Loughner pleads not guilty to trying to assassinate Rep. Gif

[RPB]

Loughner pleads not guilty to trying to assassinate Rep. Giffords


Story here:

http://wildcat.arizona.edu/news/news-fr ... 0111241617" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[USA1]

Loughner pleads not guilty to trying to assassinate Rep. Giffords

[denwego]

I have no doubt that this guy is banana-sandwich crazy, and his lawyer is going to push an insanity defense along with this not-guilty plea. However, I have enough faith in the prosecutors that they'll prove him sane-enough-to-have-a-needle-shoved-in-his-arm sane. Let's just hope we find a reliable source of thiopental by the time we need it for him!

[Beiruty]

his lawyer entered the plea, where is the ? he was silent and smiling.

[The Annoyed Man]

The lawyers can correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that premeditation neutralizes the insanity defense, and Loughner clearly premeditated his act.

[A-R]

The lawyers can correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that premeditation neutralizes the insanity defense, and Loughner clearly premeditated his act.

Also I've heard some lawyer type from Arizona (a county prosecutor maybe?) on one of the news shows mention that Arizona's insanity defense laws are very different. I think they can stick him in the nut house until he is deemed "sane enough to return to society" and THEN commence with carrying out the ultimate and proper punishment.

I may be WAY OFF on this - but I think this is what I remember hearing when he showed up for his first court appearance just after the shooting.

EDITED TO ADD: Good write up about insanity plea in this case here http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz- ... ly#parsely" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

seems my scenario above may not be exactly correct, but an insanity defense is much tougher to prove under Arizona law.

[rm9792]

How could premeditation neutralize insanity as a defense? Nuts can be quite methodical and meticulous.

[i8godzilla]

Andrea Yates successfully used the insanity defense (in her second trail). Filling a bathtub and taking your children one at time into the bathroom sounds premeditated to me. But then again, what do I know?