If Adam was still alive: death penalty or no?

If we lived in a world where Adam didn't duck out of sight of surrounding officers and shot himself at the back of a head (meaning that he lived), should he get the death penalty (AKA capital punishment) or not and just an UNREAL prison sentence.

In my opinion, he should've. Take James Holmes. He was spared the death penalty by courts because of mental illness. We know that it was in debate whether James Holmes was undergoing a psychotic episode just before and during the shooting but Adam being psychotic during the shooting WAS brought up but immediately rebuffed. CNN said that the report issued by the Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate stated that Adam was not "obviously psychotic". Plus, don't forget the varying degree of victims when comparing both shootings.

Therefore in my opinion, Adam he is more suitable for the death penalty than James meaning Adam should deserve the death penalty.

Well considering the state of Connecticut got rid of the death penalty about 8 months prior to the shooting, Adam would not have gotten the death penalty. Hypothetically speaking, if the state still had the death penalty? Then yes, without a doubt, he should have gotten it.

Adam was a matricidal child murderer; Prison would not have been fun for him. He'd probably view getting executed as an act of kindness.

The only thing I can say is that Adam was extremely suicidal and that life brought him no joy. He wanted to die so I think that he would have wanted to be sentenced to death if had failed to complete his suicide. His friend told the FBI that he saw death as escape. If the goal is retribution and the purpose of the sentence would be to punish him to the greatest extent possible, then I believe that forcing him to live out his natural life might be a harsher punishment than killing him.

STK wrote:

Adam was a matricidal child murderer; Prison would not have been fun for him. He'd probably view getting executed as an act of kindness.

he would of gone to isolation most likely, and he would of hated it

I dont believe he would be alive to get the death penalty, with how suicidal he seemed I can't see him not commiting sucide while in jail.

-warrior wrote:

he would of gone to isolation most likely, and he would of hated it

And he would have been there for a long, long time.
It's not hard to see him being murdered by other inmates either if he ever did make it to general population in a prison.

Actually I think he would be declared unfit for trial and get institutionalized. He was pretty out of it by the time the attack happened.

QuestionMark wrote:

Actually I think he would be declared unfit for trial and get institutionalized. He was pretty out of it by the time the attack happened.

u have to be a real nut to fall under that category..and if adam knew it was wrong then he would most likely be on trial

-warrior wrote:

QuestionMark wrote:

Actually I think he would be declared unfit for trial and get institutionalized. He was pretty out of it by the time the attack happened.

u have to be a real nut to fall under that category..and if adam knew it was wrong then he would most likely be on trial  

Well Adam was a real nut. Taping garbage bags to his windows, going through a box of tissues to open a door, and other very clearly batshit behavior indicates to me that he probably wouldn't be going to court.

QuestionMark wrote:

Taping garbage bags to his windows, going through a box of tissues to open a door, and other very clearly batshit behavior indicates to me that he probably wouldn't be going to court.

i dont think the state would say hes incompetent to stand trial , im thinking he would go to court

QuestionMark wrote:

-warrior wrote:

QuestionMark wrote:

Actually I think he would be declared unfit for trial and get institutionalized. He was pretty out of it by the time the attack happened.

u have to be a real nut to fall under that category..and if adam knew it was wrong then he would most likely be on trial  

Well Adam was a real nut. Taping garbage bags to his windows, going through a box of tissues to open a door, and other very clearly batshit behavior indicates to me that he probably wouldn't be going to court.

Phobias and sensory sensitivities don't interfere with someone's capacity to understand right and wrong. There's about a 100% chance that Adam was legally sane at the time of his attack.

-warrior wrote:

QuestionMark wrote:

Taping garbage bags to his windows, going through a box of tissues to open a door, and other very clearly batshit behavior indicates to me that he probably wouldn't be going to court.

i dont think the state would say hes incompetent to stand trial , im thinking he would go to court

I think there's a decent chance of it happening. Adam was in a real bad place by the time of the shootings.

OTOH, the crime he'd be on trial for is very serious. Millions would be clamoring for his death or imprisonment.

sscc wrote:

There's about a 100% chance that Adam was legally sane at the time of his attack.

I disagree. The possibility that he was having a psychotic episode during the attack is a very real possibility.

QuestionMark wrote:

Well Adam was a real nut. Taping garbage bags to his windows, going through a box of tissues to open a door, and other very clearly batshit behavior indicates to me that he probably wouldn't be going to court.

