Whiff of Innocence

A man who commits a crime while drunk is nonetheless responsible for his act. But what of those who commit crimes while under the influence of something more unorthodox? In Detroit last week, Juvenile Court Judge James Lincoln surprisingly found that it makes a difference.

It was firmly established that the 15-year-old boy who appeared before Judge Lincoln had sexually attacked and strangled tiny Deborah and Kimberly Crowther, eight and six, while they were walking in a field near their home last April. It was also established that before the attack, the boy and two friends had sniffed 15 tubes of airplane and plastic glue. Ruled the judge: "The boy is not guilty of the charge by reason that he was incapable of controlling his actions at the time of the killings." The young defendant did not get off scot free, faces a mental hospital or training school until he is 19 as a result of an earlier, unrelated offense. But Lincoln's ruling was still a rehictant one. Even as he made it, he called for new legislation that would make similar future homicides indefensible on grounds of temporary insanity.

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