What is the "twinkie defense"?

Question

I've heard the phrase, but don't understand what it means. Who coined it? Is it legit? Please include links!

Answer 1

The term "Twinkie Defense" was coined by the San Francisco press during the 1979 trial of Dan White for murders committed by him in November of 1978.

In 1979 in San Francisco, a former police officer, Dan White, was tried for the murders of Mayor George Moscone and an administrative aide named Harvey Milk.  That White committed the murders was never in doubt inasmuch as he shot both men at mid-day inside City Hall; however, the defense argued that White was not responsible for his acts because he was, at the time of the acts, temporarily insane and acting with "diminished capacity."  White's attorney attempted to prove that severe depression had put White into an altered state that changed his behavior and rendered him incapable of being found culpable for his criminal acts.  One of his arguments in support of his client's alleged "diminished capacity" was that the previously health conscious defendant began to eat Twinkies and other junk food as a result of his severe depression.  He argued that this junk food had exacerbated the defendant's depression; and, thus, was a causal factor in the defendant's "diminished" mental state at the time of the murders.

One psychiatrist testified: "I think that on the day of the crimes he really had no meaningful, rational capacity to carefully weigh the considerations for and against and rationally decide on a course of action. He couldn’t think carefully about what he was going to do."  

Although the defense was dubbed the "Twinkie Defense" by the local press, the correlation between junk food and White’s behavior was never made at the trial. This was a falsehood that has been repeated many times in hundreds of press accounts of the trial.  But the characterization stuck and the Dan White case will probably always be remembered as the time junk food caused a man to go crazy and to commit murder.

White was convicted of manslaughter, and, as a result, he received a much lighter sentence as opposed to a 1st degree murder conviction.  Thus, for Dan White, the "deminished capacity" defense actually succeeded in mitigating the verdict and sentence.  He spent 5 years in prison for a double murder and was paroled in 1985.  A few months later, Dan White committed suicide.

As to the legitimacy of the defense, Mark Gado has written extensively on the insanity defense and its variations.  Please see:

http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_min...   [and subsequent chapters, particularly:

http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_min...

In his examination of the "Twinkie Defense," he states: "Of course, this type of defense is not as common as the press believes, but it demonstrates what can be done under the elusive definitions of the Durham Rule and 'diminished capacity' defenses.  Eventually, the Durham rule was abandoned [1982] in favor of the 'substantial capacity test.' This criteria was, in effect, a combination of the M’Naghten Rule and the Irresistible Impulse test. Under M’Naghten alone, a defendant was required to show a complete failure to distinguish between right and wrong.  This compromise, at least to some, seemed acceptable to the courts. For Dan White though, the 'diminished capacity' defense worked."

Answer 2

It is just another way lawyers have tried to get their clients away from having to take any culpability for any crime they have committed. The previously cited case is the most well known, but there have been other, somewhat similar attempts..

It is not an accepted as a mental "defect" and thus not a legit argument....

Answer 3

It is an excuse for breaking a diet and eating junk food, such as Twinkies. For example, you could say, "I thought about Global Warming and it made me really sad, so I had to eat a Twinkie to cheer myself up."

Answer 4

Me and My Dad moved into San Fransisco the night of the murder, I did not know what the h**l was going on it was utter chaos because all the g**s rioted...but here is the story Dan White hated g*y people, and the mayor at that time favored them and dan white was infuriated when he was forced to work with a g*y man, later in that year Dan white was fired... and replaced with Harvey Milk a g*y man, Dan White came to city hall one night and shot the mayor and harvey in the face, he ran to the basement, and snuck out the windows that lay parrallel to the garden(Those windows now contain bars over them) he escaped and was later caught. The g**s of San Fran went insane, Rioting, protesting and such because the mayor majorly supported g**s, and there are a lot of them in San Fran, Later White was caught and tried and he used the twinkie defense (saying that he was depressed and that caused him to eat twinkies and more junk food. he is an ex athlete and this would in turn make him more depressed causing him to kill these people he was found innocent and years later white hung himself in his garage unable to take the criticism from the g*y community and the guilt.

Answer 5

O.K., this is the REAL Proud Conservative. Not his groupie.

The Story of the twinkie defense is thus:

In 1978, Dan White, a former San Francisco city supervisor who had recently resigned his position, entered San Francisco City Hall through a basement window, went upstairs, and shot and killed Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.

Psychiatrist Martin Blinder testified in court that White had been depressed, which led to eating junk food: Twinkies and Coca-Cola. This further deepened White's depression, since he was an ex-athlete and knew that the food was not good for him. This was evidence of his depression that prompted his murder spree. This celebrated diagnosis became known as the "Twinkie defense."

(Taken from www.ohnonews.com)

Answer 6

Dear Mike,

I assume you are refering to the legal case between Hostess and Little Debbie. It all began as a dispute that Hostess was using the Little Debbie "Snack cakes" secret recipe in their twinkies, so Little Debbie sued. Of course both Little Debbie and Hostess both won, but not before the Pilsbury Dough boy gave a resonable defense, now known as the twinkie defense, in which he stated that Little Debby did not even show up at the court and almost won the case, until it was discovered that the Dough boy infiltrated both factories and was planning to pivot them against each other in-order to allow his fledgling company to obtain the snack industry. He was sentenced to death, but some people say he will RISE again!

