Criminal Culpability of a Yoot

[DGS49]

So with the minimal information we now have about the Murrysville Slasher (one Alex Hribal), let's decide what to do with him.

The perpetrator is a 16-year-old white kid with no prior interactions with law enforcement - or even the disciplinary system of his schools. He is being charged as an adult and there is no indication that he is psychotic. Pennsylvania uses the "M'Naughton Rule" to determine competence and it is a very low standard. Does the perp understand the difference between right and wrong, and can he understand the logical consquences of his actions? That's it. So forget any "insanity defense," in this case.

Bringing the knives(!) to school shows premeditation and planning. Although most of the wounds were of the slashing type, there were five or six that he literally plunged the knives into kids' abdomens, thus indicating an intent to kill.

I think we're looking at an inevitable conviction on multiple counts of Ag Assault and attempted homicide. Ironically, he will avoid the 5-year bumper that goes with committing a crime with a firearm. Good choice on his part.

I predict many, many years in the slammer for him.

 

[Mr. H.]

He'll languish in juvie detention for a spell, then be released on compassionate grounds.

 

[martybegan]

So with the minimal information we now have about the Murrysville Slasher (one Alex Hribal), let's decide what to do with him.

The perpetrator is a 16-year-old white kid with no prior interactions with law enforcement - or even the disciplinary system of his schools. He is being charged as an adult and there is no indication that he is psychotic. Pennsylvania uses the "M'Naughton Rule" to determine competence and it is a very low standard. Does the perp understand the difference between right and wrong, and can he understand the logical consquences of his actions? That's it. So forget any "insanity defense," in this case.

Bringing the knives(!) to school shows premeditation and planning. Although most of the wounds were of the slashing type, there were five or six that he literally plunged the knives into kids' abdomens, thus indicating an intent to kill.

I think we're looking at an inevitable conviction on multiple counts of Ag Assault and attempted homicide. Ironically, he will avoid the 5-year bumper that goes with committing a crime with a firearm. Good choice on his part.

I predict many, many years in the slammer for him.

If he had stabbed one kid, and had zero priors you could see him being tried as a juvenile. However something of this magnitude requires the adult criminal process.

Remember, if no one dies, he is guilty of assault, maybe attempted murder. If they run the sentences concurrently he could be out in less than 5 years. What I see happening is a combination of consecutive and concurrent sentences, and a term of around 10-15. If someone dies, however, all bets are off.

 

[whitehall]

The kid will be 30 by the time he resumes a normal life after being in and out of penal institutions and psychiatric hospitals. It's the best society can do but his life is ruined.

 

[Jarlaxle]

He should get the maximum sentence on all charges, served consecutively. He should be locked up until he is 100.

 

[waltky]

Lawyer gonna claim he's crazy...

Lawyer: Stabbing suspect like 'deer in headlights'
April 10, 2014 — The 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing 22 people at his high school was dazed "like a deer in the headlights" hours later and doesn't fully grasp what he did, his attorney said Thursday as he sketched out the beginnings of a possible mental health defense.

Deepening the mystery of what set off the violence, attorney Patrick Thomassey said Alex Hribal had no history of mental illness or troublemaking, didn't abuse drugs and was no outcast at school, where the lawyer described him as a B or B-plus student. "In a case like this, it's pretty obvious to me that there must be something inside this young man that nobody knew about," Thomassey told The Associated Press. The local prosecutor, meanwhile, said Hribal remained an enigma. "We have very little information about him," Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck said, "except for the fact that he was a student, his age, and how he was as a student." Authorities seized the family's computer as they searched for clues to Wednesday's rampage at Franklin Regional High, about 15 miles from Pittsburgh. Authorities said Hribal armed himself with two kitchen knives and stabbed 21 students and a security guard before an assistant principal tackled him.

The slender, dark-haired boy who looks younger than his years was jailed without bail on four counts of attempted homicide and 21 counts of aggravated assault. Authorities are prosecuting him as an adult, but Thomassey said he will try to have the case moved to juvenile court. He said he plans to get his client examined by a psychiatrist before a preliminary hearing on April 30. "I think his mental state now is unstable. I'm not sure that he recognizes the enormity, if that's the word, of what has occurred," Thomassey said. "And I think in his own mind he's trying to figure out what happened here, as we all are trying to figure out what the heck happened here." The attack seemingly came out of nowhere, the attorney said. "Both parents are good parents. They're parents who pay attention to their kids, who eat dinner with their kids every day, who understand their kids' friends, who, you know, care about who they hang out with," Thomassey said.

Alex Hribal, the suspect in the multiple stabbings at the Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, Pa., is escorted by police to a district magistrate to be arraigned on Wednesday, April 9, 2014, in Export, Pa. Authorities say Hribal has been charged after allegedly stabbing and slashing at least 19 people, including students, in the crowded halls of his suburban Pittsburgh high school Wednesday.

