Accused Murderer Claims Temporary Insanity - Due to Caffeine

Yahoo AP News sources in Newport, Kentucky have reported that accused murderer, Woody Will Smith, will be claiming that his overuse of stimulants - sodas, energy drinks and diet pills - caused him to unknowingly strangle his wife. His attorney, Shannon Sexton, filed the notice with the Newport court.

Sexton will argue that Smith, 33, strangled Amanda Hornsby-Smith, 28, to death because he was made temporarily insane by ingesting too much caffeine for several days before the attack.  She contends that he was not mentally stable enough to even plan the crime.

Jury selection for the trial began on September 20. 

An argument of "caffeine intoxication" has been successful at least once before in Washington State where a man ran down and injured two people with his car.

For a diagnosis of caffeine intoxication an individual may have symptoms that include nervousness, excitement, insomnia and, in some patients, rambling speech, claims Dr. Roland Griffiths, professor of behavioral biology at Johns Hopkins University.

An expert for the prosecution may testify about a lack of evidence that would show that Smith had consumed the alleged energy drinks and diet pills.  Michelle Snodgrass, Smith's prosecutor, said that a test given to Smith right after the murder was negative for finding amphetamine-type substances in his system.

Police report that on May 4, 2009, Smith used a cord to strangle Hornsby-Smith to death, then used it to bind her feet together.  Another cord was used to tie her hands.

Smith is facing life in prison if convicted.

Smith, per his report given to psychologist Dr. Robert Noelker, only recalls taking his children to their school that morning and said he knows nothing else about the hours after that. Noelker's report states, "The next several hours of Mr. Smith's life, were described to me as if he were in a daze."

Noelker, of Williamstown, has been hired by Smith.

He also told Noelker that he wasn't sleeping well before the attack as his wife had threatened to take his children and leave him. 

The day of the murder Smith reported that he slept only intermittently, napping with one child that he picked up midday. He picked up his other child later in the afternoon and went to his mother and stepfather's home.

Noelker's report went on to state that Smith felt "out of control," began weeping and had difficulty communicating. He finally went to his stepfather and said, "I think my wife is dead."

Smith's records of caffeine consumption during this time - 400 milligrams of caffeine a day - are reportedly from five or six soft drinks, energy drinks and diet pills.

The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines overdose at more than 300 milligrams - equal to approximately 3 cups of coffee.

Noelker stated, "It is my opinion that this disorder was the direct result of psychosis due to severe insomnia."

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