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{{Short description|Mocking term for improbable legal defense}}
] ] commonly regarded as the quintessential ] in the United States. In the trial of ] Twinkies and ] were cited as a contributing factor exacerbating White's ] helping him avoid the death penalty for the dual ] of ] ] and ] using a ]. Photo: Larry D. Moore]]
{{Use American English|date=November 2020}}
In ], '''''Twinkie defense''''' is a derogatory label for a criminal ]'s claims that an unusual biological factor played a role in the cause or motives of the alleged crimes, and due to this biological factor they should not be held liable or the liability should be mitigated to a lesser offense due to ]. While biological factors influence behavior, the label of ''Twinkie defense'' implies that the factors cited are ones most people would view as not being sufficient to account for the crimes for which they are being prosecuted.<ref name="Food allergies; separating fact">{{cite web
]]]
| last =Thompson
| first =Richard C.
| title=Food allergies; separating fact from 'hype.'
| publisher=FDA Consumer
| date=June, 1986
| url
=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1370/is_v20/ai_4262554
| accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref>


"'''Twinkie defense'''" is a derisive label for an improbable ]. It is not a recognized legal defense in ], but a catch-all term coined by reporters during their coverage of the trial of defendant ] for ] of ] city Supervisor ] and Mayor ]. White's defense was that he suffered ] as a result of his ], a symptom of which was a change in diet from healthy food to ]s and other sugary foods. Contrary to common belief, White's attorneys did not argue that the Twinkies were the cause of White's actions, but that their consumption was symptomatic of his underlying depression. The product itself was only mentioned in passing during the trial. White was convicted of ] rather than ], and served five years in prison.
The phrase comes from the 1979 double ] trial of ] in ] when ] ], one of the defense therapists, spoke about White's ] and how he "shunned" his regular habits and "indulged in ]s and ]" two popular '']'' which worsened his condition.<ref name="Myth of the 'Twinkie defense'">{{cite web
| last =Pogash
| first =Carol
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title=Myth of the 'Twinkie defense': The verdict in the Dan White case wasn't based on his ingestion of junk food
| publisher=]
| date=November 23, 2003
| url
=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/11/23/INGRE343501.DTL&hw=twinkie+defense&sn=001&sc=1000
| accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref>


==Origin==
''Twinkie defense'' was probably coined by one of the ] reporters as a ] term to explain the defense but the phrase and short-handed explanation was immediately picked up by widely-read '']'' columnist ] and nationally by ]. Within months the phrase was used to illustrate the perceived problems with diminished capacity defense and within a few years diminished capacity was abolished with ''Twinkie defense'' becoming "synonymous with diminished capacity."<ref name="Myth of the 'Twinkie defense'"/> Other Twinkie defense ] items may include the effects of ], ]s such as ] and ], ] and ]s.
{{see also|Moscone–Milk assassinations}}
The expression derives from the 1979 trial of ], a former ] police officer and firefighter who was serving as a city district supervisor up until assassinating Mayor ] and Supervisor ] on November 27, 1978. At the trial, psychiatrist ] testified that White had been ] at the time of the crime, and pointed to several behavioral changes indicating White's depression: he had quit his job; he shunned his wife; and although normally clean-cut, he had become slovenly in appearance. Furthermore, White had previously been a fitness fanatic and ] advocate, but had begun consuming ] and sugar-laden soft drinks like ]. As an incidental note, Blinder mentioned theories that elements of diet could worsen existing mood swings.<ref name="Myth">{{cite news |first=Carol |last=Pogash |title=Myth of the 'Twinkie defense' |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/11/23/INGRE343501.DTL |newspaper=] |page=D-1 |date=2003-11-23 |access-date=2007-03-20 }}</ref> Another psychiatrist, George Solomon, testified that White had "exploded" and was "sort of on automatic pilot" at the time of the killings.<ref>San Francisco Chronicle, May 10, 1979</ref> The fact that White had killed Moscone and Milk was not challenged, but&nbsp;– in part because of the testimony from Blinder and other psychiatrists&nbsp;– the defense successfully convinced the jury that White's ]; the jurors found White incapable of the ] required for a murder conviction, and instead convicted him of ]. Public protests over the verdict led to the ].


