Intoxication

Voluntary Intoxication may not be a defense where you live. It is not a good defense in many states, having been eliminated by statute.

The use of alcohol or drugs to the extent that it merely arouses passions, diminishes perceptions, releases inhibitions, or clouds reason and judgment does not excuse the commission of a criminal act.

However, where a certain mental state is an essential element of a crime, and a person was so intoxicated that he/she was incapable of forming that mental state, the mental state would not exist and therefore the crime could not be committed.

Ask a lawyer licensed in your state about intoxication.

Involuntary Intoxication is a disfavored defense in most states and does not immunize a person from the consequences of criminal acts. But, if the involuntary intoxication creates a state similar to insanity or unconscious acts it is a defense.