Today there is the trial of the mentally ill murderer in the Tucson Shooting Case involving Congresswoman Gabbie Giffords. I must say that I was challenged to discuss the idea of offering this killer an insanity plea and this is my contention.
The idea that the murder was premeditated was clear to all.
The fact is that this deadly murderer was truly suffering from mental illness and that is not a dispute.
Since this was premeditated, it can be certainly argued that he still had intelligence to know right from wrong.
With that the idea of forgoing an insanity plea and just a trial for murder seems ok.
But consider that there are to be many cases (G-d willing as few as possible) in the future where there is no clear definition between hatefilled premeditation and simply mental dysfunction and illness.
This concerns me for if this guilty mentally ill inmate is guitly of a simple non insanity related guilt verdict, his case can and will be tried and used in the future of any person with a less than certain clear cut case of insanity in the light of mental illness.
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