== History == == Diminished capacity ==
=== People vs. Dan White ===
The phrase comes from the ] ''People vs. Dan White'' trial of Dan White, a former ] (U.S.) Supervisor who ] Mayor ] and Supervisor ] on ], ]. At the trial, a noted psychiatrist, ], testified that White had been depressed at the time of the crime, pointing to several factors indicating White's depression: he had quit working; he shunned his wife; normally clean-cut, he grew slovenly; normally a fitness fanatic and ] advocate, he had been consuming ]s and ]. As an incidental note, Blinder mentioned theories that elements of diet could worsen existing mood swings.<ref name="Myth of the 'Twinkie defense'"/> Noted ] and ] ] testified that with the effects of the ] diet White had "exploded" and was "sort of on ]" at the time of the killings.<ref name="Myth of the 'Twinkie defense'">{{cite web
| last =Temoshok
| first =Lydia R.
| coauthors =Gail Ironson
| title=George F. Solomon, MD Psychoneuroimmunology Pioneer
| publisher=]
| date=Fall 2001, Vol 12, No. 3 (PDF part 1)
| url
http://www.psychosomatic.org/media_ctr/media_newsletter.htm
| accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref><ref name="The Martyrdom of Mayor George">{{cite web
| last=Gazis-Sax
| first=Joel
| title=The Martyrdom of Mayor George Moscone
| publisher=Tales From Colma
| date=1996
| url=http://www.notfrisco.com/colmatales/moscone/mosc3.html
| accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref> In the trial, facts of the murders were not challenged, but in part because of the testimony from Blinder, Solomon and other defense witnesses the defense successfully argued for a ruling of ]. The jury deemed White incapable of the ] required for a murder conviction and he was convicted of voluntary ] instead. White, ironically, had campaigned for his former Supervisor position stating "crime is No. 1 with me" and had strongly supported the ] for murders such as the ones he had committed.<ref name="Getting Off?: Depression as a defense">{{cite web
| title=Getting Off?: Depression as a defense
| publisher=]
| date=May 28, 1979
| url
=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,947318,00.html
| accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref>


]s were only mentioned incidentally in the courtroom during the White trial, and junk food was a minor aspect of the defense presentation.<ref name="Roth2010">{{cite book|last=Roth|first=Mitchel P. |title=Crime and Punishment: A History of the Criminal Justice System|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=awrOHv-gtqQC&pg=PA311|date=June 2, 2010|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-0-495-80988-3|pages=311–2}}</ref> The defense did not claim that White was on a ] and committed the murders as a result. However, one reporter's use of the term "Twinkie defense" became popular, leading to a persistent misunderstanding by the public. The mistaken understanding was reiterated at the end of '']'', ]'s 2008 ] of Harvey Milk. In a bonus feature on the DVD version of '']'', a documentary on Milk's life and death, White's lawyers explain what they actually argued in court.
==== Background to assassinations ====
The verdict was unexpected and unpopular, with many believing that the conservative jury<ref name="Myth of the 'Twinkie defense'"/> that had been kept clear of anyone "remotely pro-gay"<ref name="The Time 100: Heroes and Icons">{{cite web
| last =Cloud
| first =John
| title=The Time 100: Heroes and Icons - Harvey Milk
| publisher=]
| date=June 14, 1999
| url
=http://www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/milk01.html
| accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref> and "filled" with "white conservative Catholics, half of them from White’s district"<ref name="Harvey Milk: OutSmart">{{cite web
| last =Sieber
| first =Ann Walton
| title=Harvey Milk: OutSmart's celebration of the gay icon
| publisher=OutSmart
| date=May 2000
| url
=http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/issue/i05-00/milk.html
| accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref> had been willing to accept an outlandish murder defense for "political vengeance"<ref name="What You Get for Hit and Run">{{cite web
| last =Mak
| first =Maxwell
| title=What You Get for Hit and Run: A Look at the City Hall Murders and the Dan White Murder Trial
| publisher=]
| date=2000-2001
| url
=http://prizedwriting.ucdavis.edu/past/2000-2001/mak.html
| accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref> primarily because one of the victims, ], was a highly-visible "avowed homosexual"<ref name="The Time 100: Heroes and Icons"/> who fought for "unfettered political power for gay people"<ref name="The Moscone - Milk Killings: 20">{{cite web
| last =Herscher
| first =Elaine
| title=The Moscone - Milk Killings: 20 years later, Milk Built Power Base for Gays - As supervisor, he campaigned for rights, open atmosphere
| publisher=]
| date=November 27, 1998
| url
=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/11/27/MN14039.DTL
| accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref> becoming the most famous openly ] politician in the world.<ref name="The Time 100: Heroes and Icons"/>


