Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury
Description:
The purpose of this discussion is for you to gain a better understanding of how the insanity defense might be
applied in an actual case
For the final discussion you will become a member of a jury and decide whether the defendant in the case
described below should be found not guilty by reason of insanity. The case facts are based on an actual case, and
I will tell you the results of the actual case once the discussion ends
Assume the case is taking place in a state that has adopted the “irresistible impulse” insanity test. Use this week’s
course material to make sure you understand the irresistible impulse test
Read the facts of the case over a couple of times before beginning your initial response and note which facts might
relate to the irresistible impulse test
As a member of the jury, in this case discuss whether you would find the person not guilty by reason of insanity
and justify your decision. You should demonstrate your understanding of the “irresistible impulse” insanity test by
applying the irresistible impulse test to the facts of the case in your initial response. Do not make your decision
based on emotions, as the judge has instructed the jury that it must apply the law (the insanity defense) to the
facts
Facts of the Case:
Defendant was born in the Midwest into a fundamentalist family. He was always painfully shy and suffered from low
self-esteem. As a child, he was molested by a neighbor. First, his father left the home. Then, after a bitter divorce, his
mother took his brother, and left Defendant with his father. His parents weren’t speaking and Defendant didn’t even
know how to contact his mother and brother. Defendant’s history of abandonment left him with feelings of loss and
rejection.
When young, Defendant impaled the heads of animals he killed on stakes in his yard. He collected dead animals and
had necrophiliac desires. Defendant’s stepmother said, "When he was young, he liked to use acid to scrape the meat
off dead animals." She recalled during the late 1980s, an odor emanated from the basement and garage prompting
Defendant's father, a chemist, to investigate. He found "bones and the residue in the containers." Defendant told him
he stripped flesh from an animal he found.
As a teen, Defendant had fantasies of killing and mutilating men. After graduating from high school at age 17, he was
left alone at home, without money or food, and a broken refrigerator. It is believed by some that this experience,
abandonment, and mental illness gave him the justification he needed to commit crimes. However, his own history
shows that he had serious problems long before this event.
Defendant committed his first murder at age 18. He killed a young hitchhiker he invited to his house, where he killed
him with a barbell, then smashed his bones with a hammer because he "didn't want him to leave." He would not kil.
Presentation by Andreas Schleicher Tackling the School Absenteeism Crisis 30 ...
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury Description The p.docx
1. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury
Description:
understanding of how the insanity defense might be
applied in an actual case
and decide whether the defendant in the case
described below should be found not guilty by reason of
insanity. The case facts are based on an actual case, and
I will tell you the results of the actual case once the discussion
ends
“irresistible impulse” insanity test. Use this week’s
course material to make sure you understand the irresistible
impulse test
s of the case over a couple of times before
beginning your initial response and note which facts might
relate to the irresistible impulse test
would find the person not guilty by reason of insanity
2. and justify your decision. You should demonstrate your
understanding of the “irresistible impulse” insanity test by
applying the irresistible impulse test to the facts of the case in
your initial response. Do not make your decision
based on emotions, as the judge has instructed the jury that it
must apply the law (the insanity defense) to the
facts
Facts of the Case:
Defendant was born in the Midwest into a fundamentalist
family. He was always painfully shy and suffered from low
self-esteem. As a child, he was molested by a neighbor. First,
his father left the home. Then, after a bitter divorce, his
mother took his brother, and left Defendant with his father. His
parents weren’t speaking and Defendant didn’t even
know how to contact his mother and brother. Defendant’s
history of abandonment left him with feelings of loss and
rejection.
When young, Defendant impaled the heads of animals he killed
on stakes in his yard. He collected dead animals and
had necrophiliac desires. Defendant’s stepmother said, "When
he was young, he liked to use acid to scrape the meat
off dead animals." She recalled during the late 1980s, an odor
emanated from the basement and garage prompting
3. Defendant's father, a chemist, to investigate. He found "bones
and the residue in the containers." Defendant told him
he stripped flesh from an animal he found.
