AUTOMATISM
An involuntary act such as sleepwalking that is
performed in a state of unconsciousness. The sub-
ject does not act voluntarily and is not fully aware
of his or her actions while in a state of automa-
tism. Automatism has been used as a defense to
show that a defendant lacked the requisite mental
state for the commission of a crime. A defense
based on automatism asserts that there was no act
in the legal sense because at the time of the alleged
crime, the defendant had no psychic awareness or
volition. Some American jurisdictions have recog-
nized automatism as a complete, AFFIRMATIVE
DEFENSE to most criminal charges. An INSANITY
DEFENSE, by comparison, asserts that the accused
possessed psychic awareness or volition, but at the
time of the offense, the accused possessed a mental
disorder or defect that caused them to commit the
offense or prevented them from understanding the