The actual legal defense that White's lawyers used was ], and White's consumption of junk food was presented to the jury as one of many ''symptoms'', not a ''cause'', of White's depression.
A year earlier in 1977 San Francisco replaced city-wide elections with ] that ushered in the most diverse ] the city had ever seen including the former police officer and firefighter White as well as the gay and liberal Milk. White had to resign from being a firefighter as San Francisco charter barred people from holding two city jobs at the same time so he took up a second job to supplement the pay downgrade, running a restaurant business, which failed.<ref name="Dan White: The City Hall Killer">{{cite web
| title=Dan White: The City Hall Killer
| publisher=A&E's Crime and Investigation Network
| date=2007
| url
=http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/famous_criminal/60/biography/2/Dan_White_The_City_Hall_Killer.htm | accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref> White, a ]<ref name="Dan White AKA Daniel James White">{{cite web
| title=Dan White AKA Daniel James White
| publisher=]
| date=2007
| url
=http://www.nndb.com/people/114/000055946/
| accessdate=2007-08-12}}</ref> and outspoken anti-gay conservative,<ref name="The Time 100: Heroes and Icons"/> who was elected with strong support from the city's police union in part to fight "official tolerance of crime and of overt homosexuality"<ref name="Dan White, Killer of San">{{cite web
| last =Lindsey
| first =Robert
| title=Dan White, Killer of San Francisco Mayor, A Suicide
| publisher=]
| date=October 22, 1985
| url
=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9E07E2DE1039F931A15753C1A963948260
| accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref> was counterpoint to Milk, an outspoken liberal who "frequently opposed him on the board."<ref name="Getting Off?: Depression as a defense"/>


In stories covering the trial, satirist ] had played up the angle of the Twinkie,<ref name="Myth" /> and he would later claim credit for coining the term "Twinkie defense".<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Paul |last=Krassner |author-link=Paul Krassner |title=Ice Cream Treat for Pedophiles |url=http://www.avnonline.com/index.php?Primary_Navigation=Editorial&Action=View_Article&Content_ID=273589 |magazine=] |date=2006-08-01 |access-date=2007-02-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061027134601/http://www.avnonline.com/index.php?Primary_Navigation=Editorial&Action=View_Article&Content_ID=273589 |archive-date=2006-10-27 }}</ref> The day after the verdict, columnist ] wrote in the '']'' about the police support for White, himself a former policeman, and their "dislike of homosexuals" and mentioned "the Twinkie insanity defense" in passing.<ref name="Myth" /> News stories published after the trial, however, frequently reported the defense arguments inaccurately, claiming that the defense had presented junk food as the cause of White's depression and/or diminished capacity, instead of having been symptomatic of an existing depression.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/legal/twinkie.htm|title=The Twinkie Defense|date=27 August 2009}}</ref> Dan White committed suicide seven years later.
In the months preceeding the killings Milk became even more visible in the media debating ] ] statewide on ], ], to "prohibit homosexuals from teaching in California public schools,"<ref name="A Brief History Of Homosexuality">{{cite web
| title=A Brief History Of Homosexuality In America
| publisher=St. Louis University Safezone
| url
=http://safezone.slu.edu/resources_reading.html
| accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref> a topic on which White and Milk "were sharply divided"<ref name="Film: 'The Times of Harvey Milk">{{cite web
| title= Film: 'The Times of Harvey Milk,' A Documentary
| publisher=]
| date=October 27, 1984
| url
=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D07E4D61539F934A15753C1A962948260
| accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref> because it would have empowered Californian school boards to fire teachers that "practiced, advocated, or indicated an acceptance of homosexuality."<ref name="What You Get for Hit and Run"/>


