court case

porte

I Lost my job 3 years ago and have been treated for depression and panic attacks for the past year, this has snow balled to illegal substance abuse that has now landed me with a court appearance. Would I have grounds for diminished responsibility

Peregrinus

Diminished responsibility, as a legal defence, is relevant only to a charge of murder. If the defence is established, it reduces the crime from one of murder to one of manslaughter.

I presume the charge against you is not murder, so the legal defence is not relevant to you.

The cirucmstances that led you to where you are, though, are certainly something the court will take into account. They could lead to you being dealt with under the Probation Act, rather than having a conviction recorded, or if you are convicted they could affect the sentence you get.

You don't say what the charge against you is, so it's hard to say anything more specific than that. Talk to the professionals involved in providing you with counselling, therapy or support; you probably won't be the first person in this situation that they have dealt with, and they can give you the best advice about how to present your cirucmstances to the court.

I hope this goes well for you.

FreudianSlippers

As stated above, it would really only go towards your plea in mitigation as a factor in your punishment (along with things like co-operation, an early guilty plea, etc).

I'm presuming you're on legal aid, so it's certainly something you should tell your solicitor/barrister about so that they can inform the court in order to hopefully reduce your sentence.