A year after Richard Herrin confessed to killing his girlfriend, Bonnie Garland, he was found not guilty of murder. His crime, he pleaded, was committed "under extreme emotional disturbance," excusing him from maximum responsibility. He was convicted on the reduced charge of manslaughter.

In this incisive examination of the murder, the trial, and its aftermath, a distinguished psychiatrist addresses the issue of the insanity defense. He shows how psychiatric testimony can distort court proceedings, and brilliantly analyzes the conflict between the individual rights of the accused and society's right to justice. "An invaluable book . . . for those concerned about the impact of diminishing requirements for individual responsibility on our criminal justice system, and the future of our democratic society."
—Los Angeles Times

"A truly inspired account. . . . What has emerged is a truth far deeper and richer than that which resulted from the court's adversary system."
—Alan M. Dershowitz, Psychology Today

"A serious and important book . . . of value to anyone interested in criminal justice, especially lawyers who face psychiatrists in courtrooms."
—New York Law Journal Prologue

I. YOUNG LOVE
1 Richard and Bonnie
2 The End of the Affair

II. THE STORYTELLERS
3 The Teller and the Tale
4 The Gospel Truth: Christianity
5 A New Testament: Psychoanalysis
6 The Adversarial Credo: Guilt or Innocence

III. JUSTICE
7 Rationality and Responsibility
8 Where Is Richard?
9 Where Is Justice?

Afterword: Crime And Accountability
Notes
Index