As a result of negative publicity from the White case and others, the term ''diminished capacity'' was abolished in 1982 by ] and the ] and was replaced by the term ''diminished actuality'', referring not to the capacity to have a specific intent, but to whether the defendant actually had the required intent to commit the crime.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cacodes/pen/25-29.html|title=California Code, Penal Code - PEN § 25 - FindLaw}}</ref> Additionally, California's statutory definitions of premeditation and ] required for murder were eliminated by the state's legislature, with the return to ] definitions. By this time, the "Twinkie defense" had become such a common term that one lawmaker had waved a Twinkie in the air while making his point during a debate.<ref name="Myth" />
Milk also sponsored a San Francisco law barring "anti-gay discrimination" in the workplace which passed<ref name="The Time 100: Heroes and Icons pg 2">{{cite web
| last =Cloud
| first =John
| title=The Time 100: Heroes and Icons - Harvey Milk
| publisher=]
| date=June 14, 1999
| url
=http://www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/milk02.html
| accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref> the same time the Briggs Initiative failed and within days White resigned his city supervisor seat citing too little salary to support his family and that he was "unhappy with the ethics he found in the political world."<ref name="Dan White, Killer of San"/> White's supporters convinced him to rescind his resignation but he was denied by the "liberal-leaning" Mayor Moscone
largely at the urging of Milk, who advised Moscone to use the opportunity to get a ] majority on the Board. Milk and Moscone were friends and Milk reminded Moscone that the mayor's re-election would be difficult without the gay vote and that many of Moscone's proposals had been defeated because of the ] majority.<ref name="Dan White: He got away with Murder!">{{cite web
| last =Donald
| first =Uncle
| title=Dan White: He got away with Murder!
| publisher=Castro Street
| date=June 19, 1996
| url
=http://thecastro.net/milk/whitepage.html
| accessdate=2007-08-12}}</ref>


==Supreme Court==
The morning that Moscone was to announce his replacement for Dan White both he and Supervisor Milk were assassinated by White who had entered San Francisco City Hall through an unlocked window to avoid detection of his police revolver; after a loud argument he shot Moscone at close range, reloaded and went down the hall to kill Milk delivering a ] to each victim. White quickly left the scene and met his wife at nearby ]<ref name="A Timeline of San Francisco History - 1978">{{cite web
During oral ] arguments in '']'', 548 U.S. 140 (2006), Justice ] referred to the Twinkie defense with regard to the right to counsel of choice as perhaps more important than the right to effective assistance of counsel: "I don't want a competent lawyer. I want a lawyer who's going to get me off. I want a lawyer who will invent the Twinkie defense. ... I would not consider the Twinkie defense an invention of a competent lawyer. But I want a lawyer who's going to win for me".<ref>{{Cite web |title=United States v. Gonzalez-Lopez Oral Argument - April 18, 2006 |url=https://apps.oyez.org/player/#/roberts2/oral_argument_audio/22629 |access-date=2024-04-02 |website=Oyez}}</ref>
| title=A Timeline of San Francisco History - 1978
<!--
| publisher=Zpub
==References in popular culture==
| date=April 5, 1995
Please do not add "references" to this section unless they meet the criteria outlined on the talk page, of actually telling us something we don't know about the "Twinkie defense" or its impact.
| url
-->
=http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/sfh-3.html
| accessdate=2007-08-12}}</ref> the principal church of the ] and within hours he turned himself in at the police station where he used to work.<ref name="Harvey Milk: OutSmart"/>


