Competency Hearing, 1979

Defense attorney Mike Minerva doubted Bundy's mental competency to stand trial from the start. Judge Cowart ordered a hearing with two well renowned psychiatrists to address the issue. The expert for the prosecution was Dr. Hervey Cleckley, who wrote the seminal book on the phenomenon of psychopathy, "The Mask of Sanity."  For the defense was Dr. Emmanuel Tanay, whose testimony is excerpted here:

A: I’m of the opinion that he does suffer from a mental disorder. Although, at the same time, I wish to advise the Court that there is some difference of opinion within psychiatry and within the law whether or not that particular mental illness qualifies, for the purposes of criminal law, as a mental illness.

Q: What are the characteristics of that mental illness or disorder that you have enunciated to the court?

A: That particular mental illness was masterfully described by the preceding witness, Dr. Cleckley, who has written a book called "Master of Sanity." And I can only touch very briefly here upon what's contained in that book, which I think has been generally accepted in psychiatry as a clinical description of the condition.

That condition is characterized by the individual's overt rationality, overt ability to relate to people in a charming, seductive manner. At the same time, these people are driven by forces over which they have no control. They have an incapacity to develop guilt; they often engage in behavior that only on the surface appears to be self promoting but it is self-defeating. Some of these individuals do engage in criminal activities. But that's not necessarily so.

The term "acting out" is used in psychiatry, which refers to the fact that certain people - namely, those who suffer from a personality disorder, don't experience symptoms, themselves, of illness, but put them into actions, actions which might be harmful to others, harmful to them, for which they have no responsibility. Some of these actions can be rather dangerous for them, and to others.