Buzz killer: Could caffeine overload cause temporary insanity?

Could consuming too much caffeine make someone crazy enough to commit murder?

Lawyers for Woody Will Smith, whose murder trial in Newport, Ky., starts today, plan to argue that the 33-year-old defendant had ingested excessive caffeine before he allegedly strangled his wife and so was temporarily insane, according to The Associated Press.

Shannon Sexton, the defense attorney, plans to state that Smith was not even able to form the intent of committing a murder, although prosecutor Michelle Snodgrass will say that Smith tested negative for substances containing amphetamines after the killing.

Smith is charged with killing his wife, 28-year-old Amanda Hornsby-Smith, in May 2009, by strangling her with an extension cord.

He could receive a sentence of life in prison if convicted. Smith told a psychologist hired by the defendant that he recalls taking his kids to school, but little else, about the morning of the murder.

In the previous weeks, he told psychologist Dr. Robert Noelker, he had not been sleeping, partly because he was afraid his wife would leave him and take their two children.

During this period, according to reports and case records, the defendant was consuming five or six energy drinks and soft drinks daily, along with diet pills.

In all, he was taking more than 400 milligrams of caffeine each day. An overdose of caffeine is defined as more than 300 milligrams (about three cups of coffee), according to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Smith could have had a "brief psychosis" due to sleep deprivation caused by heavy caffeine ingestion, according to Noelker. It is my opinion that this disorder was the direct result of psychosis due to severe insomnia," said a report filed by Noelker for the defendant.

The unusual strategy is not unlike one involving Daniel Noble, a University of Idaho Foundation budget analyst, who woke up last December after many nights of working long hours and drove to a Starbucks to down two large coffees. He was accused of mowing down and injuring two pedestrians with his car.

His attorney, Mark Moorer, got the charges dismissed.

Noble had a rare form of bipolar disorder brought on by excessive caffeine consumption, according to medical records. Charges were dismissed when the judge concluded that Noble could not form the mental intent necessary to even commit a crime.

"We referred to it as a temporary insanity defense," Moorer told The AP. "If you sat down and talked with him now, you’d think he’s as normal as you and I."
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