=== Phrase coined === ==See also==
In stories covering the trial a few months later, satirist ] had played up the angle of the Twinkie,<ref name="Myth of the 'Twinkie defense'"/> and he would later claim credit for coining the term "Twinkie defense".<ref>{{cite news |first= Paul |last= Krassner |authorlink= Paul Krassner |title= Ice Cream Treat for Pedophiles |url= http://www.avnonline.com/index.php?Primary_Navigation=Editorial&Action=View_Article&Content_ID=273589 |work= AVN Online |date= ] |accessdate= 2007-02-28 }}</ref> Just after the verdict, ] wrote in the ] about the police support for White (a former policeman himself) and their "dislike (understatement) of homosexuals" and mentioned "the Twinkie insanity defense" in passing.<ref name="Myth of the 'Twinkie defense'"/> News stories published after the trial, however, frequently reported the defense arguments inaccurately, claiming that the defense had presented junk food as the cause of White's depression and/or diminished capacity, instead of symptomatic of and perhaps exacerbating an existing depression.<ref></ref>


*]
Charged with ] and facing the ] sentence White was instead convicted of ]<ref name="Biography for Dan White (III)">{{cite web
* ]
| title=Biography for Dan White (III)
* ]
| publisher=]
* The ], blamed by the gunman's widow in part on ] in ] food
| date=1990-2007
* The ]' version of "]", which is about the Milk–Moscone murders and includes a mention of the Twinkie defense ("Twinkies are the best friend I ever had").<!-- Brief mention in the song probably needs to be integrated into the article about the song http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2001-08-31/82841/ -->
| url
* '']'', a 1997 film in which an attorney attempts to increase his client's blood sugar so that he may use the Twinkie defense
=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1358528/bio
| accessdate=2007-08-12}}</ref> with Judge Walter F. Calcagno sentencing him to seven years and eight months in prison.<ref name="Uneasy Freedom">{{cite web
| title=Uneasy Freedom
| publisher=]
| date=January 16, 1984
| url
=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921489,00.html
| accessdate=2007-08-12}}</ref> With time off for ], White would be free in five years.<ref name="People v. White - Law Library">{{cite web
| title=People v. White
| publisher=Law Library - American Law and Legal Information
| date=2007
| url
=http://law.jrank.org/pages/12860/People-v-White.html
| accessdate=2007-08-12}}</ref>


==References==
=== Verdict aftermath ===
{{Reflist}}
{{See|White Night Riots}}
Discontent with the verdict and resulting sentence led to the San Francisco's ] with gays and Milk supporters rioting at San Francisco's City Hall including breaking in the glass doors and burning twelve police cars. Later that night a retaliatory police attack took place against the Elephant Walk bar in the center of the gay ] neighborhood less than a block from Milk's camera shop and campaign headquarters. The incidents brought additional international attention to the assassinations and trial.


==Further reading==
=== Diminished capacity abolished ===
*
{{See|Diminished responsibility}}
* by Paul Tatara for CNN on June 6, 1997. Retrieved March 20, 2006.
As a result of the White case, diminished capacity was abolished in 1982 by ] and the ], and replaced by "diminished actuality", referring not to the capacity to have a specific intent but to whether a defendant actually had a required intent to commit the crime with which he was charged.<ref>http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cacodes/pen/25-29.html</ref> By this time the "Twinkie defense" had become such a common referent that one participant waved a Twinkie in the air to make his point.<ref name="Myth of the 'Twinkie defense'"/> Additionally, California's statutory definitions of premeditation and ] required for murder were eliminated with a return to ] definitions.
*{{Cite news |first=Tony

|last=Mauro
''Twinkie defense'' was described in detail in Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. Woodall, 304 F.Supp.2d 1364, 1377 n. 7 (S.D.Ga. 2003).
|title=High Court Debates Defendants' Right to Counsel of Choice

|url=http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1145362818596
== ''Twinkie defense'' in popular culture ==
|work=Legal Times
{{Trivia|date=August 2007}}
|publisher=Law.com
'']'' is an award-winning ensemble play by Emily Mann chronicling the trial of the People vs. Dan White. The play has been performed worldwide and has been made into a movie.
|date=2006-04-19

|access-date=2007-02-02
''Harvey Milk'' the opera in three acts was composed by Stewart Wallace and librettist Michael Korie who were co-commissioned by the ] with the ] and ]. The opera was performed internationally in English and German and debuted in San Francisco in November of 1996 including a special performance coiciding with the date of the assassinations. The third act centers on the City Hall murders and the trial including the Twinkie defense.

