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James Holmes and the Insanity Defense

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Metelits 1Taylor MetelitsPSYC 3530Carter13 November, 2014Critical Thought Essay #3: James Holmes and the Insanity DefenseOn July 20, 2012 James Holmes allegedly committed a mass shooting in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater- an offense that ended the lives of 12 people. He entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity; his trial is set to begin on December 8th, 2014. This essay will cover the following points surrounding the Aurora, CO shooting: information about James Holmes, alleged shooter, a brief review of Colorado’s insanity defense law, and an attempted explanation as to why James Holmes should be considered legally insane.According to online sources, James Holmes comes from a family that is very intellectually gifted- his father is a mathematician and scientist with degrees from Stanford, UCLA, as well as UC Berkley. In addition, his mother is a registered nurse. On the surface it appears that Holmes is gifted as well, with a B.S. degree in Neuroscience, as well participation inUniversity of Colorado’s Ph. D program (incomplete). Growing up he spent time in team sports and appeared to be involved in a church community as well.Briefly straying from Holmes and the discussion of his mind during the time of the shooting, it is relevant to review Colorado’s insanity defense law. Colorado follows the McNaughton Rule which is determined by the M’naghten Test: in informal terms described asMetelits 2needing to prove that the defendant did not know that the nature of what he or she was doing (thecrime) OR if he or she did know he or she did not know that it was wrong. In addition, Colorado also requires use of the Irresistible Impulse Test: he or she acted from an uncontrollable urge/impulse, he or she was unable to choose from right or wrong behavior, and there was such an extreme lack of will or moral awareness that his or her actions were beyond control.In regard to James Holmes’ psyche it is applicable to speak to what he appeared like during the time before the offense. Stated by sources that are published online, Holmes was described by a former supervisor in 2006 as “stubborn, uncommunicative, and socially inept”. Furthermore, CBS news reported that Holmes met with at least three mental health professionals at the University of Colorado before the time of the shooting; the defense attempted to claim thathe was a psychiatric patient of the medical director of Anschutz's Student Mental Health Services, a notion that the prosecution disagreed with. Additionally, Holmes’ neighbors describedhim as frequently rambling about a delusion up to a few weeks before the shooting that “society was falling apart and he wasn’t going to go down without a fight”. This clearly points to an unsettled mental state a great deal of time before the shooting.Also, discussing the nature and quality perspective and the idea of what it meant for James Holmes to commit the offense the following conclusion can be made: for James Holmes tocommit this offense, under insanity defense, it meant that he was either completely unaware that killing was wrong or that he failed to understand that for him to allegedly shoot 12 people it is not wrong. James Holmes probably hoped to achieve a very peculiar sense of control due to the vivid nature of his delusion- he needed to become something powerful and defiant in an environment where he clearly felt was not stable. There also seems to be a paranoid element in his delusion that can be determined as another factoring part of his unusual psyche.Metelits 3In discussion of the wrongfulness of the crime, it can be reasoned that James Holmes probably thought the offense was wrong but because of his delusion he didn’t see it as a situational wrong. Furthermore, Holmes’ capacity to withhold or discontinue the mass shooting was probably very little. It can be assumed that the delusions were increasing in intensity as time went on and by the time of the shooting Holmes fully believed in the alleged action he was doingas well as being rendered as completely unstoppable in his own head- any self-control he may have maintained up until this point had most likely been completely diminished. One might argue that James Holmes was not, in fact, insane at the time of the shooting but with the intense delusions he was apparently experiencing there is such a small chance Holmes was functioning in the same reality that the rest of the moral population functions in.In summation, for Holmes to successfully receive the verdict not guilty by reason of insanity the jurors will have to conclude that 1) Holmes’ either had a lack of understanding in regards to wrongfulness, 2) he was not able to comprehend the nature and quality of the shooting, and 3) the urge/impulse to allegedly shoot up the movie theater was too great to overpower with his own self-control (or lack of). In my completely unprofessional and amateur opinion, James Holmes can be seen as suffering from a mental disease of the legally insane nature that rendered him as being a victim to his delusions that later caused his lapse in behavior


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