Saturday, May 30, 2015

Prosecutor shows Aurora theater killer insane



The Colorado prosecutor seeking to jump start a political career with a death penalty conviction in the Aurora theater massacre inadvertently has shown the killer met one of the standards for legal insanity.
Despite a headline in the Denver Post emphasizing that James Holmes knew right from wrong, that isn’t the only test for legal insanity.
“The policeman at the elbow” also has qualified defendants for an insanity defense. In other words, if a defendant is so mentally ill that he/she would commit the crime with a policeman watching then it was irresistible.
Prosecutor George Brauchler has presented evidence day after day showing that Holmes was careful in his planning.
He went too far when he introduced evidence showing that the killer knew police and even the FBI were watching. He had, after all, scared his psychiatrist so much she reported him to police.”
The page after page in his notebook stating “why, why, why …” might be well asked to Brauchler.
Why not accept the defense plea of insanity and avoid forcing survivors, relatives of victims and the whole nation to go through a show that is reaching “War and Peace” length.
Perhaps jurors can “binge” on 222 hours of video testimony from just one psychiatrist.
The Post reported: "Did you hope they had you under surveillance?" psychiatrist Dr. William Reid asked James Holmes about the vehicle, during one of their many interviews.
"Yeah, a little bit," Holmes replied.
Reid asked why. "So they could do the right thing."
"Do the right thing, meaning?" Reid asked again. "Lock me away before I did it," Holmes replied.
Though a gag order from a judge who relentlessly approved almost every prosecutor request prevents publication of comments or statements of defense plans it does not take a legal scholar to venture that will argue he went ahead with the killings, knowing it was wrong, because he could not stop himself.
Holmes killed 12 people and wounded 70 in his attack during a premiere of the Batman movie, “Dark Knight Rising.”
He even planned to sabotage investigators when he searched their house but showed he was conflicted when he warned them before they went.
Perhaps the most vexing question is why police did stop Holmes after being warned by his psychiatrist. In case after case of gun massacres in the U.S., including Columbine in Colorado, law enforcement was warned something evil was in the offing. Columbine parents personally warned deputies to no avail.
Perhaps it is a "Catch 22," if you think you are insane you cannot be.








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