In the play '']'', when Aaron McKinney says that he murdered ] because Shepard made a pass at him, Zackie Salmon likens Aaron McKinney's defense to the Twinkie defense.

The ] satirized the verdict in their reinterpretation of ''].'' ], the lead singer of the now defunct Dead Kennedys, summarized the defense in his 1989 spoken word album '']'' as a precursor to his own trial for distribution of harmful material to minors.

The first verse of ]' song ''Bad Indigestion'' is a humorous description of the Twinkie defense ("He sold his soul to the ]"). <ref> Retrieved ] ].</ref>

The band ] was named after George Solomon's testimony.<ref name="Automatic Pilot - About Our Name">{{cite web
| coauthors =Brown and McQueen Music
| title=Automatic Pilot - About Our Name
| publisher=]
| date=2007
| url
=http://www.automaticpilot.org/name.html
| accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref><ref name="The Automatic Pilot story - part 1">{{cite web
| coauthors =Brown and McQueen Music
| title=The Automatic Pilot story - part 1
| publisher=]
| date=2007
| url
=http://www.automaticpilot.org/history/history1.html
| accessdate=2007-08-10}}</ref>

The phrase was used in '']'', Episode #1-11 "]". ] used it to disparage ]'s famous "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech during a class discussion of '']''. The speech is from Act III, Scene 1.

The phrase was used on the TV show '']'', season 5 episode 4 - "The Kamikaze Bingo" - in which it was humorously used to point out that an old woman's cheating at bingo in a nursing home could not be excused by high levels of medication.

The phrase was used in the 1991 '']'' episode "Home Ec".

In the 2006 film '']'', a student recites a report about the White case, intertwined with video from press coverage of the trial. He concludes his report, "This came to be known as the Twinkie defense," then looks to the left, laughs, and says, "Is that for real?"

In the 2000 '']'' episode "Thin Ice", characters reference the Twinkie defense during a discussion of a homicide defendant asserting a psychological defense of "sports rage".

In the '']'' episode "Endure Patiently and You Will Not Wilt", when a large crab grabs Class 1-C's bus, Himeko holds up two Twinkies and says, "Im gonna use the Twinkies defense!". However, because she realized she was holding them (earlier in the episode, she was hungry), she then eats them.

In the '']'' episode "Sein Und Zeit", Skinner mentioned that Mulder was using a "Twinkie defense".

A similar defense appears in the film '']'', when an expert witness is called to testify that sugar in the Twinkies the defendant had eaten is chemically similar to ], so the defendant's actions should be treated as if in a drug-induced state.<ref> by Paul Tatara for CNN on ] ]. Retrieved ] ].</ref>

During oral ] arguments in ] (No. 05-352) in April 2006, Justice ] referenced the Twinkie defense in discussion of a defendant's right to counsel of choice: "{{interp|If I am a defendant,}} I don't want a 'competent' lawyer. I want a lawyer to get me off. I want a lawyer to invent the Twinkie defense. I want to win."<ref>{{cite news
| first = Tony
| last = Mauro
| title = High Court Debates Defendants' Right to Counsel of Choice
| url = http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1145362818596
| work = Legal Times
| publisher = Law.com
| date = ]
| accessdate = 2007-02-02
}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

== Additional references ==
*
* by Paul Tatara for CNN on ] ]. Retrieved ] ].
* {{cite news
| first = Tony
| last = Mauro
| title = High Court Debates Defendants' Right to Counsel of Choice
| url = http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1145362818596
| work = Legal Times
| publisher = Law.com
| date = ]
| accessdate = 2007-02-02
}} }}
* Weiss, Mike (2010). ''Double Play: The Hidden Passions Behind the Double Assassination of George Moscone and Harvey Milk'', Vince Emery Productions. {{ISBN|978-0-9825650-5-6}}


== See also == ==External links==
*
* ]
* - ''San Francisco Chronicle'', November 23, 2003
* ]
{{Harvey Milk}}
* ]
* ]


{{DEFAULTSORT:Twinkie Defense}}
== External links ==
*
* - ''San Francisco Chronicle'', ] ]
*
== Further reading ==
* Anderson, Scott. “A City Grieves Good Men Slain,” The Advocate, 11 January 1979 in Chris Bull, ed., Witness to Revolution: The Advocate Reports on Gay and Lesbian Politics, 1967-1999. Los Angeles: Alyson Books, 1999.

* Anderson, Scott. “Moscone: A Passion for People,” The Advocate, 11 January, 1979 in Chris Bull, ed., Witness to Revolution: The Advocate Reports on Gay and Lesbian Politics, 1967-1999. Los Angeles: Alyson Books, 1999.

* “Briggs Is Shocked by Milk’s Slaying,” San Francisco Chronicle. 28 November 1978.

* Butler, Katy. “A Bloody Protest at City Hall: Verdict Angers Gays,” San Francisco Chronicle, 22 May 1979.

* Carrol, Jerry. “George R. Moscone—A Quiet Leader,” The San Francisco Chronicle, 28 November 1978.

* Crewdson, John M. “Harvey Milk Led Coast Homosexual-Rights Fight,” NewYork Times, 28 November 1978.

* Draper, George. “Mayor Was Hit 4 Times,” San Francisco Chronicle, 28 November 1978.

* Fitzgerald, Frances. "The Castro-II." New Yorker, July 28, 1986, pp. 44-63.

* “Friends Speak Out: Moscone Called Compassionate Political Leader,” San Francisco Chronicle, 28 November 1978.

* Fosburgh, Lacey. “Stunned Crowd Gathers Near Scene of 2 Slayings,” New York Times, 28 November 1978.

* Foss, Karen A. “The Logic of Folly in the Political Campaigns of Harvey Milk” in R. Jeffrey Ringer, ed., Queer Words, Queer Images: Communication and the Construction of Homosexuality. New York: New York University Press, 1994.

* Gregory-Lewis, Sasha. “Milk Gets Canned but Keeps on Running,” The Advocate, 7 April 1976 in Chris Bull, ed., Witness to Revolution: The Advocate Reports on Gay and Lesbian Politics, 1967-1999. Los Angeles: Alyson Books, 1999.

* Jennings, Duffy. “Dan White Jury Hears Final Arguments,” San Francisco Chronicle, 16 May 1979.

* Jennings, Duffy. “Several Jurors Weep in Court,” San Francisco Chronicle, 22 May 1979.

* Kaiser, Charles. The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America Since World War II. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1997.

* Kilduff, Marshall and Eugene Robinson. “City Officials Shocked by the Verdict,” San Francisco Chronicle, 22 May 1979.

* “Milk Left a Tape for Release if He Were Slain,” New York Times, 28 November 1978.

* Newton, David E. Gay and Lesbian Rights. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1994.

* Robinson, P. "Gays In The Streets." New Republic, June 9, 1979, pp. 9-10.

* Shilts, Randy. The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1982.

* Turner, Wallace. “San Francisco Mayor Is Slain; City Supervisor also Killed; Ex-Official Gives Up to Police,” New York Times, 28 November 1978.

* Weiss, Mike. Double Play. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1984.
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Latest revision as of 22:54, 1 December 2024

Mocking term for improbable legal defense

A Twinkie

"Twinkie defense" is a derisive label for an improbable legal defense. It is not a recognized legal defense in jurisprudence, but a catch-all term coined by reporters during their coverage of the trial of defendant Dan White for the murders of San Francisco city Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. White's defense was that he suffered diminished capacity as a result of his depression, a symptom of which was a change in diet from healthy food to Twinkies and other sugary foods. Contrary to common belief, White's attorneys did not argue that the Twinkies were the cause of White's actions, but that their consumption was symptomatic of his underlying depression. The product itself was only mentioned in passing during the trial. White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter rather than first-degree murder, and served five years in prison.

