Defense Attorney: Sandusky affected by "personality disorder"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Just now on MSNBC.

He had to play slip 'n' slide with little boys in the shower because he has a "personality disorder."

Now you know.

[russspeakeasy]

1. Pedophilia is a "personality disorder" ?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

5. In all fairness, the guest on MSNBC said...

...if he did this, it's pedophilia, and a "personality disorder" is no defense. But those are the cards his defense team is playing.

[WingDinger]

2. Prisons are filled with untreated personality disorders.

[malaise]

3. Of course

Of course and those little boys teased him.

Fuck that pedophile.

[Politicalboi]

4. And the kids testimony

Had discrepancies. Let's blame the victims time. The poor kid was 11 when this monster attacked him, and they are knit picking his testimony. I don't care for defense attorneys that try and trip the victim up.

[freshwest]

6. Now they'll try to find some 'bleeding-heart libruls' to sit on that jury.

Just like Tom DeLay said he was sure that the 'librul' jury would 'show mercy and compassion' and wasn't going to find him guilty in Texas. Guess we still have some uses to these characters, don't we?



This is from his Bush family defense attorney, no? If it'd been their kids done that way, would they accept some sort of 'not-guilty by reason of insanity' plea?

Would that be a defense if Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld were ever called to court to account for their actions?

There aren't many psychiatrists left after years of the Savage Weiner and the GOP maligning of all mental health services, refusing to allow parity of payments and insisting insanity pleas are the tools of bleeding heart shysters trying to save offenders from 'punishment for their sins.'

What goes around, comes around. We'll see if Sandusky gets off now.

[Spazito]

7. Yep, I read their motion re "Histrionic Personality Disorder" and it is nauseating...

and beyond weak, imo. Here is an article from pennlive on this:

Jerry Sandusky's defense says reported 'love letters' are consistent with Histrionic Personality Disorder


Jerry Sandusky has filed a motion in Centre County court to "provide a fair explanation" for the reported "love letters" that Sandusky allegedly wrote to one of his accusers. In the motion, the defense says a psychologist will confirm the content and nature of those letters are consistent with a person who suffers from Histrionic Personality Disorder.

ABC News reported last week that Sandusky sent intimate love letters to alleged Victim Four who describes the former Penn State assistant football coach as a surrogate father and a molester.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/06/jerry_sanduskys_defense_says_r.html

And here's the link to their motion, it is a pdf, well worth reading, imo, as it, to my mind, shows how weak the defence's case is:

http://media.pennlive.com/midstate_impact/other/sandusky%20motion.pdf

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. And most laypeople would called that "being a self-centred asshole"

What are the symptoms of histrionic personality disorder?

In many cases, people with histrionic personality disorder have good social skills; however, they tend to use these skills to manipulate others so that they can be the center of attention.

A person with this disorder might also:

Be uncomfortable unless he or she is the center of attention
Dress provocatively and/or exhibit inappropriately seductive or flirtatious behavior
Shift emotions rapidly
Act very dramatically as though performing before an audience with exaggerated emotions and expressions, yet appears to lack sincerity
Be overly concerned with physical appearance
Constantly seek reassurance or approval
Be gullible and easily influenced by others
Be excessively sensitive to criticism or disapproval
Have a low tolerance for frustration and be easily bored by routine, often beginning projects without finishing them or skipping from one event to another
Not think before acting
Make rash decisions
Be self-centered and rarely show concern for others
Have difficulty maintaining relationships, often seeming fake or shallow in their dealings with others
Threaten or attempt suicide to get attention
...
What are the complications of histrionic personality disorder?

Histrionic personality disorder can affect a person's social or romantic relationships and how a person reacts to losses or failures. People with this disorder are also at higher risk than the general population to suffer from depression.

What is the outlook for people with histrionic personality disorder?

Many people with this disorder are able to function well socially and at work. Those with severe cases, however, might experience significant problems in their daily lives.

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/personality_disorders/hic_histrionic_personality_disorder.aspx

As long as a jury gets information on what 'histrionic personality disorder' actually means, I can't see it having any bearing on the trial. It's not as if it prevents someone knowing that raping children is wrong.

[Spazito]

14. I agree...

Using it, imo, only shows how weak the defence's case actually is, they have nothing and they know it.

[Ilsa]

8. So, he's a sociopath? Or Psychopath? nt

[pnwmom]

9. That's no excuse. Most violent criminals probably have personality disorders

or mental illness of one type or another.

[RZM]

10. Darth Vader has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder

That doesn't excuse him blowing up Alderaan.

Sandusky needs to be put away. Given his history, he has a penchant for taking advantage of children. I feel sorry that he's that way, but we can't have people like that running around. He needs a long timeout.

[Life Long Dem]

11. Is that their defense?

[vankuria]

13. Sounds pretty weak

if that's the best defense they can come up with. What pisses me off to no end is that Sandusky didn't try to plea bargain this case. The evidence against this guy is so overwhelming and to make all these poor kids suffer through this trial is just another tragedy they have to endure. Sandusky is an absolute monster who shows no remorse and I can only hope and pray justice is served and he will never have the opportunity to hurt another child again.

[zappaman]

15. I'm sure that "personality disorder" could be cured...

with a baseball bat.

[Tom Ripley]

16. Well, that's true; he is a psychopath

However, that doesn't mean he gets a pass. There are lots of psychopaths in prison.

[uponit7771]

17. Yeap...I've always thought Asshole was a mental issue

[KamaAina]

18. And that mitigates his (apparent) guilt how, exactly?

"Personality disorder" is a piss-poor attempt at an insanity defense. I thought Sandusky was getting top-of-the-line lawyers.

[laundry_queen]

19. Piss poor is an understatement

I'm willing to bet every lawyer on earth knows that having a personality disorder does not qualify for an insanity defense. If anything, it shows the person made sane, calculated decisions when commiting their crime - the difference is they just don't care about other people, only themselves. I don't know WTF his lawyer is thinking. He'd have more luck proclaiming Sandusky was an alcoholic.

[4th law of robotics]

20. Yes he does. So we're going to put him where we put other people with personality disorders

that cause them to harm innocent people.

/also a lot of people who never did anything of the sort, but that's another topic.