect, as not to know the nature and quality of the act they were doing or, if they did know it, that they did not know what they were doing was wrong. This rule is used as the foundation for most state definitions of the insanity defense.

The M'Naghten Rule Is the Foundation for Most State Definitions