But a school security consultant said it is often the case that school attacks are perpetrated by kids who officials say weren't on their radar. "In incident after incident, when you start peeling back the onion, you find there were some indicators, there certainly were some issues. But it takes some time to find," said Ken Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services. "Often times, it's not the kid who's the class clown or acting out the most, but the kid who's changed, who's turned more introverted or withdrawn," he said. "I think the one consistent theme across all of these is mental health." Ten boys remained hospitalized, three in critical condition. Police and doctors said one victim, a 17-year-old whose name was not released, had surgery again overnight and was in very critical condition after suffering a knife thrust that pierced his liver and missed his heart and aorta by fractions of an inch.

Another student, Brett Hurt, 16, told of being stabbed in the back. "What was going through my mind?" Hurt said at a hospital news conference. "Will I survive or will I die." Hurt said he pushed his friend Gracie Evans out of the attacker's way, and then after he was stabbed, she stayed with him and put pressure on the wound. "Gracie was screaming and asking me if I was all right," Hurt said. Hurt's mother, Amanda Leonard, said of Evans: "I've hugged her and kissed her. I have told her thank you. There is nothing in the world I can do for that girl that can thank her enough for what she has done." As for the assailant, Hurt said he hopes that someday "I can forgive him, and everyone else who got hurt can forgive him. First of all, he needs to forgive himself." A day after the rampage, students pondered what comes next for their school, which could reopen Monday after the blood-spattered floors and walls are cleaned up. "It will never be the same, but you want it to be as close to the same as possible," said Jacob Roberge, a junior. Roberge said that while "people are definitely mad" at Hribal, "more so, people want him to get help."

Lawyer: Stabbing suspect like 'deer in headlights' | CNS News

 

[strollingbones]

he is being charged as an adult..what does it say about our culture that we are willing to write kids off at 16?

 

[DGS49]

Two things: If he gets this moved to Juvie, the only sentence would be for "Delinquency," and the longest they could keep him locked up would be until he is 21 years old. Individual crimes and prison terms are not a part of the juvenile justice paradigm.

At common law, fourteen years old was the presumptive age when you were an "adult" for the purpose of establishing criminal intent. Presumptive, but not definitive - there could be exceptions, but probably not for acts like this.

Keep in mind that "adolescence" is a relatively new concept in human history. We think of it as a time when you can loll around with the maturity of a child and the body of an adult, and not be completely responsible for your actions, but this, as I say, is a relatively new view. Historically, a 16-year-old would be either at the University, in an apprenticeship, or working the farm. No reason to treat him as anything other than a responsible adult.

 

[martybegan]

he is being charged as an adult..what does it say about our culture that we are willing to write kids off at 16?

its one thing for giving someone who boosts a Xbox One, or gets into a fight with another kid (even with a knife) a 2nd chance via the juvenile legal system, but this kid stabbed 20+ people. Unless he is shown to have an actual mental issue, you have to charge him as an adult and punish him for his actions.

 

[Abishai100]

Juvenile Stopwatch

Assessing the impact and significance of juvenile crimes often involves an analysis of social factors, since ideas about peer pressure are what bring forth claims of compassion or pleas of insanity.

We could discuss the connections between various realms of legal issues here.

Torture is defined as the exacting of a punishment in extreme scales and in durations deemed otherwise intolerable by any measure of criminality proportionality.

When a person claims insanity as the defense for an accused crime committed, standard punishment for the crime may be ruled to be torture and hence inappropriate. Such individuals may be afforded institutional mental care rather than incarceration punishment.

Insanity defenses are related to general pleas regarding ‘diminished capacity’ which include defenses such as intoxication. If a person driving a vehicle is intoxicated (under the influence of alcohol), they are punished under the principle of ‘pre-meditated self-debilitation,’ since they knew the intoxicating substance would impair their ability to drive. If, however, such a person claims insanity as their defense, they may be considered ‘unable’ to estimate their inability to drive a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.

It seems that the key defense of the insanity plea is a complete inability to assess the consequences of the criminal action. In such cases, verdicts about malice or intentional crime or pre-meditated crime can be difficult to reach.

A useful way to approach such cases is to talk about the labors involved with the crime discussed. For example, if a person was driving a vehicle while intoxicated but is deemed to be insane, the court can discuss the extenuating factors (i.e., psychological or emotional fatigue) that compelled the person to drink alcohol.

Therefore, if the court is awarded rights to discuss broader aspects of a juvenile case, principles regarding 'self-control' in juvenile crimes may be easier to present.

Why do today's youths, for example, seem to be 'inspired' toward criminality by media/entertainment images (i.e., violence-themed movies, mayhem-themed comic books)?






Diminished responsibility - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia