Is The Colorado Shooter Insane?

Insanity plea accepted by judge, now to hearings and whether the death penalty applies...

"I find Mr. Holmes understands the effects and consequences of the not guilty by reason of insanity plea," the judge said. Really? Doesn't that statement by the Judge strongly suggest Holmes is not insane (just a depraved murderer)?  Oh, and he is a Muslim convert, so is that justification of him being insane?  Any statement by CAIR on that?

Did Dr. Lynne Fenton report James Holmes to the University of Colorado police weeks before the shooting?

Previous asked was what did the University of Colorado personnel and administrators know about James Homes and when did they know it.   ABC News reports this bombshell:

Dr. Fenton reported James Holmes to University of Colorado police weeks before the Aurora shooting.

Did the University of Colorado know the Aurora shooter was a danger to others but failed to act? What did University of Colorado personnel and administrators know about James Holmes and when did they know it?

Dr. Lynne Fenton expressed her fears about Holmes hurting others
but the University of Colorado choose not to inform
authorities because Holmes was leaving the school.  

Robert Stacy McCain raised the issues of James Holmes' mental health treatment at the University of Colorado a couple of days ago.  The point he raised were wether attorneys for victims would use Dr. Lynne Fenton's background to get at the deep state pocket in civil litigation.  His journalistic instincts were onto something, but with a different twist.  Wombat Socho just posted this article.  

Sources told KMGH that Fenton contacted several members of a "behavioral evaluation and threat assessment" team to say Holmes could potentially be a danger to others, the station reported.
The "BETA" team consists of "key" staff members from various university departments who have specific expertise in dealing with assessing potential threats on campus, the school says on its website.
Holmes was a doctoral student at the university's Anschutz Medical Campus until June, when he withdrew from the program.
Sources told KMGH that university officials never contacted Aurora police with Fenton's concerns before the July 20 killings.

We can expect this to be a central issue in Holmes' criminal trial since his attorneys will almost certainly be pursuing some sort of insanity defense.  But for civil liability, a critical element is often foreseeability.  If the evidence shows Fenton and the University had a duty to report to the police but did not, it is also foreseeable that plaintiffs' lawyers might focus on Fenton and the University.   And the Pontius Pilate defense will probably not work for them.

Update:
Ann Althouse is now starting to notice...
More coverage here...

Update II:
Did Fenton report Holmes to the University of Colorado police weeks before the attack?  

Yelling fire in a crowded movie theater: 21st Century free speech examples

In hindsight, not a good idea...

Almost a separated at birth (of course a doppelgänger) with our man Smitty!  

So far the best argument about gun control...

Whenever something like the Aurora, Colorado shooting takes place, we have a national debate on gun control.  Of course, when it comes to deranged person set on committing mayhem, gun control will not stop it.  The shootings by Behring Breivik in Norway (which has very strict gun control) show that.  Such people do not care about the law and will work to get around it.  All the chiding by Bill Moyers and other leftist scolds will not change that.  

Selwyn Duke at American Thinker does a great job addressing the issue generally and sums it up with a well known apocryphal saying:  God made some men big and others small, but Samuel Colt made them equal.


And putting it another way:   "An armed society is a polite society."  Robert Heinlein

Is the Aurora, Colorado shooter James Holmes faking mental illness?

Obviously shooting a movie theater full of strangers is depraved and not normal.  But legal insanity means (generally) being unable to tell wrong from right.  The burden is on the accused shooter to do so if he uses insanity as a defense.  As a neurology graduate student, the shooter is familiar with the clinical standards for insanity.  Which raises the question on whether his recent behavior is being done intentionally to help an insanity defense.  His body language seems feigned.

He stayed silent throughout the appearance at Arapahoe County Court and at times appeared as if he was under heavy medication.But a jail employee has claimed that the 12-minute catatonic appearance was an act, not the result of any drugs.'We don’t just hand out meds,' the Arapahoe County Detention Center worker told the New York Daily News. 'It just doesn’t work like that. If he was acting sleepy, he was faking it.

There is also being able to reasonably assist defense counsel.  If the shooter is found mentally unable to do so, the court may delay the trial until he is well enough to assist (and could even force him to treatment and to take medication to gain lucidity).  

Update:  Shooter sent University psychiatrist details of this attack in advance?    Unfortunately it appears it was not opened or delivered (the police just found it).  

ABC News: Misquoted mother of slayer in initial reports...

Given the previous shameful acts of Brian Ross, George Stephanopoulos and ABC News, why am I not surprised....

"This statement is to clarify a statement made by ABC media. I was awakened by a call from a reporter by ABC on July 20 about 5:45 in the morning. I did not know anything about a shooting in Aurora at that time," Holmes said in a statement this afternoon, read to the national press by attorney Lisa Damiani. "He asked if I was Arlene Holmes and if my son was James Holmes who lives in Aurora, Colorado. I answered yes, you have the right person. I was referring to myself."

I do not have any sympathy for the accused, but misquoting his mother is wrong and represents shoddy reporting. Obviously just another hack ABC reporter following the low standard set by Brian Ross and George Stephanopoulos.

Update:  
An observation.  To some of the left who wish they could spark some gun control out of this, Behring Breivik lived in a country (Norway) with strict gun control.  That did not seem to stop him from pulling off his attack.
Even Jon Stewart is mocking you Brian Ross...  

While the President pops in Aurora, Colorado on the way to some West Coast fundraisers, Professor Jacobson remembers those slain in Chicago this month...

Murders in the Windy City this month are double the deaths in Aurora, Colorado.  Barack Obama does not care so much about that because Illinois votes are in the bag for him and it highlights the failed policies of the left.

Meanwhile Candy Crowley is educated by Colorado's governor that strict gun laws would not have stopped that shooting in Aurora.  And isn't that demonstrated by Chicago's murder statistics this month?

And Senator Feinstein (D) says concealed carry would not have worked in Aurora because then there would have been a fire fight.  Really?  Twelve died and scores were injured.  I would rather have a chance to fight back.

Update:

Via The Macho Response...

Update:  Behring Breivik lived in a country (Norway) with strict gun control.  That did not seem to stop him from pulling off his attack.