is a rule in the U.S. which defines insanity as a state which is focussed on the cognitive state of the defendant at the time of committing the act with which they are charged, not necessarily their cognitive state during the time they are convicted at trial for the crime.
MCNAUGHTEN RULE (MCNAUGHTON RULE M: “During court cases, the McNaughten Rule defines the basis of insanity rulings in that only the sanity of the perpetrator at the time of the event should be taken into consideration, not the sanity of the individual during the time of the trial.”