Answer 7

Twinkies taking martial arts.

Answer 8

In jurisprudence, "Twinkie defense" is a derisive[1] label for a criminal defendant's claims that some unusual biological factor entered into the causes or motives of an alleged crime. According to this defense, the biological factor should mitigate the defendant's responsibility, and he therefore should not be held criminally liable for actions which violated the law, or the criminal liability should be reduced to a lesser offense. While biological factors may certainly influence behavior, the label of "Twinkie defense" implies that the specific biological factor is one that most people would view as not being sufficient to account for criminal activity, such as the effects of allergies, minor stimulants such as coffee and nicotine, sugar, and/or vitamins.

NOW THAT I ANSWERED ONE OF YOUR QUESTION, WOULD YOU PLEASE ANSWER TO MY QUESTION?

HERE IT IS:  WHY DO I DON'T RECEIVE THE QUESTIONS OF MY CONTACTS IN MY MAILBOX ???

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

P.S. Wrote you many time, but never received answer.

Answer 9

The phrase "Twinkie defense" comes from Twinkies, a junk food product high in sugar.

the label of "Twinkie defense" implies that the specific biological factor is one that most people would view as not being sufficient to account for criminal activity, such as the effects of allergies, minor stimulants such as coffee and nicotine, sugar, and/or vitamins.

The expression derives from the 1979 trial of Dan White, a former San Francisco, California (U.S.) Supervisor who assassinated Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk on November 27, 1978. At the trial, noted psychiatrist Martin Blinder testified that White had been depressed at the time of the crime, and pointed to several factors indicating White's depression: He had quit his job, he shunned his wife, and become slovenly in appearance. Normally a fitness fanatic and health food advocate, White had also been consuming Twinkies and Coca-Cola

Answer 10

O.K., this is the REAL Proud Conservative. Not his groupie.

The Story of the twinkie defense is thus:

In 1978, Dan White, a former San Francisco city supervisor who had recently resigned his position, entered San Francisco City Hall through a basement window, went upstairs, and shot and killed Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.

Psychiatrist Martin Blinder testified in court that White had been depressed, which led to eating junk food: Twinkies and Coca-Cola. This further deepened White's depression, since he was an ex-athlete and knew that the food was not good for him. This was evidence of his depression that prompted his murder spree. This celebrated diagnosis became known as the "Twinkie defense."

(Taken from www.ohnonews.com)

Answer 11

So basically, Dan White was a San Francisco city superisor who had recently resigned for reasons unknown. A few weeks later, he entered San Francisco city hall through a basement window, and shot and killed the mayor, Georgia Moscone, and his supervisor Harvey Milk.

During the trial, his lawyer had a psychologist come in and reinforce the fact that he was not guilty by saying that Dan had been depressed for a long time, and he ate junk food to make himself feel better. Mainly Coca Cola and Twinkies. Since he had been an ex athlete on a rigorous training schedule and a very strict diet, he knew that the extra c**p wasn't good for him. This only made his depression worse, and he kind of... snapped because of the Twinkies, and went on a killing spree.

Basically, when someone says that something is/is like a twinkie defense, it pretty much means that they're BSing an excuse.

Answer 12

I think most of the people before me answered the question pretty well for you.

Answer 13

Maybe that event was “before your time” but it wasn’t before mine. The feeling then was that Dan White got a light sentence because he “only” killed a “***” (Harvey Milk was openly g*y) and the judge and jury were just looking for an excuse to cut Milk a break. The “Twinkie defense” was that excuse.

Answer 14

it's the 'explanation' by Hostess that twinkies are actually baked

Answer 15

In stories covering the trial, satirist Paul Krassner had played up the angle of the Twinkie, and he would later claim credit for coining the term "Twinkie defense". The day after the verdict, columnist Herb Caen wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle about the police support for White (a former policeman himself) and their "dislike of homosexuals" and mentioned "the Twinkie insanity defense" in passing. News stories published after the trial, however, frequently reported the defense arguments inaccurately, claiming that the defense had presented junk food as the cause of White's depression and/or diminished capacity, instead of symptomatic of and perhaps exacerbating an existing depression.

As a result of the White case, diminished capacity was abolished in 1982 by Proposition 8 and the California legislature, and replaced by "diminished actuality", referring not to the capacity to have a specific intent but to whether a defendant actually had a required intent to commit the crime with which he was charged. Additionally, California's statutory definitions of premeditation and malice required for murder were eliminated by the state's legislature, with a return to common law definitions. By this time, the "Twinkie defense" had become such a common referent that one lawmaker had waved a Twinkie in the air while making his point during a debate.

Answer 16

The Story of the twinkie defense is thus:

In 1978, Dan White, a former San Francisco city supervisor who had recently resigned his position, entered San Francisco City Hall through a basement window, went upstairs, and shot and killed Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.

Psychiatrist Martin Blinder testified in court that White had been depressed, which led to eating junk food: Twinkies and Coca-Cola. This further deepened White's depression, since he was an ex-athlete and knew that the food was not good for him. This was evidence of his depression that prompted his murder spree. This celebrated diagnosis became known as the "Twinkie defense."