tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post2173776863460523757..comments2024-03-18T03:28:36.581-04:00Comments on Shrink Rap: Reforming the Insanity DefenseUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-49890586105877219562013-01-16T11:49:34.735-05:002013-01-16T11:49:34.735-05:00Whoa Dinah, Hang on a minute. I was hyperbolic an...Whoa Dinah, Hang on a minute. I was hyperbolic and you missed the point.<br /><br />The point is that the Linda Hamilton is NOT delusional, she is a hellion who pisses people off and commits crimes. She is kept in prison only because no one believes her story (the fact that her story is true is irrelevant).<br /><br />And she breaks the psychiatrist's arm only AFTER he refuses to give her a furlough.<br /><br />Finally, regarding fiction. A wag once noted that the difference between reality and fiction is that fiction needs to make sense.<br /><br />The stories told on comment section of this post would bomb at the box officeroblindemanhttp://natickpediatrics.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-45586093737041629372013-01-16T08:55:46.093-05:002013-01-16T08:55:46.093-05:00Rob, news flash: Terminator 2 is fiction. Second ...Rob, news flash: Terminator 2 is fiction. Second thought, I don't think many people will agree with you that someone who breaks their doctor's arm and jabs a syringe full of bleach into his neck should have been released even if she wasn't obviously delusional.Dinahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09227988351623862689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-29086504427275520792013-01-16T08:41:15.400-05:002013-01-16T08:41:15.400-05:00"Why do you suppose forensic patients (not cr..."Why do you suppose forensic patients (not criminals) stay in a hospital for three years or more?"<br /><br />Why? Because "[t]he length of hospitalization is related to the time required for clinical improvement", which is subjective, no, <i>arbitrary</i> and is based on no objectively valid standard.<br /><br />They let you out when they feel like it.<br /><br />I recently watched "Terminator 2" again, this time with my sons. There's a fascinating series of scenes in the beginning of the film where Linda Hamilton is interviewed by a mental hospital staff psychiatrist and she begs him to be released (not "discharged", "released") so that she can see her son.<br /><br />The delicious irony of these scenes is that the Linda Hamilton character is NOT delusional: everything she says is "true" in the narrative.<br /><br />Her psychiatrist refuses her request, whereupon she breaks his arm and jabs a syringe full of bleach into his neck.<br /><br />Great. Film.roblindemanhttp://natickpediatrics.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-80506857536492697912013-01-15T21:58:57.739-05:002013-01-15T21:58:57.739-05:00Remember that an insanity acquittee is not a convi...Remember that an insanity acquittee is not a convicted criminal. The length of hospitalization is related to the time required for clinical improvement, and has no relation to a criminal sentence. When was the last time you ever heard of a psychiatric patient requiring a three year hospitalization to treat a condition?<br /><br />What's the length of stay for an average psychiatric admission in a non-forensic facility, maybe 7-10 days max?<br /><br />Why do you suppose forensic patients (not criminals) stay in a hospital for three years or more?ClinkShrinkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13316134491751195651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-49990252369458895302013-01-15T20:38:49.914-05:002013-01-15T20:38:49.914-05:00Dena Schlosser is another one, I think she was rel...Dena Schlosser is another one, I think she was released then sent back again. <br /><br />Texas goes pretty easy on women who kill their children.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-64006544018229896732013-01-15T20:34:39.993-05:002013-01-15T20:34:39.993-05:00Rob, in addition to Laney, I remembered the follow...Rob, in addition to Laney, I remembered the following case:<br /><br />Lisa Ann Diaz in Plano, Texas killed her two children in 2003 and I believe she was only institutionalized in a state hospital for less than 3 years. She didn't stay long.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-60698368948913526692013-01-15T09:15:42.927-05:002013-01-15T09:15:42.927-05:00More on Hayes.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/...More on Hayes. <br /><br />http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/05/18/487639/man-who-killed-4-to-be-freed.htmlroblindemanhttp://natickpediatrics.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-46339449952122860412013-01-15T09:11:47.607-05:002013-01-15T09:11:47.607-05:00Eric Sawyer is still incarcerated, though not in a...Eric Sawyer is still incarcerated, though not in a mental hospital. He is not free in any meaningful sense. It's unclear where Michael Charles Hayes is.roblindemanhttp://natickpediatrics.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-16300435609453937242013-01-15T08:01:53.742-05:002013-01-15T08:01:53.742-05:00I found these two
