William Shepherd, chair of the criminal justice section of the American Bar Association said that the proposed use of a "truth drug" to ascertain the veracity of a defendant's plea of insanity was highly unusual in the U.S. He predicted it would provoke intense legal argument relating to Holmes's right to remain silent under the fifth amendment of the US constitution.
"If a defendant loses his right to remain silent because the court has authorised the use of drugs that make him talk, that would raise all sorts of fifth amendment issues that both sides would have to address," he said.
