Law Is Law.doc

J: Court. All rise. Case NO.10086 is now on this trial.Theres a woman with a gun and shes shooting people! Oh, God. Oh, my God, shes killing everyone! Were all going to die!DA: The video doesnt lie. The defendant, Katherine, is a cold-blooded killer. When Katherine walked onto the campus of GJ University and killed Fang, left Lily choking on her own blood, she knew it was wrong, she just didnt care. She wasnt suffering from any mental disease or defect, she simply wanted revenge. But dont believe me. Believe the defendant. In her words, and I quote Im not crazy. She deserved to die.FC: Lets be clear. If you take emotional in this case, Katherine will either die by injection or spend the rest of his life in prison. Theres no doubt, she pulled the trigger. She killed one people and wounded a second. But the law is equally clear. If, at the time she committed this act, she was suffering from a mental defect that prevented her from knowing it was wrong, we cannot hold her accountable. Now, The DA neglected some details. First, at the time of the shooting, Katherine had undiagnosed disease .And second, she doesnt remember any of that day because she was not herself. After a drunk driver killed their parents, they were sent to separate foster homes. When Lee was old enough, he adopted Katherine. Lee was more than an older brother. He was Katherines mother, her father, her entire world, until he was died because of her girlfriend, Fang, the victim in this case. What were saying is that because of her sickness, Katherine is not guilty. And her brothers dead exacerbated that sickness. This is a difficult case. But the question before you is simple. When Katherine pulled that trigger, was she a complete, functioning, aware human being or a sick young woman?DA: Look at the evident. Thats what Lily said and those are from the defendant.I dont remember hearing shots or feeling pain. Actually, I remember this warm sensation rush through me. The next thing I felt was my head hitting the ground. And somehow I knew. I knew that Id never walk down the aisle at my wedding. I knew that Id never have children. I didnt know if I was dying, but in that moment, I knew my life was over. During the chaos, I saw the defendant walking toward me. She had a gun. I thought she was going to finish me off. But she didnt. She knelt down beside me with this eerie calm in her eyes, and she said, Im sorry. It wasnt you I was after.And she walked away.They killed my brother .So I decided I would kill them. So thats what I did. You want to arrest me, fine, go ahead. But all I did was get the justice you refused to.DA: You had read the defendant his rights before he made that statement?WA: Yes. But she stopped. She said very calmly that she neither needed nor wanted an attorney. She just wanted people to know the truth.DA: And what truth was this, Detective?WA: Well, that her brother was murdered. And his death needed to be avenged. It was an eye for an eye.DA: And did she seem crazy or psychologically.FC: Objection. The witness lacks foundation to testify as to my clients mental state.DA: Withdraw. How was the defendant, Detective, as she made these statements?WA: She was calm. Her voice was deliberate. She seemed composed and very sure of herself. And she said her brothers death needed to be avenged. She said Eye for an eye several times.FC: Objection. J: Overruled. He can testify as to what he observed.DA: Nothing further, your honor.FC: Do you have any psychological or medical training, sir?WA: No.FC: Thank you. Do you have any clinical experience or qualifications that would enable you to diagnose a psychotic state?WA: No, but from what I observed FC: Thank you. Do you have any training, clinical or academic, with regards to psychosis?WA: No, I do not.FC: Thank you. And is it your testimony today that if someone appeared calm and composed, it would be impossible for them to be suffering from mental disease?WA: That is not my testimony.FC: Thank you. Your honor, I would like to call one more witness. FC: Dr. Chou, could you briefly describe your relationship with my client?WB: Ive examined or tested Katherine more than 30 times over the last 16 months.FC: And what conclusions, if any, have you drawn, Doctor? WB: Simply put, he almost certainly was suffering from psychosis, most likely mental disease and some depression, exacerbated by the death of her brother.FC: Could you break that down a little bit for us?WB: Okay. Symptoms of depression likely began with the death of her parents. The mental disease, basically, its as follows. After her parents died, she sort of lived by a simple rule:What would Lee do? What would Lee think? What would Lee say? After Lee died, it crossed a line. She started hearing what Lee would say. Lee would tell her what to do, what to think. It was Lee who instructed her to avenge his death. That falls under either delusional disorder or mental disease.FC: Thank you. I am finished, your honor.DA: You only treated him after she shot these people.WB: Thats correct. DA: To your knowledge, had she ever told anyone before the shooting that she heard the voice of her dead brother?WB: No, but thats not uncommon. People suffering from this disorder often dont share their delusions with others.DA: So she knew they were delusions, that the voices werent real.WB: Thats not what I said. She likely knew that others would perceive them as unreal.DA: Ah. And she has sense of how others might perceive things, does she? It seemed kind of convenient. Shes got these voices to get rid of all these.WB: If your suggestion is that Ive been duped, I can tell you.DA: Did her