It sometimes happens that accusations of crimes happen when one or more parties are under the influence of drugs or alcohol.  Sometimes this intoxication is voluntary (i.e., a person knowingly and deliberately consumed intoxicants) and sometimes it is involuntary (i.e., a person was given intoxicants without his or her knowledge).

Suppose, for example, a person attends a party and drinks punch that has been “spiked.”  He then commits a crime at the party.  When is intoxication (voluntary or involuntary) a defense to a criminal charge?  What are the rules?  The answers can get complicated, depending on a variety of factors.  We discuss the basic outlines here.

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