guy had the mind to go see if coach was inside and then leave to get his gun and make sure no kids got hit. Done save the people some time and money.
Ed Thomas' Killer, Mark Becker Trial
- Thread starter Cybyassociation
- Start date
Last fall I took criminal justice studies 403, criminal offenders: mentally disordered offenders at iowa state. we discussed the progression over the years of what is considered insanity by law and discussed several trials of insanity and also guilty but mentally ill. individuals with paranoid schizophrenia will often be normal kids and have their first psychotic break in their late teens or early 20s. after hearing his mother's testimony about mark dropping out of college and having episodes its pretty clear he is a paranoid schizophrenic. i believe there is a real good chance he was going in and out of psychotic episodes the day of the murder, however to be found NGRI the law requires he did not know the nature and quality of the act and that what he was doing was wrong. This is a tough case and I don't know how it will turn out. there are 16 jurors so each has to be convinced of the same thing. ill post later right now im watching the live feed and want to hear the psychiatrist speak.
I haven't read the whole thread, but I'll throw my thoughts out even if they are repetitive with other posts.
I'm ok with the insanity defense. I am sure that it is, in fact, legitimate in many cases. However, I think your sentence should be exactly the same. If you would have served life in prison for the offense, then if found not guilty by reason of insanity, you serve life in a mental facility. None of this "I'm better now" ****. If you've already proven yourself capable of snapping, then you could do it again.
I'm ok with the insanity defense. I am sure that it is, in fact, legitimate in many cases. However, I think your sentence should be exactly the same. If you would have served life in prison for the offense, then if found not guilty by reason of insanity, you serve life in a mental facility. None of this "I'm better now" ****. If you've already proven yourself capable of snapping, then you could do it again.
the psychiatrist testified and spoke about paranoid schizophrenia and methamphetamine induced psychosis. i thought he would speak more in depth about how psychotic episodes work in relation to the two but he really didnt do much. wow this will be hard for the jurors. i think it will be relevant that becker voluntarily stopped taking his meds because that was a conscience decision. if i had to lean one way or the other i would lean toward guilty but mentally ill....
He knew what he was doing and he knew it was illegal and I would say he also knew it was morally wrong. He said Ed was "done" and knew he had to turn himself in. I think the progression toward more people being found "insane" has to do with the belief that is never an individuals fault anymore. It seems like there always has to be an excuse for someone to act the way they did. Someone cannot just commit a terrible act and then become a bad person. There always has to be some outside influence that "made them do this because they are not that kind of person." I think we need to face it, there are bad people out there.
I realize that, and the verdict is not my point. My point is the amount of excuses that get made for people doing terrible things.
I'm pretty hard core, but reading the transcripts of this thing make me think that perhaps he is not guilty by reasons of insanity. Coming into this trial, I thought it would be cut and dried, but it is not at all. Mark Becker is seriously one ill man. And while I suspect he will spend the rest of his life in some sort of facility, I'm beginning to think that the proper facility would be a mental hospital.
One thing that hasn't gotten discussed much is the fact that he kept getting out of the psych wards in all of these hospitals. That kid was screwed up enough that he should have never been out to shoot Ed Thomas.
yeah thats pretty much what i was agreeing with. people tend to shift blame and not take responsibility for bad things they have done. they want to externalize it and make it seem like anyone would have done the same given the cicumstances. im with you on that
The worst part of this (for those of us other than friends and family of both Mark and Ed) is that whether sane or insane, we as taxpayers are going to be on the hook for the rest of his life.
We have limited resources in this country. While it may sound cruel, it would be in society's best interest to end his life. Our resources would be much better spent elsewhere, helping people who are not beyond help and have a chance to contribute to society.
We have limited resources in this country. While it may sound cruel, it would be in society's best interest to end his life. Our resources would be much better spent elsewhere, helping people who are not beyond help and have a chance to contribute to society.
on that note it is much cheaper to put him in prison than hospitalize him. iowa doesnt have the death penalty
So with the insanity deal does the fact that he made the decision to go off medication factor in or is that irrelevant?
Interesting read in the Des Moines Register this morning about Mark's mothers testimony. What a tough deal. Even if he is insane, that doesn't make it right.
