DAVID, J.
The burden is on the defendant to establish the defense of insanity by a preponderance of the evidence. Id. § 35-41-4-1(b). Specifically, a defendant has to prove that he could not appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the offense due to some mental disease or defect. Id. § 35-41-3-6(a). A “mental disease or defect” is defined as “a severely abnormal mental condition that grossly and demonstrably impairs a person’s perception, but the term does not include an abnormality manifested nly by repeated unlawful or antisocial conduct.” Id. § 35-41-3-6(b).
When temporary mental incapacity is the result of voluntary intoxication, it does not fit within the above definition of “mental disease or defect.” See Jackson v. State, 273 Ind. 49, 52, 402 N.E.2d 947, 949 (1980) (“Temporary mental incapacity, when induced by voluntary intoxication, normally furnishes no legal excuse for, or defense to, a crime.”). . . . .
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. . . Indiana recognizes situations where “the ingestion of intoxicants, though voluntary, has been abused to the point that it has produced mental disease.” Jackson, 273 Ind. at 52, 402 N.E.2d at 949. This type of mental disease is now commonly referred to as “settled” or “fixed” insanity. State v. Sexton, 904 A.2d 1092, 1101–04 (Vt. 2006) (citing numerous cases and other sources that have discussed the concept of “settled” or “fixed” insanity). In cases where a defendant’s conduct is caused by his or her “settled” or “fixed” insanity, the defendant would be able to meet the mental-disease prong of Indiana’s
insanity statute.
Here the experts disagreed as to what caused Berry’s behavior. [Footnote omitted.] Both Dr. Parker and Dr. Olive attributed Berry’s behavior to his bipolar disorder. Dr. Masbaum, on the other hand, found that diagnosis questionable. And at trial Dr. Masbaum opined that Berry’s symptoms were caused by the voluntary abuse of alcohol and not his bipolar disorder. Notably, none of the experts suggested that Berry suffered from “settled” or “fixed” insanity; in fact, all of the experts ruled out “delirium tremens,” a type of settled insanity caused by the chronic abuse of alcohol. See Fisher, 64 Ind. at 440, 1878 WL 3066, at *3.
The intersection of voluntary intoxication and insanity is murky at best. . . . Certainly, not all chronic alcoholics have destroyed their mental faculties to the point where they suffer from a mental disease as defined in Indiana’s insanity statute. On the other hand, consumption of alcohol prior to committing an offense does not automatically rule out the insanity defense, as the underlying cause of a defendant’s behavior could be a mental disease. Ultimately, it is for the trier of fact “to determine whether the accused’s conduct was the result of a diseased mind—regardless of the source of the disease—or was the result of voluntary intoxication.” Jackson, 273 Ind. at 52, 402 N.E.2d at 949.
Although we agree with the Court of Appeals that “settled insanity” is a mental disease or defect as defined in the insanity statute, we fail to see how the evidence was without conflict that Berry suffered from such a condition. As stated earlier, no expert suggested that settled insanity was the cause for Berry’s behavior; in fact, all three experts ruled out delirium tremens, a form of settled insanity.
It is true that Dr. Masbaum could not give an exact label to Berry’s condition. But, in the end, Dr. Masbaum did opine that Berry’s behavior was caused by his voluntary abuse of alcohol. And the trial court, as the trier of fact, was within its province to accept Dr. Masbaum’s testimony at trial, draw reasonable inferences from it, and discredit conflicting testimony. A reasonable inference from Dr. Masbaum’s detailed testimony on the subject was that Berry’s behavior was due to either voluntarily induced alcohol intoxication or voluntarily induced alcohol withdrawal. The subsequent lay testimony on Berry’s post-intoxication behavior buttressed Dr. Masbaum’s conclusions. [Footnote omitted.] Given the highly deferential standard of review and the expert and lay testimony supporting the trial court’s findings, we affirm the trial court.
Dickson, C.J., and Sullivan, Rucker, and Massa, JJ., concur.