That doesn't mean he would be classified as insane. Unfortunately, ever since John Hinckley Jr. the US's definition of legal insanity is rather strict. The majority of the US uses what is called "The M'Naghten Rule". Under this rule, "criminal defendant is not guilty by reason of insanity if, at the time of the alleged criminal act, the defendant was so deranged that she did not know the nature or quality of her actions or, if she knew the nature and quality of her actions, she was so deranged that she did not know that what she was doing was wrong." The above behavior indicates weirdness sure, but it doesn't mean that he was insane according to the legal standard.

QuestionMark wrote:

I think there's a decent chance of it happening. Adam was in a real bad place by the time of the shootings.

OTOH, the crime he'd be on trial for is very serious. Millions would be clamoring for his death or imprisonment.

Unfortunately for all of us, the US court system isn't geared towards rehabilitation, even when there is clear evidence of mental illness. If that were the case, Jared Lee Loughner and Alvaro Castillo would have been treated and released from prison years ago, and Gypsy Rose Blancharde wouldn't have gone to prison at all. Our current system is dictated largely by the public's desire for revenge and the maximization of profits.

STK wrote:

and Gypsy Rose Blancharde wouldn't have gone to prison at all.

its like how Joseph hall went to jail for murder at 11

QuestionMark wrote:

sscc wrote:

There's about a 100% chance that Adam was legally sane at the time of his attack.

I disagree. The possibility that he was having a psychotic episode during the attack is a very real possibility.

I think that it's extremely unlikely for several reasons.
1) He drove past the school 24 hours before the attack, suggesting that aside from the long term premeditation, there was rational planning continuing up until the day before the attack. This does not sound like a break with reality.
2) People described the few things that Adam said during his attack. He made no reference to delusions or hallucinations and responded coherently to at least one remark from a victim. ("I don't want to be here." "Well, you're here.")
3) His demeanor was relatively calm and definitely not frenzied or frightened though he was reported to be angry by some. A couple of witnesses heard him shouting and swearing and ordering his victims around. Again, this suggests that he was in control of himself and the situation.

I compiled some of the accounts from witnesses at the school.
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In my opinion, they show that he was lucid and aware of what he was doing. No one said that he seemed erratic or crazy. They only described him as angry if they described any emotion at all.

I also want to point out that Adam's supposed hallucinations reportedly terrified him. The paranoia in these moments left him afraid to even brush his teeth because he was too uncomfortable to walk past the exposed windows in his bathroom. This does not sound like the person that was boldly marching through the school that day, calmly shooting anyone that he saw.

sscc wrote:

I also want to point out that Adam's supposed hallucinations reportedly terrified him. The paranoia in these moments left him afraid to even brush his teeth because he was too uncomfortable to walk past the exposed windows in his bathroom. This does not sound like the person that was boldly marching through the school that day, calmly shooting anyone that he saw.

maybe the shooting could of been like a way to seem powerful and take 'control' of his life.. but this is all just speculation as he left nothing to indicate why he attacked

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] wrote:

I also want to point out that Adam's supposed hallucinations reportedly terrified him. The paranoia in these moments left him afraid to even brush his teeth because he was too uncomfortable to walk past the exposed windows in his bathroom. This does not sound like the person that was boldly marching through the school that day, calmly shooting anyone that he saw.

A place and or situation can greatly impact how somebody feels and is. I personally doubt that he had moments like this and to this severity but regardless he would go to a public place and play DDR often enough and for long amounts of time despite the fact that he had what looks like a DDR mat at home. That doesn't sound like somebody who suffers from crippling paranoia and or hallucinations. Most people who suffer from even mild paranoia of being watched would also be at the very least uncomfortable brushing their teeth with a window exposing a treeline to their left. And even if you're right I believe he just didn't care during the shooting seeing as he was fully aware he would be dead in a few minutes regardless.

mordupen wrote:

I personally doubt that he had moments like this and to this severity.

What do you doubt?
And are you saying that you believe that he was suffering a psychotic episode at the time of the massacre?

