Idiot Law and Legal Definition
An idiot refers to a person incapable of managing his/her person or affairs from birth. An idiot is different from a lunatic. A lunatic has lucid intervals and the idiot has no power of mind. The term lunatic has broadened to include all insane persons except idiots.
The following is an example of a case law defining the term idiot: ‘An idiot is a person who has been from birth or infancy deficient in mental capacity, and destitute of the ordinary intellectual powers.’ [Sandefur v. Commonwealth, 143 Ky. 655 (Ky. 1911)]
