Jury quickly convicts James Holmes, Aurora movie theater murderer.
A jury in Centennial, Colorado, convicted James Holmes of murder on Thursday, deciding he was not driven by insanity to kill 12 people and wound many more when he opened fire at an Aurora movie theater in 2012. Holmes, 27, could face the death penalty when sentenced; the same jury will start hearing testimony in the sentencing phase next Wednesday.
It took Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. about an hour to read each of the 165 guilty verdicts, while families of the victims wept quietly in the courtroom. The trial lasted 11 weeks, but the jury reached its verdict in about 12 hours.
Source: The Associated Press, The New York Times
It took Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. about an hour to read each of the 165 guilty verdicts, while families of the victims wept quietly in the courtroom. The trial lasted 11 weeks, but the jury reached its verdict in about 12 hours.
Source: The Associated Press, The New York Times
At a cost of millions of dollars to the taxpayer.
ReplyDeleteLouman, are you suggesting that we should not prosecute and punish criminals because it's too expensive? Please explain.
DeleteI don't believe I suggested that at all.
DeleteThere was no question he committed the crime. the question was he sane at the time. How much should be spend by the defense to try and prove he was insane at the time? Is the rule an unlimited budget to prove the unprovable? It's not over as the appeals will begin regardless of the sentence. Millions more wasted on a person who clearly committed the crime and seeks to avoid the death sentence which will likely never be carried out. Is the system broken?
How much did the victims receive? Nothing but loss. What's wrong with this picture. The criminal with millions at his disposal, the victims with nothing but heartache at what might have been.
Lou,
ReplyDeleteJustice is only cheap when it is administered by a lynch mob. The cheapest item on the expenses list of this case was the cost of the ammunition used by the shooter. At best,12 rounds, one for each victim at a cost of a few cents each. The most expensive item, apart from the loss of lives, the refusal of the American people to realize the enormity of the problem. You blindly follow the rules as written by the wise men of the late eighteenth century. Those wise men surely had no idea of the damage their "law" would cause a great nation. Your national psyche has undergone a transformation from peaceful coexistence to a fear based nation where everyone must have a gun so that he can prove his manhood. What an utter illustration of fear and in many cases, cowardice. I wonder, were John Wayne and Audi Murphy figments of the imagination and real only on the silver screen.
where everyone must have a gun so that he can prove his manhood.
DeleteI would argue that is not a manhood issue but an issue of self preservation.
Unfortunately you could never collect all the guns that are laying around this country. Hand guns designed for 1 purpose only to kill another person are readily available on every street corner. Semi automatic high caliber rifles (AR15, AK47 types) used for 1 purpose to kill another person. Readily available at any gun show.
The most recent murder of a young woman in San Francisco, out for a walk with her father a perfect example. Killed with a hand gun by an illegal alien. So far his story, he found the gun wrapped in a shirt under a bench. He was shooting at sea lions. It was an accidental discharge. The reality is it was stolen from a government vehicle 2 days prior. Another life wasted by a person who could care less.
Hand guns have got to go. How to get them from the criminal element in this country. High powered AR15, AK 47 type rifles must also go. How to get them out of the criminals hands.
A reality, as long as criminals have possession of firearms, how does a citizenry protect itself from them if they relinquish their firearms. A bit of a catch 22.
"Another life wasted by a person who could care less."
DeleteThis sums it up. Easy access to guns is part of the problem, but callousness seems like a much bigger problem.
Lou
ReplyDeleteas long as criminals have possession of firearms, how does a citizenry protect itself from them if they relinquish their firearms. A bit of a catch 22.
Well Lou, we had the same problem, perhaps not as severe but certainly a major problem requiring guts from the then Prime Minister to combat the gun lobby and other narrow fringe groups .There was also an argument that it was “Un Australian: to deprive an Australian of his firearm.
The Prime Minister had the guts to stand in front of a hostile group of firearm supporters and state his case. He refused to accept either armed body guards or a protective vest. That gesture alone, more than anything else convinced the public to accept the new law. I was a gun owner at the time and I duly applied for a license for my small caliber shot gun.
