Most states now have laws that say a convicted criminal cannot profit from his crime. That is to say, if he writes a book (or has it ghost written) he cannot get any of the money from that book’s sales.
What if he is found “not guilty by reason of insanity” or “diminished capacity”. Generally in that case it is agreed he/she did the crime but was insane, but the individual is found not guilty.
Can this individual make some money from the crime with books or movies?
I heard somewhere that these kind of laws are unconstitutional and it was predicted that they would be overturned.
I’m not familiar with the legal argument you mentioned, kniz, but offhand I don’t see a constitutional issue. The Constitution protects the right to free expression; it doesn’t guarantee a profit thereof. So as long as a criminal is not prohibited from writing about his crimes, his first amendment right is secure. But if a criminal is allowed to profit from writing about his crimes, he is indirectly profiting from those crimes. Moreover, in civil lawsuits, a criminal’s victim may be eligible for the criminal’s assets, regardless of their source. There’s no reason to specifically exclude income from literary work.
In answer to the OP; “dunno.”
IANAL, and I’d have to see the individual state law. But my understanding is that “not guilty” is an absolute. If you’re not guilty, you didn’t commit a crime. Ergo you can sell your book and make a bajillion bucks.
As we were discussing in another thread, you generally aren’t found not guilty for “diminished capacity.” You end up being found guilty of another crime that doesn’t require premeditation or whatever. If you were found guilty, you can’t make money off the book, “diminished capacity” or no.