Saturday, September 5, 2009

Insanity Defense? (Part1)

We've been asked about the possibility of Scott Roeder using an "insanity defense." For reasons we'll explain in part 2 we don't think this is likely.

In Kansas the "insanity defense" has been replaced with "mental disease or defect." A person found "not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect" is not released back into society (at least not immediately) but is instead committed to the State Security Hospital in Larned.

We'll get the law and post more specifics in Part 2.
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4 comments:

  1. Scott will not go for mentally diseased or incapacitated as he does not see himself that way. Unless there is some way that his lawyers could have him declared incompetent without his approval. (I certainly hope not) Scott's sibling and father both have bi-polar disorder. (Scott's dad is deceased) Scott was diagnosed as having schizophrenia at 18 or 19. Scott blamed it on his 'wild teen years and drug experimentation.' Scott did not show any signs of mental illness in the early days of our dating or marriage. When day to day life got to rough for him he began looking for a solution. Thats a logical step for most people but Scott would get obsessed with an idea or theory and it began to snowball out of control. Scot was suicidal in February of 1995. Scott was admitted to a hospital percerbied med but refused treatment and checked himself out. I could tell this all in greater detail but there is not enough room in the comment space. Thank you, Lindsey

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  2. Lindsey -

    Thank you for your insight. From everything we've seen in the public - plus our sources - we didn't see Scott willing to go this route either.

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  3. My friend and I were wondering if Operation Rescue will be held accountable if the insanity plea comes out. As we know that Roeder and O.R. were in contact with each other, is it possible that O.R. was banking on Roeder's actions while aware of his mental unstability? Consider, if after Roeder murdered Tiller, there was a possibility that he could have met his end in a firefight with the police. Also, there is a chance that Roeder would have commited suicide afterwards. If this did happen where Roeder lost his life, O.R. could have easily said, "Well, what did you expect, he's insane," in an attempt to cover their tracks.
    Personally, I suspect that O.R. did plant the seeds of murder into Roeder, but I'm not convinced they expected for him to survive after the deed.

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  4. We really don't see him using an insanity plea. He honestly believes what he did was justified, and if he pleads out, he cannot use the courtroom to stage a show.

    How connected Operation Rescue, other militant anti-abortion groups, and Roeder were and still are remains to be seen. The FBI said in June they were investigating some of Roeder's actions, and they are contacting the people who have visited him in jail. Some of this may come out in the trial.

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