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Guilty verdict reached in "American Sniper" killer trial

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Kraichgauer
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26 Feb 2015, 11:43 pm

Dox47 wrote:
Kraichgauer wrote:
In fact, a British sniper had had the chance to pop George Washington, but had thought it would have been ungentlemanly.


IIRC, because he would have had to shoot him in the back, and that just wouldn't do. Oops...


Imagine such rules and sentiments staying the hands of soldiers today. :lol:


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em_tsuj
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26 Feb 2015, 11:46 pm

Prof_Pretorius wrote:
em_tsuj wrote:
I don't all the facts. Only the two dead soldiers and the killer know what happened for sure. However, it sounds like the killer was psychotic. I don't think it is fair to hold someone accountable for something they did when they were literally out of their heads. You can't really distinguish right from wrong when you are psychotic. I hope the sentence is reversed on appeal.


I'm not certain, but I believe the US newspapers were never told the details of how the killings took place. Those details were probably revealed in the court proceedings.
On a personal note, if someone is capable of pointing a gun at me and firing it, they are not insane.


Have you ever interacted with someone who is psychotic?



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01 Mar 2015, 1:35 am

I'm unclear on all the details but the whole thing is very ironic. Chris Kyle tries to treat a fellow veteran for PTSD (when he probably isn't qualified to) and ultimately pays the price in an ironic twist of fate. (edit: it's unclear whether this was actually Kyles intention to "treat" his comrade - probably not). Anyway, taking someone to a gun range who suffers from war-related PTSD sounds like a rather perverse sort of idean. One can only guess why Chris Kyle thought this was a good idea. I have my opinions on this that others can probably guess if they read between the lines.

All in all, very sad. Really horrible mistake to release that movie before the end of the trial.

So we either have to say this man was evil or he was suffering from PTSD or somewhere in between. Chris Kyle certainly though he was suffering from PTSD (right or wrong?). Who are we to say he was wrong? And even if he was right, is PTSD a legitimate defensel? Maybe, maybe not.

I don't think the general public gets a hold of all the relevant details so I don't think we're really qualified to judge.

Maybe someone who knows more details can say.



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02 Mar 2015, 11:34 pm

em_tsuj wrote:
I don't all the facts. Only the two dead soldiers and the killer know what happened for sure. However, it sounds like the killer was psychotic. I don't think it is fair to hold someone accountable for something they did when they were literally out of their heads. You can't really distinguish right from wrong when you are psychotic. I hope the sentence is reversed on appeal.


That would be dependent entirely on what is right and wrong or if such concepts actually exist. And does psychosis actually diminish one's ability to distinguish right from wrong or does it warp the extraneous circumstances around the event in such a way as to distort the proper course of action to preserve the line between good and bad.


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