So, why not America?. There once was a President who announced to a skeptical nation that America would put a man on the moon. Surely more difficult than taking firearms from both law abiding Americans and those who also disregard the law in your country. It is the WILL that is required Lou. I admire America more than any country other than my own. I despair however as you accept as inevitable the continuing loss of life so totally unnecessary.
I realize you have problems which we do not, you have a large southern border which would need to be plugged.( Donald Trump has made stupid comments as to how he will seal this borer). You also have a northern border need in attention. These are procedural problems Lew; what must be achieved is the persuasion of the people that change is required. Change the mind of the people and you can do what you want. I offer Hitler as an example although god forbid the same methods are attempted.
Cheers from Aussie
John,
ReplyDeleteI would argue that is not a manhood issue but an issue of self preservation.
Known guns per capita: US. 88.1 per 100 people.
Based on consolidated information from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, there are about 300 millions guns in the United States.
“There’s no perfect estimate of firearms in the U.S. because creating a national registry of firearms is prohibited by federal law,” noted Alex Katz, a spokesman for Mayors Against Illegal Guns. “But academics and interest groups across the political spectrum broadly agree on the 300 million figure.”
With illegal unregistered, untraceable handguns readily available, it would take more than more than guts to live in the US.
Plug the southern border? That is the most laughable statement made ever in this country. There is less motivation to seal the border than to end handguns.
Imagine the federal government closing a section of the Lincoln Memorial because it was under the control of Mexican drug lords and bands of illegal immigrants.
That scenario is playing out as reality in southern Arizona, where parts of five federal lands -- including two designated national monuments -- continue to post travel warnings or be outright closed to Americans who own the land because of the dangers of "human and drug trafficking" along the Mexican border.
Roughly 3,500 acres of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge -- about 3 percent of the 118,000-acre park -- have been closed since Oct. 6, 2006, when U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials acknowledged a marked increase in violence along a tract of land that extends north from the border for roughly three-quarters of a mile. Federal officials say they have no plans to reopen the area.
Elsewhere, at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, which shares a 32-mile stretch of the border with Mexico, visitors are warned on a federally-run website that some areas are not accessible by anyone.
Our government has ceded the land to illegals and drug cartels. Ending illegal immigration? Rick would stroke out on that one.
Lou
ReplyDeleteAs always you provide reasoned argument and for that my thanks. However, is reasoned argument good enough cause to ignore the problem?. Last week a small lump of US technology took pictures of a tiny planet some ten years travel away from the US. A wonderful example of US technology. Now if you can do that, why not the solution to the Gun issue?. Your own post above is full of reasons why "we cannot”. What is wanted is as many reasons as to why “we can.” As you know, I am a nominal Republican; I can however see the value and the justice in the plea of your Pres to congress. How can the leader in world wealth, technology and some would say philanthropy, stand by and watch the needless slaughter of your own citizens.
Cheers from Aussie
Perhaps a phased approach.
DeleteBegin with handguns and work from there.
Second step semi automatic military style weapons.
An instant ban would not be enforceable as the numbers are a bit to daunting.
Slippery slope.
DeleteOf course it is.
DeleteThe alternative is easily availability of firearms that have no purpose other than killing people.
How about a AK47 for deer hunting. Maybe a little rabbit hunting with an AR15. Perhaps a little squirrel hunting with your Saturday night special.
Lou,
ReplyDeleteOf course, see how easy it is to start the program .William is involved now and I suspect he is opposed as it would weaken the second, William however appears to acknowledge the problem and this too is a start.
Our program included a buy back scheme for weapons surrendered and to pay for it a small levy was added to our taxation system. The levy was dropped when the program finished and there has been an amnesty ever since whereby guns can be handed in to the police no questions asked., (I handed in my small bore shot gun when I turned seventy )as I was no longer able to satisfy myself I was totally able to safely store and use the weapon.
Cheers from Aussie