- Twinkie defense
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Slang for a claim by criminal defendants that at the time of the crime, they were suffering from a mental impairment (short of insanity) caused by intoxication, disease, or trauma, which prevented them from having the mental state required to hold them responsible for the crime. The phrase arose from the defense argued successfully by Dan White, charged with murdering San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. White claimed that the sugar high resulting from eating "Twinkie" cupcakes made it impossible for him to form the intent necessary for a murder conviction. White was convicted of manslaughter instead of murder. (See also: manslaughter, criminal insanity)Category: Criminal Law → Proof & Defenses in Criminal Cases
Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary. Gerald N. Hill, Kathleen Thompson Hill. 2009.
- Twinkie defense
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n.a claim by a criminal defendant that at the time of the crime he/she was of diminished mental capacity due to intake of too much sugar, as from eating "Twinkies," sugar-rich snacks. The defense was argued successfully by a defense psychiatrist in the notorious case of former San Francisco County Supervisor Dan White, who shot and killed San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and County Supervisor Harvey Milk, resulting in White's conviction for only manslaughter instead of murder.See also: diminished capacity
Law dictionary. EdwART. 2013.
