Aurora Shooting Suspect James Holmes Ordered To Wear Harness Anchoring Him To The Floor During Trial

[Purveyor]

DENVER -- Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes will be restrained during his trial by wearing a harness under his clothes that will be anchored to the floor.

A judge ruled Thursday that Holmes must be restrained because he's charged with violent crimes.

Defense lawyers asked that Holmes not be shackled because it would make him look like a criminal to the jurors.

he judge said jurors won't see the harness, and the anchoring cable will blend in with computer cables at the defense table.

The judge ruled earlier that Holmes can wear civilian clothing at his trial.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/james-holmes-ordered-wear-harness-trial-article-1.1384624#ixzz2XSwhAAMz

[MrSlayer]

1. Stupid.

The jackass doesn't have any guns now. This screams of paranoia.

[Recursion]

4. The bailiffs do (nt)

[MrSlayer]

5. Yeah. I'm sure they'd love for him to try it.

Many people would. Get this over quickly.

[Sheldon Cooper]

9. They probably thought the same thing about Brian Nichols.

[alittlelark]

12. He does not belong in the criminal justice system

He belongs in a high risk psy ward, and kept medicated.

[HardTimes99]

14. I have not been following the story very closely. Was there a competency hearing? - nt

[alittlelark]

16. Unsure, but the case is so 'high profile'

that there was no way to keep it out of the criminal justice system IMHO. PPl in this country want a lynching... hate to say it as a VERY anti-death penalty person, but he would be one I would do it to.........

***EXCEPT FOR HIS OBVIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS***


The guy has a truly F'ed up brain - you can see it in his eyes.... too bad no one noticed before he destroyed so many lives.

[HardTimes99]

17. Thank you for your humanity. The SCOTUS has ruled that

executing the mentally ill violates the constitutional provision prohibiting 'cruel and unusual punishment'.

I'm also very anti-death penalty and I already had my response trigger finger itching until I read this:

***EXCEPT FOR HIS OBVIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS***

[alittlelark]

24. There are institutions that could deal w/him

He was likely born w/ F'ed up neural wiring.. If we still had school counselors he would have already been pegged, and either institutionalized or on heavy meds.

[Honeycombe8]

31. I know someone with that look...very large eyes. He was born that way.

His eyes would be pretty, except for that look. He's a very smart attorney. And not mentally ill.

The only defense to murder is insanity to the point where you don't know the difference between right or wrong, I believe. In other words, you can be insane, but still know you're committing an illegal act. If you know, then your insanity is not a defense.

All murderers are disturbed to some degree, don't you think?

[alittlelark]

32. It's not large eyes (mine are as well)... it's the craziness

you can see in them.

[Honeycombe8]

38. Or the craziness he wants you to see. nt

[backscatter712]

29. They're in the process now of determining whether he's competent to stand trial.

At least that's what the latest batch of hearings were about - trying to determine whether Holmes qualifies as "criminally insane" - that is, not guilty of murder due to mental illness, but clearly dangerously mentally ill enough to require he be confined to an institution for the rest of his life.

[MrSlayer]

22. He belongs in a cemetery.

If he's that crazy and dangerous there's no need to keep him around.

[alittlelark]

26. Likely he was born that way... I fully understand your sentiment

....really, I do. This is a hard one for me, but I need to put myself in his position w/ REALLY F'ed up neural wiring and no good support structure.

I am very anti-death penalty, and he would wreak havoc in a prison - we have institutions that deal w/ F'ed up ppl like him.

PS - I give him less than 5 years before he is in that cemetery by his own hand or others.

[backscatter712]

30. He belongs in a hospital.

I feel sorry for Holmes - he's clearly extremely mentally ill, and needs medical help, not revenge.

[MrSlayer]

35. Well I'd hope to have you on my jury should I ever need to massacre people.

I feel sorry for the families of the people he slaughtered.

[alittlelark]

36. If you were truly insane (as he seems to be), then , YES

You would want me on the jury. I can recognize the difference between biological damage and willful violence - If given information from mental health professionals. I have an open mind.

The families.....

[backscatter712]

37. I feel sorry for the families and the victims too...

...but that doesn't negate the possibility that Holmes is suffering from schizophrenia and other mental disorders that were completely distorting his perceptions and his thought processes.

Why did he shoot all those people? If he's sick, then there is no why - his cognitive functions were haywire, and nothing he was doing had any working logic behind it.

The courts and state psychiatrists are examining him to determine his mental state. If he's sick, he needs treatment. Punishment won't do any good for anyone.

Taking revenge on him won't bring back the victims.

[pscot]

2. Dude is a psycho

[quinnox]

3. wtf, shades of silence of the lambs

[alittlelark]

6. Don't like the idea of shackles....... but.....

In this case I understand.

[RebelOne]

18. Ditto. n/t

[Aerows]

21. Amen n/t

[femmocrat]

7. Wow.... he looked like he was barely conscious at his earlier hearing.

Do they expect him to jump out of his chair? Seems excessive to me!

[alittlelark]

10. Likely highly medicated.

He does not belong in jail or court - he likely belongs in a high risk psychiatric facility.

[undeterred]

8. What kind of drugs is he on?

[joeunderdog]

33. Heavy hitting anti-psychotics--probably Haldol, Respirdol, Zyprexa and maybe a mood stabilizer.

I work with mentally ill forensics and he sure as hell looks like a legit NGRI to me. Most of what you see on Court TV when people claim insanity is a load of crap. This guy looks pretty messed up for real. But you never know until you talk to him. It all comes down to one thing--did he know right from wrong?

[Myrina]

11. A leash? Really?

That's what the great and shining beacon of Human Rights have devolved to, huh?

[alittlelark]

13. This is not a sane man...

Criminal courts should not be involved. Psych professionals should.

[Aerows]

20. No, he's really not

And I wouldn't want to be in a courtroom with him without some kind of restraints keeping him in place.

[RobinA]

28. Oh For Lord's Sake

Just because he is mentally ill, even extremely mentally ill, does not mean he's going to up and attack everybody in the courtroom. It doesn't work that way.

[alittlelark]

34. ....Uh... it has happened many times in the past.

They are being cautious - and rightly so.


PS - Not EVERYONE in the courtroom.... just the ones they choose - oftentimes their own attorney, sometimes the judge, the prosecutor can be a good target........ the bailiff is often the best target because they have A GUN..

Gotta say, this dude is worthy of the harness.

I do not say this lightly.

[HiPointDem]

27. he's high. look at his pupils.

[Tx4obama]

15. Go ahead and say that to the families of all the people he killed and see what they have to say. n/t

[Aerows]

19. Considering that he's crazy as a loon

I'd say that's pretty much a good idea. At least they are making it so that he isn't in shackles, but *I* wouldn't want to be in a court room with that nut if he isn't somehow kept from going bananas again.

[jmowreader]

23. Is there a reason they can't use a video link?

If he is that dangerous and unpredictable, he could try something while they're leashing him down

[winter is coming]

25. That would likely have been objected to by the defense as being prejudicial. n/t