12-05-2012, 10:14 AM
0
This past Sunday, I was bored, and was watching a Law & Order marathon on tv. Anyway, one episode was about a white guy why shot and killed a black guy who butted in front of him to catch a cab. He claimed he was a racist, and that because of that he had a mental illness and could not be held responsible for the crime.
Now, I know it is "just a TV show"..but they do tend to rip from the headlines now and then. Anyway, the defense shrink said that even though it was not in the DSM book of mental illness, the guy had an "unreasonable fear of minorities that caused him to feel they were all out to get him, and were against him".
What do you think? Seems to me that people try to claim mental illness as a defense for anything. Now, I am not making light of people with mental illness, it is out there, and folks do need help for a legitimate illness. But still...
What do you think? How would you have voted if on the jury? The jury on the show threw out his defense and said guilty as sin.
Now, I know it is "just a TV show"..but they do tend to rip from the headlines now and then. Anyway, the defense shrink said that even though it was not in the DSM book of mental illness, the guy had an "unreasonable fear of minorities that caused him to feel they were all out to get him, and were against him".
What do you think? Seems to me that people try to claim mental illness as a defense for anything. Now, I am not making light of people with mental illness, it is out there, and folks do need help for a legitimate illness. But still...
What do you think? How would you have voted if on the jury? The jury on the show threw out his defense and said guilty as sin.