The Sleepwalker's Pistol

The Defendant was a man known since childhood to be a somnambulist, prone to waking in violent confusion. One night he fell asleep in the public lobby of a hotel. A porter, trying to rouse him so he could go up to bed, took hold of him and shook him. The Defendant — by his account still half asleep and believing he was under attack — drew a pistol and fired, striking the porter, who later died. There was evidence the Defendant had a lifelong history of being dangerous and disoriented when suddenly awakened, and that those who knew him had learned to wake him only with great care. He was charged with manslaughter. The Defense argued that the jury had never been permitted to consider whether a man who is asleep can be held responsible for what his hands do.