7 Crazy Legal Defenses That Actually Worked

Ever heard of defenses that made you say, that will never work or that’s insane! Well, some people actually come up with this and criminal attorneys can actually be quite creative. So, here’s 7 crazy defenses you won’t believe that actually worked:

The Twinkie Defense

In 1978, Dan White - a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors killed Mayor George Moscone and Harvey Milk, one of the first politician to help gay and lesbians through his civil rights for homesexuals. During the trial, his legal team presented a doctor’s that he was suffering from depression and that Dan, from eating healthy food, turned to junk foods - which probably consist of Twinkies and other unhealthy snacks. Instead of murder, Dan was only charged with voluntary manslaughter.

The Affluenza Case

You’ve probably heard of Ethan Couch, a Texas teenager who was involved in a fatal car accident that killed four people and injuring several others. The then 16-year-old Ethan was severely intoxicated with alcohol when the accident happened. Instead of facing up to 20 years in prison, he was only sentenced with 10 years of probation. Their defense? Ethan was suffering from “Affluenza”, a term used to describe Couch's irresponsible lifestyle associated with his affluent upbringing -- and that irresponsible parenting had "strongly enabled" the accident.

The Matrix Defense

After fatally shoot her landlady, a judge found Tonda Ashley not guilty by pleading insanity. The crazy part? Tonda believed her landlady was drugging and conspiring to kill her, all just part of her illusion. The Matrix defense “a term which has been applied to several legal cases of a defense based on the Matrix films where reality is actually a computer generation—simulism—and that the real world is quite different from what reality is perceived to be.”

The Sleepwalking Defense

Known to his in laws as a “gentle giant”, 23-year-old Kenneth James Parks reportedly got out of bed. He drove approximately 23 km to his in laws’ house, broke-in, choking his father-in-law and stabbing his mother-in-law to death with a kitchen knife. Kenneth went back to his car drove himself to the police station telling them that "I think I may have killed some people,". With a series of sleep and psychological tests, the experts could find no other explanation of the crime than sleepwalking. Parks was acquitted of murder.

The Evil Twin Defense

An identical twin escaped hanging in Malaysia after trafficking illegal drugs. According to the judge, either one of the twin - Sathis Raj or Sabarish Raj, was guilty of trafficking 166 kilograms of cannabis and 1.7 kilograms of opium, but because of their identical look and shared DNA, it was impossible to pinpoint which one committed the crime. Zaharah Ibrahim the judge in charge, dismissed the case.

Irresistible Impulse Defense

With years of domestic abuse, it has taken a toll on Lorena Bobbitt. After his husband came home from drinking, he assaulted Lorena and passed out out, possibly from being drunk. Meanwhile, she grabbed a kitchen knife and cut off her husband’s penis. Their defense to the crime? Lorena was so fed up with the abuse that she had the urge to just wound him. In a verdict that highlighted the plight and rights of abused women, a jury found her not guilty of all criminal charges.

The PMS Defense

It’s one thing to mess with a woman, but a woman on her period? Never. And barmaid Sandy Craddock is a proof of it, the 29-year-old woman while on her period stabbed her coworker after PMS turned her "into a raging animal each month". After citing her journal which gave a history of her attitude during her time of the month, the judge let her off a bit easy. Although she was convicted of manslaughter, Sandy was only given probation and hormone treatment because of her defense.