Insanity Laws News Today

class="nosel"> >> we did our job and we got him convicted. >> so they did. this sisterhood. for the sake of a woman whose fate might have been theirs. diane holik. whose friends came together to remember how they miss her. even after all these years. >> she was a constant friend. she was in my life every day and all of a sudden she was gone in an instant like blowing a candle out. >> you see the smile on all these photographs. was she always smiling? >> always. always. >> she had a magi...

>> it is so important that everyone understands that hinckley was never found guilty of any crimes. he was found not guilty of all 16 counts by reason of insanity. but in the early 80s, the rules for the insanity defense were very different. basically, the defendant could pause that defense, and it was up to the prosecution to refute it. this was a watershed event. almost every state changed their insanity laws because public sentiment was that he got over on the system. he literally got away wi...

Why? >> oh, absolutely jon. believe it or not four states dont even have insanity laws and the insanity law in colorado is very relaxed. it puts the burden of proof on the prosecutor, not on the defense, on the prosecution to prove that holmes was legally sane at the time of the shooting. not just that, but there are two ways in which holmes can be deemed insane. one is if his mind was so diseased and defective that he didnt know right from wrong jon. the other way, which i think the defense has...

I dont know. we dont have facts and its total guessing but it has a specific legal definition. insane people do evil things, sane people do evil things. this was the worst. the level of devastation here is absolutely unthinkable, so its an evil act, its whether he has a legal defense that will spare him the penalty. you can expect theres a high likelihood of the death penalty. >> let me follow up on that. states have different insanity laws, correct? and so what would be the easiest law for him,...

I dont know. we dont have facts and its total guessing but it has a specific legal definition. insane people do evil things, sane people do evil things. this was the worst. the level of devastation here is absolutely unthinkable, so its an evil act, its whether he has a legal defense that will spare him the penalty. you can expect theres a high likelihood of the death penalty. >> let me follow up on that. states have different insanity laws, correct? and so what would be the easiest law for him,...