insanity defense

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Holmes Called School 9 Minutes Before Shooting

Dialed in to switchboard that could reach psychiatrist

(Newser) - Out of yesterday's Aurora massacre hearing: a big new detail and a big setback for Colorado prosecutors.
  • The notebook: Prosecutors have been trying to get their hands on a notebook that James Holmes sent to Dr. Lynne Fenton that reportedly contains a graphic description of his massacre plans. But
...

Insanity Defense Gives Holmes' Prosecutors Herculean Task

It would be up to them to prove James Holmes is sane

(Newser) - If James Holmes ends up pleading not guilty by reason of insanity in the Aurora theater massacre, prosecutors will be fighting an uphill battle—because in Colorado, unlike most other states, the burden of proving the defendant is sane lies with the prosecutors. In around 40 other states as well...

Holmes Is Insane: Lawyer
 Holmes Is Insane: Lawyer 
Aug 10, 2012 3:45 AM CDT

Holmes Is Insane: Lawyer

Kiss, Motley Crue give $100K to relief fund

(Newser) - James Holmes is as crazy as he looks, his lawyer says. At a hearing yesterday, the lawyer defending the Aurora massacre suspect said he is mentally ill, and urged prosecutors to turn more documents over to the defense, CBS reports. "We cannot begin to assess the depth of Mr....

Breivik Is Sane, Insists ... Defense

Prosecutors disagree as testimony wraps up

(Newser) - It's not exactly the way you'd expect things to shake out: Prosecutors want Anders Breivik ruled criminally insane—but the confessed killer's own lawyers say he knew what he was doing, Reuters reports. "Breivik wishes to be punished for his actions—that is, to be treated...

Breivik: My Actions Were 'Entirely Logical'

Norway killer says there's no way he'll be judged insane

(Newser) - Anders Behring Breivik made his case that he is sane in court today, decrying the report that declared him crazy as a "lie." Breivik said that the psychiatrists who first examined him didn't understand that he'd purposely suppressed his emotions to carry out the attack, the...

Judge Frees Man Who Slashed Wife 120 Times

Karrukh Malik, who pleaded insanity, is free to go

(Newser) - An accountant in Britain is free only a year after he fatally slashed his wife more than 120 times with a kitchen knife, the Daily Mail reports. A judge said that Karrukh Malik, a Pakistani-born resident of Berkshire, would have to continue medical treatments for two years: "If there...

Breivik: I'd Rather Die Than Be Ruled Crazy

Norway shooter says psychiatric care would be 'ultimate humiliation'

(Newser) - Anders Behring Breivik insists he's not crazy, and that being declared criminally insane would be "a fate worse than death." The man who killed 77 people in Norway last summer has written a 38-page letter, in which he attempts to discredit the psychiatric report that deemed him...

Reagan Shooter Seeks More Time on the Outside

'Convalescent leave' could get John Hinckley out full time

(Newser) - Ronald Reagan shooter John Hinckley is seeking more time outside a mental health facility, and might leave permanently, AP reports. Hinckley was sent to a Washington mental hospital after a jury decided he was insane when he wounded the president and three others in 1982. But he was granted a...

Swedish Killer: I Faked Insanity to Avoid Prison

And he got away with it—at first

(Newser) - After Mijailo Mijailovic murdered Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh in 2003, he claimed voices in his head drove him to kill. But now he tells Sweden’s Expressen tabloid, “I didn't hear voices. That was nothing but empty talk.” In actuality, he adds, “I felt a...

Cops May Seek New Charge, Longer Sentence for Breivik

A conviction of crimes against humanity could mean 30 years

(Newser) - You were likely shocked to read that Anders Behring Breivik, who admitted to killing 76 people in two Norway terror attacks, faces a maximum of 21 years in prison —but Norwegian police are considering a new charge that could increase that amount. The current terror-related charges Breivik faces come...

'Red Bull Killer' Declared Insane

Though judge says case was never about energy drink

(Newser) - A Florida man who smothered his elderly father to death is going to a state hospital instead of a state prison. A judge declared that Stephen Coffeen "did not understand the wrongfulness of his actions" and found him not guilty by reason of insanity today, reports the St. Petersburg ...

Insanity Defense Will Be Tough for Loughner

Lawyer will be lucky if he avoids death penalty

(Newser) - Once upon a time, it would have been easy for Jared Lee Loughner’s lawyers to mount an insanity defense—after all, the guy sure seems nuts . But these days, that's easier said than done, legal experts tell the AP . Congress made it drastically harder to mount an insanity defense...

Cleveland's Accused Serial Killer Pleads Insanity

Anthony Sowell is charged with killing 11 women

(Newser) - Alleged serial killer Anthony Sowell pleaded insanity this morning as he was arraigned by video in the deaths of 11 women and assaults on three others in Cleveland. Sowell, 50, looked calmly into the camera, offering only brief polite responses as the judge read his rights and plea. Sowell will...

Hasan May Plead Insanity: Lawyer
 Hasan May 
 Plead Insanity: Lawyer  
FORT HOOD SHOOTING
Nov 23, 2009 8:39 PM CST

Hasan May Plead Insanity: Lawyer

Not-guilty plea likely in Fort Hood shooting

(Newser) - Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people in a shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, will likely plead not guilty to the charges against him and may use an insanity defense at his military trial, his attorney said today. John Galligan, the civilian attorney for Hasan,...

Elizabeth Smart Recounts Daily Sexual Abuse

She testifies that captor uses religious rants to get his way

(Newser) - Elizabeth Smart delivered frank testimony in federal court today on the abuse she suffered at the hands of Brian David Mitchell during a 9-month abduction, describing how Mitchell used religion to justify repeatedly raping her. Smart, 14 at the time, said Mitchell chained her leg to a tree at the...

DA's 'Smear' Should Nix Conviction: 'Rockefeller'

(Newser) - Lawyers for Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter—aka Clark Rockefeller—want his conviction overturned because the jury was unfairly prejudiced against their client, the Boston Globe reports. Rockefeller was found guilty of kidnapping his daughter. The lawyers say the prosecution “eviscerated” their insanity defense during closing arguments by calling an unqualified...

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