Judge in face-biting attack denies insanity rules challenge

STUART, Fla. – A judge has rejected a constitutional challenge to Florida’s insanity defence law made by the attorneys for a man accused of killing a couple and chewing the husband’s face.

The Palm Beach Post reports that Circuit Court Judge Sherwood Bauer ruled Monday against a motion by 22-year-old August Harrouff’s legal team.

Harrouff’s attorneys had argued the law wrongly places the burden of proof on defendants instead of prosecutors. Attorney Robert J. Watson said the law’s requirement that defendants prove insanity to a “clear and convincing” level wrongly places the burden of proof on defendants instead of prosecutors.

It was not immediately clear whether Harrouff’s defence team would appeal the ruling.

Harrouff is charged with murdering 59-year-old John Stevens III and 53-year-old Michelle Mishcon in 2016.

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Information from: The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post, http://www.pbpost.com