He wouldnt because he was mentally ill (like what happened to James Holmes)

Death penalty really means nothing, I think the night stalker had been on death row for decades until he finally died of a disease.
I think the Boston marathon bomber was also on death row, yet its just not gonna happen. Furthermore if Holmes qualifies as insane then Adam would.

spidEr wrote:

Death penalty really means nothing, I think the night stalker had been on death row for decades until he finally died of a disease.
I think the Boston marathon bomber was also on death row, yet its just not gonna happen. Furthermore if Holmes qualifies as insane then Adam would.

the boston bomber is only like 19-20 hes going to get death at like 40 or some shit, same for Roof.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Holmes was also found sane for trail

-warrior wrote:

the boston bomber is only like 19-20 hes going to get death at like 40 or some shit,

I don't know where you got that from but thanks for letting me know. I've always wanted to know when he was going to die.

scibblewop wrote:

-warrior wrote:

the boston bomber is only like 19-20 hes going to get death at like 40 or some shit,

I don't know where you got that from but thanks for letting me know. I've always wanted to know when he was going to die.

well hes 24 now and get the death in like 2015 after the trial ended, but i assume there are appeals and what not. He could be on death row for like 2 decades

Imagine if Adam Lanza survived and had a trial like James Holmes? He would be sat in the courtroom looking like a SPACE ALIEN.

It would have been funny to watch Lanza looking like a space alien in the courtroom.

What kind of defense would even be available to Adam at that point? Just play up the mental illness and see what works? Hard to put any kind of justification behind the slaughter of elementary schoolers.

Probably go for the mental illness route as it is obvious something was very wrong with him.

Any inmate close to this scum would have eliminated him very quickly. Even inmates have consciences and they would not have taken kindly to having this demon in their midst and would have violently destroyed him quick. Doesn't matter now....he's getting his in hell which is far FAR worse for him, thankfully. Wicked POS.....I can't say enough bad about this sucker. Anyone that destroys little innocent kids the extremely violent way he did should not get even a minute ounce of pity from anyone!

death penalty

Sporttster wrote:

Any inmate close to this scum would have eliminated him very quickly. Even inmates have consciences and they would not have taken kindly to having this demon in their midst and would have violently destroyed him quick. Doesn't matter now....he's getting his in hell which is far FAR worse for him, thankfully. Wicked POS.....I can't say enough bad about this sucker. Anyone that destroys little innocent kids the extremely violent way he did should not get even a minute ounce of pity from anyone!

are you a Christian?

Sporttster wrote:

Any inmate close to this scum would have eliminated him very quickly. Even inmates have consciences and they would not have taken kindly to having this demon in their midst and would have violently destroyed him quick. Doesn't matter now....he's getting his in hell which is far FAR worse for him, thankfully. Wicked POS.....I can't say enough bad about this sucker. Anyone that destroys little innocent kids the extremely violent way he did should not get even a minute ounce of pity from anyone!

Well I pity him greatly, as he was suffering badly from mental illness and no-one was helping him improve. And as I said before, I think eternal torture in hell is such a horrible punishment for anyone (and yes I mean anyone, even thoroughly evil people like Hitler) that they get my automatic sympathy if they are indeed suffering that.

Hypothetically, he would have gotten Life imprisonment. I think he should have gone to the nuthouse, though.

Sporttster wrote:

Doesn't matter now....he's getting his in hell which is far FAR worse for him, thankfully.

So you'd be happy for him to live a miserable life of 20 years, and then be Tormented eternally? You have to feel sorry for Lanza really.

Maybe one day he will meet "Travis the Chimp" LOL

As someone mentioned before, he would still be in prison serving a life sentence considering Connecticut has abolished the death penalty. However, hypothetically speaking (which is something I dislike since it achieves next to nothing), if Connecticut kept capital punishment, it is absolutely possible that Lanza would've been sentenced to death. Considering Lanze commited 20 (maybe this number is higher or lower, I'm not 100% sure since I'm not very well read on the law) capital crimes (that is capital crimes in Connecticut) , it wouldn't be terribly unreasonable for the judges to have him executed. Then again, perhaps some judge would overrule the descision and have him sentenced to life instead. Quite hard to speculate about what would happen in imaginary situations as it brings in endless amounts of possibilities.

I have to admit; it would be interesting to watch his interrogation session. It makes me ponder over the possibilities of new information that could've been revealed but is now forever lost.

I heard it is unconstitutional for a criminal with Autism to be executed, so while Adam may have committed a horrific crime I don't think he would have gotten the death penalty

No

Death Sentence was removed before the shooting but he would have gotten the highest possible sentence in solitary confinement. His trial probably would have been off limits from cameras as well. A lot of people think he would just be silent the whole time but I think he would have been fierce in his verbal abuse towards those of power. His silence was all rage leading to the attack. I think "fuckcomments" is Adam Lanza uncensored and we would have seen it if he had a trial.