older brother, Lee, tell her how to carry out this murder plot with such efficient precision? Seems Lee sure knew what she was talking about, didnt she?SC: Objection.J: Sustained. The Jury can ignore that.DA: This kid was organized. Are you telling me all those decisions were made by dead Lee, and Katherine was simply following orders?WB: Its not as simple as that and you know it.DA: No, it seems complicated. And you say Katherine was controlled by her brothers voice, and thats why she did what she did. When right after she did it, she went and apologized to Lily for shooting her. Doesnt that kind of remorse show that she knew what she did was wrong? Or did Lee whisper in her ear, (SC: Objection!) Go say sorry?WB: That only shows she didnt desire to shoot Lily.DA: Can you look those parents in the eye and say the killer of their children should be set free?WB: I can say that Katherine is ill. She needs treatment, not prison. I bet your doctors will say that, too.J: Were adjourned FC: Do you think that we will win this.SC: Um.FC: What was the um about?SC: It left me a little cold. My concern is itll leave the jury cold.FC: Yeah, mine didnt leave you cold, you walked into the court cold, as you walk through life. We can win this. Lily, the other victim, admitted that she seemed contrite.SC: Thats not right. In fact, she testified that with clarity of mind, she admitted her guilt. FC: Youre second chair. Clearly you think our client is guilty from the start.SC: Rocky, she is guilty.FC: Then I dont want you on my case. SC: I cant be taken off now, or else the jury will pick up on that. A week before my summer holiday, a man came into our cafeteria with a loaded gun and started.My best friend, Sara, pulled me under a table. Can you imagine that? People Id been eating with seconds before.He killed ten people, including himself and Sara. She was just 16. When I look at our client, I still see the guy in the cafeteria.FC: Im sorry, I dont know that. But whether you believe that our client is guilty or not, weve been hired to get her out of it. SC: The only way we win this is to put him up there.FC: Its so dangerous.SC: Can you see any other way? FC: We dont know what hes going to say. SC: The way I figure, she either show sympathetic, which is good, or crazy, even better.FC: Can you close?SC: I dont. All we know for certain is that she needs help. FC: The close-up doesnt have to be long, just enough for the jury to get a sense of him. Look at me. If you cant do it, just say so.SC: I can do it.SC: Okay, the first thing Im going to ask, since were arguing insanity, some people here might wonder whether you know whats going on. Do you?TD: Yes.SC: Whats going on, Katherine?TD: Im on trial for shooting those kids.SC: And do you know what youre on trial for?TD: Murder.SC: And you never denied shooting them, right?TD: But I deny it as a murder. Murder is when it is unjustified. She killed my brother.SC: You loved your brother very much, didnt you, Katherine?TD: I dont want to talk about my brother. Hes dead.SC: Okay. Lets talk about your parents.TD: I dont want to talk about my parents.SC: Well, that makes my job a little difficult, I have to admit. Cause what Im trying to do here is get the jury to know a little bit more about you. And from what I know, your brother meant everything to you.TD: I-I dont want to talk about my brother. My-My brothers dead. She killed him. Thats why I shot her.SC: That must have been hard. Can you tell us what it felt like to shoot her? Do you remember shooting her, Katherine? Katherine, do you remember shooting those two girls?TD: No. But I.I know I did. I know I did.SC: Okay. Can you tell us.?TD: I dont want to talk about my brother, okay? Hes dead! Hes-hes dead, and he-he doesnt want.SC: He doesnt want what? Is he speaking to you right now, Katherine? Katherine.?Lee: She cant be trusted. Katherine.TD: Shut up. Youreyoure not to be trusted.FC: Can I be trusted, Katherine? Does Lee trust me?TD: Id like to go home now. Please. It.Its time to go home.FC: Your Honor, I think were going to stop here.SC: Thank you, Katherine.DA: Just a few questions, Katherine. In fact, Ill make these yes or no. After your brothers death, you took it personal to Fang. Right?TD: Yes.DA: And you were very disappointed, then upset, that Fang walked away free. Three weeks later, you applied for a gun permit, but you did not get it because you were only 17.True?TD: Yes.DA: Then you stole a gun from someone. Then, through computer, you located Fangs dormitory? Yes?TD: Yes.DA: And you formulated a plan where you would go to her room at the designated time. and shoot her, which plan you carried out. True?TD: Yes.DA: Thats all I have.DA: He didnt snap. He was methodical in planning, in preparation. This was carried out by the defendant to accomplish a revenge murder. He woke up that morning and get to the victims dormitory. Then, after mission accomplished, he told doctors that he hears dead people. Insanity. I dont doubt that the defendant suffered a terrible tragedy and a lot of pain here. Many do. That does not make it okay to take the law into your own hands. That is not who we are, whether you claim you hear voices or not.SC: Katherine is a killer, but that does not make him a murderer. We think of insanity as more of a flash thing. Much harder for us to see it as something chronic. First, his parents were killed, and then when his brother died.Katherine became delusional. You saw what happened. This young man threw his life away. Thats not high-level executive functioning. Thats crazy. Thats nuts. You saw him in that video. You witnessed him in that chair. He was incap