As a teen, Defendant had fantasies of killing and mutilating
men. After graduating from high school at age 17, he was
left alone at home, without money or food, and a broken
refrigerator. It is believed by some that this experience,
abandonment, and mental illness gave him the justification he
needed to commit crimes. However, his own history
shows that he had serious problems long before this event.
Defendant committed his first murder at age 18. He killed a
young hitchhiker he invited to his house, where he killed
him with a barbell, then smashed his bones with a hammer
because he "didn't want him to leave." He would not kill
again for another nine years. He did not do well in college.
Encouraged by his father, he joined the military where he
became an army medic. He was discharged for drunkenness.
Defendant then lived with his grandmother for six
years. Eventually, he got a factory job and also discovered gay
bars, which is where he picked up his second victim.
Defendant had not yet been arrested for the first two crimes
when he was arrested for sexually fondling a 13-year-old
4. boy. He served 10 months incarcerated and was required to
register as a sex offender. After committing the sexual
molestation crime, Defendant killed another 15 young men, and
by the end he was claiming one victim a week. His
fantasy was for a compliant sexual partner and necrophilia.
Most of Defendant’s all male victims were minorities,
usually African Americans.
In gay bars, he offered young homosexual and bisexual males
money to pose for photos or to watch videos and drink
beer at his place. He drugged victims into a deep sleep with
spiked drinks before strangling or stabbing them to
death, having anal sex with the cadaver, and then dismembering
them with a hacksaw. Their heads and genitalia
were kept as trophies. Biceps and other muscles were frozen for
future consumption. Defendant said human flesh
"tasted like beef." The remainder was boiled with chemicals and
acids before being washed down the drains. He
conducted lobotomies on some victims and most died instantly.
However, he poured acid into a hole drilled in one
victim's skull, and the victim lived and functioned in a zombie
state for several days, according to the Defendant.
5. One morning, three police officers were routed to a 911 call
from a rundown city suburb where two witnesses found
an incoherent Asian boy running around naked and bleeding.
Even though he couldn't speak English, it was obvious
that he was frightened of the white man following him out into
the street trying to get him to return to the apartment.
Defendant told police the boy was his 19-year-old lover, and
they had a lover’s quarrel. After police escorted the boy
to Defendant’s apartment, Defendant strangled the boy, abused
his body before dismembering it, and kept some
parts to eat and his skull as a trophy. The thirteenth of
Defendant's 17 victims was the older brother of the boy he was
convicted of molesting.
Finally, the day came when two cops were driving through
Defendant's neighborhood when they saw a dazed black
man with a single handcuff on his wrist. The man told them
about watching a video with a "weird dude," and being
drugged, handcuffed, and threatened with a knife. He had fought
back and escaped from the apartment. The cops
had him take them to the apartment.
Defendant answered the door and explained that he lost his job
at a chocolate factory, got drunk, and lost his temper.
6. When he went to get the handcuff key from his bedroom, a cop
followed him in. The stench of death and rotting flesh
was overwhelming. He spotted Polaroid photos of dismembered
bodies and skulls in a refrigerator. He went into the
kitchen and saw the refrigerator covered with pictures of
mutilated men. He screamed when he opened the door. A
human head sat on a refrigerator shelf.
Defendant fought back hard as they handcuffed him. Three more
heads and human meat were in the freezer. Hands
from several victims and a penis were in a stockpot in a closet.
Two boiled skulls painted grey were on a bedroom
closet shelf. Male genitalia were also found preserved in
formaldehyde. A bottle of chloroform was found which had
been used to drug the victims. There were hundreds of photos of
victims before, during the murders, and after death.
There was an altar of candles and human skulls in Defendant’s
closet. He planned to create a shrine using skulls,
human trophies, and a statue of a griffin he owned to honor evil.
He said it would give him "special powers and
energies to help him socially and financially."
Defendant told the detective during questioning:
7. "I have to question whether there is an evil force in the world
and whether or not I have been influenced by it.
Although I am not sure if there is a God or if there is a Devil, I
know that as of late I've been doing a lot of thinking
about both."
Defendant admitted to his crimes. He made no excuses and
blamed nobody but himself. Defendant was a well-
spoken and seemingly an intelligent man.