James Hadfield or Hatfield (1771/1772 – 23 January 1841) - Criminal Minds

James Hadfield

Il processo a carico di James Hadfield nel Giugno 1800 è stato in qualche modo stravolgente. 
James Hadfield è un 29enne di Westminster, operaio dell'argento, marito, e padre.
Hadfield è accusato di alto tradimento.rivoluionario.

 Il mese prima aveva acquistato due pistole, in piedi su una panchina al Theatre Royal  ha sparato con le sue armi a re Giorgio III, mancandolo . Mentre il caos e il pandemonio infuriavano intorno a lui, Hadfield è stato gettato nella fossa dell'orchestra, pestato e arrestato.
Per Hadfield, questo faceva parte di un piano più ampio. Egli credeva che la sua morte sarebbe stato  l'innesco per il ritorno di Cristo. Tuttavia, considerando se stesso di essere dannato dal peccato se si fosse suicidato o fatto uccidere, aveva deciso che sarebbe stato preferibile progettare la sua esecuzione. L'Attentato al Re gli sembrava un modo infallibile per realizzare questo risultato.
Ma Hadfield non aveva fatto i conti  con la riluttanza dello stato ad ucciderlo.
Nessuno  voleva questo aspirante assassino morto. Era un eroe di guerra che aveva combattuto a fianco al fratello del re di Francia, che aveva subito ferite alla testa terribili in battaglia e che era chiaramente uno stato di follia. La corte di Bench dal Re fu incaricata di far dichiarare Hadfield folle invece che traditore. 
Questo presenta un problema. Al momento, La legge sulla follia  porta alla assoluzione e uno scarico completo del capo d'accusa e l'affido alla famiglia.  
In tal caso Hadfield sarebbe stato libero, potenzialmente pronto a sparare di nuovo al Re . Questo era un rischio che nessun governo responsabile potrebbe prendere.  
Quindi Il Parlamento ha semplicemente cambiato la legge per trattenerlo.
 
Hadfield è stato il primo a cui fu applicato un nuovo status di 'folle criminale' e una nuova, sentenza a tempo indeterminato è stato applicata a lui: "essere  trattenuto fino a quando il piacere di Sua Maestà sarà riconosciuto'.  
Quaranta anni dopo finì i suoi giorni in Bethlem, antica casa di Londra per le persone con malattie mentali.
 Nel frattempo, l'opzione di condanna Hadfield è stata applicata occasionalmente da altri tribunali penali inglesi.

 James Hadfield shoots at George III, 15 May 1800

James Hadfield or Hatfield (1771/1772 – 23 January 1841) attempted to assassinate George III of the United Kingdom in 1800 but was acquitted of attempted murder by reason of insanity.
Hadfield's early years are unknown but he was severely injured at the Battle of Tourcoing in 1794. Before being captured by the French, he was struck eight times on the head with a sabre, the wounds being prominent for the rest of his life. After return to England, he became involved in a millennialist movement and came to believe that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ would be advanced if he himself were killed by the British government. He therefore resolved, in conspiracy with Bannister Truelock, to attempt the assassination of the King and bring about his own judicial execution.
On the evening of 15 May 1800, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, during the playing of the national anthem, Hadfield fired a pistol at the King standing in the royal box but missed. Hadfield was tried for high treason and was defended by Thomas Erskine, the leading barrister of that era. Hadfield pleaded insanity but the standard of the day for a successful plea was that the defendant must be "lost to all sense … incapable of forming a judgement upon the consequences of the act which he is about to do". Hadfield's planning of the shooting appeared to contradict such a claim. Due to the 1795 Treason Act, there was little distinction between plotting treason and actually committing treason, thus Erskine chose to challenge the insanity test, instead contending that delusion "unaccompanied by frenzy or raving madness [was] the true character of insanity". Two surgeons and a physician testified that the delusions were the consequence of his earlier head injuries. The judge, Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon, at this point halted the trial declaring that the verdict "was clearly an acquittal" but "the prisoner, for his own sake, and for the sake of society at large, must not be discharged".
Up to that time, defendants acquitted by reason of insanity had faced no certain fate and had often been released back to the safe-keeping of their families. Parliament speedily passed the Criminal Lunatics Act 1800 to provide for the indefinite detention of insane defendants (and the Treason Act 1800 to make it easier to prosecute people for attempts on the life of the king). Hadfield later inspired further use of pleading insanity several years later during the case of Colonel Edward Despard. Hadfield was detained in Bethlem Royal Hospital for the rest of his life, save for a short period when he escaped. He was recaptured at Dover attempting to flee to France and was briefly held at Newgate Prison before being transferred to the new insane asylum Bethlehem Hospital (or Bedlam, as it was known). He died there of tuberculosis in 1841.
Hadfield's story is depicted in the BBC period legal drama series in episode 1 of the third series of Garrow's Law, in which William Garrow is portrayed as his barrister - however several changes were made from the generally accepted historical facts.

James Hadfield