Bussing not so safe in Canada...

poopshovel wrote:

the article said:As horrified travelers watched

Man, I sure am glad nobody had a gun.

See what tough gun laws get ya?

If one old lady would have had a .38 in her purse, the event would have ended quickly.

Instead? All the passengers and driver stand out side and watch in horror. While waiting for a LEO!

Of course if the wacko had a gun, there could have been a LOT more dead people. That knife does cut both ways (so to speak).

Oh, and Wally, I don't mean to imply the bus driver and others are cowards by getting out, I just would not classify that behavior as "brave". Depending on what exactly the driver did to get people off the bus (I certainly don't know any specifics) there may have been some bravery in there.

Wow... An update...

http://english.cri.cn/6966/2009/03/06/1461s460949.htm

If you kill somebody in cold blood and for no particular reason, there IS something wrong with you. Holy E36 M3! You need a psychiatrist for that? With that understanding, going to a mental institution for a year or two (or twenty) won't correct that berkeleyup! Uh, he'll get out and eventually hear "God's" voice and berkeleying kill somebody else! Are they out of their minds?

Now, why nobody on that bus felt the need to help the passenger or BEAT THAT MAN TO WITHIN AN INCH OF HIS LIFE OR WORSE is beyond me as well. I would have berkeleying killed him.

Not guilty by reason of insanity is a really hinky area. The idea behind it is that if someone could not understand what they did was wrong, or even that what they were doing was real, then punishing them is useless. The whole idea is that without a "guilty mind" it is unfair to punish someone for something they could not have prevented.

The defense is a lot harder to get in America since the early '80s, when John Hinckley successfully got off after attemtpting to assassinate Reagan. Probably good that it's harder to argue this now, as a lot of people were successfully using it in some hinky circumstances. It's easier to successfully argue NGRI in Canada and Europe.

As for this guy getting out in 10 or 20 years, he will be in a mental institution until the point that they decide that he could stand trial. If that never happens, he never gets out. If they decide he is capable of standing trial, then he goes to trial and the whole "insanity" thing doesn't apply.

As for the "man, I'd have gone right up to him and taken the knife away if I'd been there argument", it's really easy for an armchair quarterback to say that. The natural response to something that gruesome is going to be to get the berkeley away from it. People who would run back and try to stop the attacker in that situation are rare, brave, and foolish.

This guy didn't just kill somebody, he sliced him up and put his nose and lips and ears and things in little plastic bags. He also ate some of his victim. I'm amazed that nobody tried to do anything while this was going on. The man was only armed with a knife. His victim was either asleep or listening to a radio when he attacked him, not threatening the man.

From the sane people in Canada:

He's guilty, hang him.

Instead he'll do 10 years in the puzzle factory but he'll probably be out in six.

Sorry, at times our justice system sucks donkey balls.

Shawn

Trans_Maro wrote: From the sane people in Canada: He's guilty, hang him. Instead he'll do 10 years in the puzzle factory but he'll probably be out in six. Sorry, at times our justice system sucks donkey balls. Shawn

Legal system. It is not just in my eyes, and I've had to watch its results for the past 20 years of my life.

Trans_Maro wrote: From the sane people in Canada: He's guilty, hang him. Instead he'll do 10 years in the puzzle factory but he'll probably be out in six. Sorry, at times our justice system sucks donkey balls. Shawn

That's not how it works, at least in the states. My father's cousin has been "unstable all his life. In '89 he stabed his father about 25 times because he couldn't borrow the car, walked to Dunkin Donuts and waited to be arrested. He was not guilty by mental defect and has been in a Maximum security psyciatric center ever since. He will never be able to get out because he can't be trusted to stay on his meds, which is why he's there in the first place. In a way it works out better because if he had gone to jail he'd likely be out by now but since the state determines when he's well it's like a loophole to keep someone locked up forever when the courts may not have.

He'll -should- be in the loony bin for ever but I seriously doubt it.

My tax dollars pay for the mental hospital.

Rope is far cheaper.

Some guy in Manitoba got drunk and left his two baby girls outside in the snow to freeze.

Because he's native, he got an "aboriginal sentencing circle" instead of going through the legal system like he should have (because our country is very racially biased).

He got sentenced to rehab because he was very sorry even though he's already got a long criminal record.

I've really had enough of this crap.

Shawn

From the AP wire yesterday

A Canadian judge ruled today that a man accused of beheading and cannibalizing a fellow Greyhound bus passenger is not criminally responsible due to mental illness....

Both the prosecution and the defense argued Li can't be held responsible because he had schizophrenia and believed God wanted him to kill McLean because the young man was evil.

Li will be institutionalized without a criminal record and reassessed every year by a mental health review board to determine if he is fit for release.

"Fit for release." I hope the board is treated to graphic photos and witness accounts every time they consider releasing this one. And I hope they ride a bus to and from the review.

He is not responsible because of his mental state, and he might not be able to understand any punishment. OK. On the other hand, he is a clear, proven danger to anyone around him. Even in the pokey or looney bin, he's dangerous to his roomies and the attendants.

I didn't realize they'd let him out eventually. That's berkeleyed up.

Wally's right, here in the States you succesffuly plead NGRI, you go to a psych ward. Frankly, I've been in both psych wards and prisons (shut up....I was a social worker) and I think on balance, you'd be better off in a prison. You ever "get sane" again, you get tried for your crime and go to jail. Because time in a psych ward is not considered to be penal time, the sentencing court doesn't have to count the time you've spent in the loony bin against your sentence.

Wonder if this nutball could use a variant of the Twinkie defense? I mean, it was something he et, right? (Oooh, that's sick. )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinkie_defense

Dr. Hess wrote: Wrap jacket around left forearm. Attack. Why haven't they released the murder's name?

Draw sidearm from concealed cover, verbaly warn, then open fire. Or thats what happens in a free society that allows responsible citizens to defend themselves.

I am kinda surprised there was no gun on board as the people that travel by intercity bus tend to be the people who can't travel by any other means,