This guy is going to need some good lawyers

The man pictured above is Russell Kirk. Jordan Steffen writes about him this morning in the Denver Post:

Richard Kirk's attorneys admit he put a gun to his wife's head in their Observatory Park home, pulled the trigger and killed her. Tests performed afterward showed he had no alcohol, prescription drugs or other substances in his system — except a low level of THC, the psychoactive element in marijuana.

Now, as details of the bizarre night continue to emerge, the focus of the case shifts to a novel question: Was the marijuana-infused candy Kirk nibbled on enough of the drug to spark a temporary mental breakdown in his ability to tell right from wrong?

But a Denver judge found that despite Kirk's erratic behavior on April 14 — diving in and out of a first-floor window, ranting about the end of the world and asking his 7-year-old son to kill him — he still had the ability to unlock the gun safe, load the gun and fire it. The judge ruled there is enough evidence to try Kirk for first-degree murder after deliberation for killing his wife, 44-year-old Kristine.

If Kirk wants to argue the marijuana stopped him from understanding the consequences of his actions, he could enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, and then his attorneys will have to show the drug triggered some kind of underlying mental health condition, said Russell Covey, a law professor at Georgia State University.

In that scenario, Covey said, a low level of THC in Kirk's blood would help in his defense.

"It suggests that the cause of his crazy behavior was not being stoned but rather a pathological reaction to the drug that was unanticipated," Covey said.

Read more here.

For a related story, read this fabulous post by Ann Althouse.