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30 J. Marshall L. Rev. 535 (1996-1997)
No More Excuses: Closing the Door on the Voluntary Intoxication Defense

handle is hein.journals/jmlr30 and id is 545 raw text is: NO MORE EXCUSES: CLOSING THE DOOR ON THE VOLUNTARY INTOXICATION DEFENSE CHAD J. LAYTON* INTRODUCTION An intoxicated man deliberately set two fires in the apart- ment where he, his ex-wife, and his children lived. The court found the defendant not guilty of second degree arson because he lacked the specific intent to damage the building. The court's ap- plication of the voluntary' intoxication2 defense excused the defen- dant from full criminal responsibility for his actions. Although courts generally presume that defendants intend for the natural and probable consequences of their actions,3 the court in this case failed to explain how a defendant could intentionally start a fire to a building but not intend to damage that building. In order to jus- tify its decision, the court simply asserted that the defendant was drunk. The court's failure to reasonably explain its holding leaves one who reads its opinion with the sour taste of injustice. The defense of voluntary intoxication enables defendants to * J.D. Candidate, 1997. 1. Eugene R. Milhizer, Voluntary Intoxication as a Criminal Defense Un- der Military Law, 127 MIL. L. REV. 131, 135 (1990). Intoxication is voluntary when an actor, knowingly and without force or fraud, introduces an intoxicant into his body. Id. 2. Id. at 143 (explaining that legal intoxication occurs when a person con- sumes intoxicating liquors or drugs and is subsequently unable to formulate a specific criminal intent). See also TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 8.04 (West 1993) (defining intoxication as a disturbance of mental or physical capacity result- ing from the introduction of any substance into the body.); Frederick P. Hafetz, Alcoholism and Drug Addiction: The Effect on Mens Rea, in CRIMINAL LAW & URBAN PROBLEMS 1985, at 1 (PLI Litig. & Admin. Practice Course Handbook Series No. 140, 1985) (explaining how intoxicants affect individu- als). Alcohol reduces an individual's ability to control his behavior. Id. Nar- cotics, as well as alcohol, interfere with a person's ability to function as a normal member of society. Id. 3. See WAYNE R. LAFAVE & AUSTIN W. ScoTT, HANDBOOK ON CRIMINAL LAW § 28, at 203 (1972) (explaining that the foreseeable result of a defendant's act is relevant when a jury is determining the defendant's mental state). 4. This illustration is based on an actual case, New York v. Tocco, 525 N.Y.S.2d 137, 137-43 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1988). See infra notes 134-39 and accom- panying text for a discussion of the problems associated with the Tocco case.

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