Origin

See also: Moscone–Milk assassinations

The expression derives from the 1979 trial of Dan White, a former San Francisco police officer and firefighter who was serving as a city district supervisor up until assassinating Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk on November 27, 1978. At the trial, psychiatrist Martin Blinder testified that White had been depressed at the time of the crime, and pointed to several behavioral changes indicating White's depression: he had quit his job; he shunned his wife; and although normally clean-cut, he had become slovenly in appearance. Furthermore, White had previously been a fitness fanatic and health food advocate, but had begun consuming junk food and sugar-laden soft drinks like Coca-Cola. As an incidental note, Blinder mentioned theories that elements of diet could worsen existing mood swings. Another psychiatrist, George Solomon, testified that White had "exploded" and was "sort of on automatic pilot" at the time of the killings. The fact that White had killed Moscone and Milk was not challenged, but – in part because of the testimony from Blinder and other psychiatrists – the defense successfully convinced the jury that White's capacity for rational thought had been diminished; the jurors found White incapable of the premeditation required for a murder conviction, and instead convicted him of voluntary manslaughter. Public protests over the verdict led to the White Night Riots.

Diminished capacity

Twinkies were only mentioned incidentally in the courtroom during the White trial, and junk food was a minor aspect of the defense presentation. The defense did not claim that White was on a sugar rush and committed the murders as a result. However, one reporter's use of the term "Twinkie defense" became popular, leading to a persistent misunderstanding by the public. The mistaken understanding was reiterated at the end of Milk, Gus Van Sant's 2008 biopic of Harvey Milk. In a bonus feature on the DVD version of The Times of Harvey Milk, a documentary on Milk's life and death, White's lawyers explain what they actually argued in court.

The actual legal defense that White's lawyers used was that his mental capacity had been diminished, and White's consumption of junk food was presented to the jury as one of many symptoms, not a cause, of White's depression.

In stories covering the trial, satirist Paul Krassner had played up the angle of the Twinkie, and he would later claim credit for coining the term "Twinkie defense". The day after the verdict, columnist Herb Caen wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle about the police support for White, himself a former policeman, and their "dislike of homosexuals" and mentioned "the Twinkie insanity defense" in passing. News stories published after the trial, however, frequently reported the defense arguments inaccurately, claiming that the defense had presented junk food as the cause of White's depression and/or diminished capacity, instead of having been symptomatic of an existing depression. Dan White committed suicide seven years later.

As a result of negative publicity from the White case and others, the term diminished capacity was abolished in 1982 by Proposition 8 and the California legislature and was replaced by the term diminished actuality, referring not to the capacity to have a specific intent, but to whether the defendant actually had the required intent to commit the crime. Additionally, California's statutory definitions of premeditation and malice required for murder were eliminated by the state's legislature, with the return to common law definitions. By this time, the "Twinkie defense" had become such a common term that one lawmaker had waved a Twinkie in the air while making his point during a debate.

Supreme Court

During oral Supreme Court arguments in United States v. Gonzalez-Lopez, 548 U.S. 140 (2006), Justice Antonin Scalia referred to the Twinkie defense with regard to the right to counsel of choice as perhaps more important than the right to effective assistance of counsel: "I don't want a competent lawyer. I want a lawyer who's going to get me off. I want a lawyer who will invent the Twinkie defense. ... I would not consider the Twinkie defense an invention of a competent lawyer. But I want a lawyer who's going to win for me".

See also

References

  1. ^ Pogash, Carol (2003-11-23). "Myth of the 'Twinkie defense'". San Francisco Chronicle. p. D-1. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
  2. San Francisco Chronicle, May 10, 1979
  3. Roth, Mitchel P. (June 2, 2010). Crime and Punishment: A History of the Criminal Justice System. Cengage Learning. pp. 311–2. ISBN 978-0-495-80988-3.
  4. Krassner, Paul (2006-08-01). "Ice Cream Treat for Pedophiles". Adult Video News. Archived from the original on 2006-10-27. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
  5. "The Twinkie Defense". 27 August 2009.
  6. "California Code, Penal Code - PEN § 25 - FindLaw".
  7. "United States v. Gonzalez-Lopez Oral Argument - April 18, 2006". Oyez. Retrieved 2024-04-02.

Further reading

External links

Harvey Milk
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Assassination
Media and legacy
See also
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