Kenneth Parks, a 23-year-old Toronto man with a wife and infant daughter, was
suffering from severe insomnia caused by joblessness and gambling debts. Early
in the morning of May 23, 1987 he arose, got in his car and drove 23 kilometers
to his in-laws' home. He stabbed to death his mother-in-law, whom he loved and
who had once referred to him as "a gentle giant." Parks also assaulted his
father in law, who survived the attack. He then drove to the police and said "I
think I have killed some people . . . my hands," only then realizing he had
severely cut his own hands. Under police arrest he was taken to the hospital
where he underwent repair of several flexor tendons of both hands.
Because he could not remember anything about the murder and assault, had no
motive for the crime whatsoever, and did have a history of sleepwalking, his
team of defense experts (psychiatrists, a psychologist, a neurologist and a
sleep specialist) concluded Ken Parks was 'asleep' when he committed the crime,
and therefore unaware of his actions. To quote from a medical review of the
case, Homicidal
Somnambulism: A Case Report (Broughton, et al. Sleep 1994;17:253-64):
Parks' sleepwalking defense proved successful and on May 25, 1988, the jury
rendered a verdict of not guilty. Subsequently Parks was also acquitted of the
attempted murder of his father-in-law. The government appealed the decision and
in 1992 the Canadian Supreme Court upheld the acquittals (R
v. Parks, August 27, 1992).
One defense expert was Dr. R. Billings, a psychiatrist from the University of
Toronto, Ontario. The following exchange is taken from Dr. Billings' testimony
(Quoted from: E Law - Murdoch
University Electronic Journal of Law, Vol 3, No 1 (May 1996) , by Peter
Ridgway.)
-
Q. Do you have an opinion as to whether or not ... Mr. Parks was suffering
from any medical illness?
A (Dr. Billings). No.
Q. Dealing now with sleepwalking, from the perspective of general psychiatry,
is sleepwalking viewed as a neurological disease?
A. No.
Q. Is it viewed as something that is causally related to mental illness?
A. Can cause mental illness?
Q. No, is sleepwalking .. a result of mental illness?
A. No.
Q. Is sleepwalking a part of any mental illness?
A. No.
Q. In your opinion, ..., is sleepwalking a disease of the mind?
A. No, I would not call it a disease.
...Q. Is there any evidence that a person could formulate a plan while they
were awake and then in some way ensure that they carry it out in their sleep?
A. No, absolutely not. Probably the most striking feature of what we know of
what goes on in the mind during sleep is that it's very independent of waking
mentation in terms of its objectives and so forth. There is a lack of control of
directing our minds in sleep compared to wakefulness. In the waking state, of
course, we often voluntarily plan things, what we call volition - that is, we
decide to do this as opposed to that - and there is no evidence that this occurs
during the sleepwalking episode. There usually is - well they are precipitated.
They are part of an arousal, an incomplete arousal process during which all
investigators have concluded that volition is not present.
Q. And assuming he was sleepwalking at the time, would he have the capacity
to intend?
A. No.
Q. Would he have appreciated what he was doing?
A. No he would not.
Q. Would he have understood the consequences of what he was doing?
A. No, I do not believe that he would. I think it would all have been an
unconscious activity, uncontrolled and unmeditated.
According to Ridgway, the Canadian Supreme Court substantially adopted, from
Dr. Billings, these findings of fact:
suffering from severe insomnia caused by joblessness and gambling debts. Early
in the morning of May 23, 1987 he arose, got in his car and drove 23 kilometers
to his in-laws' home. He stabbed to death his mother-in-law, whom he loved and
who had once referred to him as "a gentle giant." Parks also assaulted his
father in law, who survived the attack. He then drove to the police and said "I
think I have killed some people . . . my hands," only then realizing he had
severely cut his own hands. Under police arrest he was taken to the hospital
where he underwent repair of several flexor tendons of both hands.
Because he could not remember anything about the murder and assault, had no
motive for the crime whatsoever, and did have a history of sleepwalking, his
team of defense experts (psychiatrists, a psychologist, a neurologist and a
sleep specialist) concluded Ken Parks was 'asleep' when he committed the crime,
and therefore unaware of his actions. To quote from a medical review of the
case, Homicidal
Somnambulism: A Case Report (Broughton, et al. Sleep 1994;17:253-64):
- "the legal defense was, therefore, one of homicide during noninsane
automatism as part of a presumed episode of somnambulism...the defendant did not
have any preexisting "disease of the mind" within the meaning of... the Canadian
Criminal Code. There was no evidence for psychosis or other mental pathology.
Moreover, it was believed that the clustering of such a number of triggering
factors was extremely unlikely to occur again, so that the possibility of
recurrence of sleepwalking with aggression was considered extremely remote."
Parks' sleepwalking defense proved successful and on May 25, 1988, the jury
rendered a verdict of not guilty. Subsequently Parks was also acquitted of the
attempted murder of his father-in-law. The government appealed the decision and
in 1992 the Canadian Supreme Court upheld the acquittals (R
v. Parks, August 27, 1992).
One defense expert was Dr. R. Billings, a psychiatrist from the University of
Toronto, Ontario. The following exchange is taken from Dr. Billings' testimony
(Quoted from: E Law - Murdoch
University Electronic Journal of Law, Vol 3, No 1 (May 1996) , by Peter
Ridgway.)
-
Q. Do you have an opinion as to whether or not ... Mr. Parks was suffering
from any medical illness?
A (Dr. Billings). No.
Q. Dealing now with sleepwalking, from the perspective of general psychiatry,
is sleepwalking viewed as a neurological disease?
A. No.
Q. Is it viewed as something that is causally related to mental illness?
A. Can cause mental illness?
Q. No, is sleepwalking .. a result of mental illness?
A. No.
Q. Is sleepwalking a part of any mental illness?
A. No.
Q. In your opinion, ..., is sleepwalking a disease of the mind?
A. No, I would not call it a disease.
...Q. Is there any evidence that a person could formulate a plan while they
were awake and then in some way ensure that they carry it out in their sleep?
A. No, absolutely not. Probably the most striking feature of what we know of
what goes on in the mind during sleep is that it's very independent of waking
mentation in terms of its objectives and so forth. There is a lack of control of
directing our minds in sleep compared to wakefulness. In the waking state, of
course, we often voluntarily plan things, what we call volition - that is, we
decide to do this as opposed to that - and there is no evidence that this occurs
during the sleepwalking episode. There usually is - well they are precipitated.
They are part of an arousal, an incomplete arousal process during which all
investigators have concluded that volition is not present.
Q. And assuming he was sleepwalking at the time, would he have the capacity
to intend?
A. No.
Q. Would he have appreciated what he was doing?
A. No he would not.
Q. Would he have understood the consequences of what he was doing?
A. No, I do not believe that he would. I think it would all have been an
unconscious activity, uncontrolled and unmeditated.
According to Ridgway, the Canadian Supreme Court substantially adopted, from
Dr. Billings, these findings of fact:
- Parks was sleepwalking at the relevant time.
- Sleepwalking is not a neurological, psychiatric or other illness: it is a
sleep disorder very common in children and also found in adults.
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