In 1979, after an argument, former policeman White sneaked into the capital building and fatally shot Mayor George Moscone and a state employee, Harvey Milk.

White's attorney convinced the jury that his client had been suffering from depression and was not himself when he loaded the 10 bullets into his gun.

The case also ended up being known for the "Twinkie defense," in which White's attorney argued that his client's mental capacity was diminished because of his abnormal consumption of sugary junk food. Use of the diminished-capacity logic as a mental-health defense has been curtailed, but many still associate the cream-filled treat with a flimsy argument.

"It was a horrible case," said Scott Baly, defense attorney at the Fresno Public Defender's Office in California. "It added in California a distaste, a nationwide distaste, for mental health defenses in general."

A mental health defense is still difficult, said Baly, who has handled only a few cases using mental-health defenses. However, Baly said the defense should be used more often to help those with serious problems.

"When you see people suffering from these illness . . . it's very real to them," Baly said. "It's not a pleasant place to be. If they (react) to a psychotic voice that they're hearing in their head. . . they shouldn't be punished the same way as someone who acts deliberately with willful malice."

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