Insane killer of baby gains re...I found these two<br /><br /><br />Insane killer of baby gains release from state mental health hospital<br /><br />Eric Sawyer of West Palm Beach to be transferred to Tallahassee treatment center<br /><br />http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-01-12/news/fl-eric-sawyer-hospital-release-20130112_1_insane-killer-mental-illness-state-mental-health<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Salisbury_Road_murdersA Girlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-21466306464504851992013-01-15T07:32:28.550-05:002013-01-15T07:32:28.550-05:00Anybody else know of cases of murderers like Deann...Anybody else know of cases of murderers like Deanna Laney who were acquitted by reason of insanity and are free now?roblindemanhttp://natickpediatrics.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-6182014329811189642013-01-15T07:31:42.489-05:002013-01-15T07:31:42.489-05:00Whoops. It's true: Deanna Laney is out of jai...Whoops. It's true: Deanna Laney is out of jail, 9 years after bashing her children's heads in with a rock.<br /><br />Deanna Laney Released From State Hospital<br /><br />By Dayna Worchel - TylerPaper.com<br /><br />May 25, 2012<br /><br />A New Chapel Hill housewife who was acquitted by a Smith County jury in April 2004 on reasons of insanity for stoning her sons to death has been released from Kerrville State Hospital.<br /><br />Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham said Deanna Laney, now 47, has been confined to the hospital since 2007 after she was transferred from Vernon State Hospital in 2004.<br /><br />There was a closed-door civil commitment hearing for Ms. Laney in November in the 114th District Court, but the outcome of that hearing was unclear.<br /><br />"All of the doctors who came to the November hearing testified that she wasn't mentally ill," Bingham said. He added that his office did everything possible to find evidence to allow Ms. Laney to remain in the mental hospital, including calling in his own experts to testify.<br /><br />Bingham said he respected the verdict of the jury and that Judge Christy Kennedy "did what she had to do and followed the law." He said he wants the public to understand that his office and Judge Kennedy had to follow the law.<br /><br />According to Judge Kennedy's order, "Witnesses testified that Deanna Laney was not likely to cause harm to herself, that she was not likely to cause serious harm to others and that she was not experiencing substantial mental deterioration of her ability to function independently. All witnesses testified that there was no further need for Deanna Laney to continue inpatient treatment."<br /><br />Bingham said he did not know exactly when Ms. Laney was released and did not know where she was living. Her treatment plan has been sealed by the court, he said, because the case became a civil matter after she was acquitted. Her husband, Keith Laney, has been notified of the release, Bingham said.<br /><br />Matt Bingham and Ms. Laney's defense attorney F.R. Buck Files had said they were barred by law from discussing the results after the November hearing.<br /><br />When Ms. Laney was acquitted by a Smith County jury in April 2004, then-114th District Judge Cynthia Stevens Kent ordered Ms. Laney be placed in a maximum-security inpatient treatment facility. Since then, it has been determined at hearings each year that Ms. Laney should remain at an inpatient facility. Judge Kent retired from the bench in 2008.<br /><br />In June 2004, Vernon State Hospital transferred Ms. Laney from its maximum-security facility to Kerrville State Hospital, a nonsecure inpatient facility, court documents state.<br /><br />Between August and December 2005, Ms. Laney's treatment team granted her brief passes off the hospital campus in Kerrville.<br /><br />In 2007, after attorneys discovered that Ms. Laney had been transferred from Vernon State Hospital to Kerrville State Hospital and was being allowed unsupervised furloughs by doctors, Judge Kent put a stop to it at the request of prosecutors.<br /><br />Ms. Laney's defense attorneys appealed the decision, but the 12th Court of Appeals ruled in April 2007 that the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation could not grant Ms. Laney passes to leave the facility with her parents to go shopping and dining in the Hill Country.roblindemanhttp://natickpediatrics.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-75732254652178561582013-01-14T20:20:00.840-05:002013-01-14T20:20:00.840-05:00I don't know, it sounds like the insanity defe...I don't know, it sounds like the insanity defense worked out well for Deanna Laney who stoned her children to death in Texas. She is out and about now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666124.post-53061627263925235292013-01-14T07:47:36.078-05:002013-01-14T07:47:36.078-05:00As usual, Clink, you have struck the nail on the h...As usual, Clink, you have struck the nail on the head: The essential problem with the insanity defense, is that, if successful, results in a longer, usually indefinite sentence (and as you know I am going to add, all of this is of questionable constitutional provenance to say the least!)<br /><br />Anyone who wishes to argue that he did not have a mens rea when he committed a crime is, well, crazy!roblindemanhttp://natickpediatrics.netnoreply@blogger.com