Tommy Rollins of Grandview, Missouri shot a state trooper nine times this weekend. But it wasn't his fault. "It was just temporary insanity. I wasn't even thinking when I did it," Rollins claims. "The society's what caused me to do what I did. Just look at the society we live in." If Mr. Rollins were being graded in a sociology class, he might receive an "A." Because he will be graded in a courtroom rather than a classroom, Rollins should expect a lower mark.
Typical garbage, Dan. This kind of stuff makes me so angry. It gives those of us with a mental illness (I am bi-polar) a bad rap.
Why does no one want to accept responsibility?
You know, Dan, of all of the things I have done, my proudest acheivement is that I broke the cycle of abuse in my family. People say I should excuse my "father" for abusing me, since he was abused himself. To date I have never raised my hand to my three kids. I made the conscious effort, he could have too.
I think they should fry this guy and say that the state had a moment of temporary insanity.
Bah.
Be well,
Sponge
Assuming that this man is right and he was in fact in a temporary state of insanity when he shot the officer...why should that change anything?
"Temporary Insanity" does not remove all Personal Responsibility for one's actions.
Hey, he wasn't thinking when he did it. Give him a break. He sounds like he's sorry. What more do you want?
"Hey, he wasn't thinking when he did it. ... What more do you want?"
I want people to start thinking immediately, figuring out ways to obey the law now instead of ways to weasel out of the consequences later. I also want the state to protect and serve, starting with tossing this stooge into the Big House for the remainder of his mortal days.
I hope an idiotic defence like this doens't fly.
The whole point of pleading "insantity" is that you then go and spend the rest of your life in a mental insitution because you are a danger to those around you.
This temporary insanity crap doesn't cut it.
Or perhaps the family of the deceased officer should be given a hand gun and 10 minutes of "temporary insanity time" with this idiot.
Jason
"Hey, he wasn't thinking when he did it. ... What more do you want?"
I want people to start thinking immediately, figuring out ways to obey the law now instead of ways to weasel out of the consequences later. I also want the state to protect and serve, starting with tossing this stooge into the Big House for the remainder of his mortal days.
Posted by Nightfly at May 31, 2005 05:05 PM
Hahah asdf was joking Nightfly!
Of course I was joking. As you may have noticed, sarcasm works for me. :-)
To be truthful, I would like to see someone like this get the 50 cent solution (one bullet to one brain).
If this guy gets off, it's precisely why we need military tribunals handling deciding matters of fact about terrorists. I'd hate to think that Gerry Spence could stand up for somebody saying, "You bet he was crazy, who but a crazy person straps claymores to their chest to detonate themselves in a crowded mall. And besides, he might have eaten too many decadent American twinkies that day, doggone it!!"
Spence of course stands out to me as the icon of lawyerly sophistry. I heard him on the Charlie Rose show talking about how it is his job as defender to do whatever he can to make sure that the "rights" of the accused are upheld. He gave an example of how he would defend a man who killed his wife, leaving his kids motherless. According to Spence, this man's "right" is to be saved because the kids have lost one parent, let's not make it two. When Rose, despite his liberal tendencies and the friendly banter with Spence, could not completely smooth over the problems he felt with this, Spence said, "You'd be a really good prosecutor. They really like to see somebody punnished." Of course, Spence sees his role as all about "giving somebody back" their lives--course it's too late to give the mother back hers, but we're quibbling, aren't we?
And when people suggested that Clinton ought really to be impeached in a court of law, I thought of Spence.
