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Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Shot In Arizona

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X Factor said:
In death cases an appeal is automatic, even if the murderer doesn't want to. FYI; I've done a lot of research on the legalities of capital punishment.
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Hypothetically, in a case where this is no doubt that the accused killed people, and has been deemed sane by a doctor(s), what would be the point of appealing the case?
 
Deuce said:
"Wackjob" was pretty obvious from the start. Assassination attempts basically come in two flavors: lunatic snapping or professional hit, and professionals don't usually stroll up in the middle of the crowd and shoot someone point-blank because that pretty much guarantees you'll be captured or killed.
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One report that I heard was that the shooter used an automatic and fired 25+ shots. If that is accurate he would have had to change clips several times. Which would suggest it was less about an assassination and more about running up a body count.

And with the 9 year old girl on the victim list, he was indiscriminate about who he was going to kill.

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repeter said:
Hypothetically, in a case where this is no doubt that the accused killed people, and has been deemed sane by a doctor(s), what would be the point of appealing the case?
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Mainly to argue that the guy didn't get a fair trial. Judges make a ton of rulings in capital cases, there's always some argument about why some of the rulings were unfair and denied the murderer due process. Also, sanity is not the only defense. According to a fairly recent S.Ct. ruling (I think it's the S.Ct.), someone who's sane but retarded cannot be executed, so now all defense attorneys claim their clients are retarded. It's up to juries if they believe the psychiatric testimony.
 
Cole said:
One report that I heard was that the shooter used an automatic and fired 25+ shots. If that is accurate he would have had to change clips several times. Which would suggest it was less about an assassination and more about running up a body count.

And with the 9 year old girl on the victim list, he was indiscriminate about who he was going to kill.

.
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That's a good point, if it were an assissination, he would have popped Giffords and disappeared in the confusion.
 
It's an assassination in that he attempted to kill a public figure. It's a nut who was probably working alone or with only one or two people and is pretty clearly mentally deranged. The two are not mutually exclusive.
 
Redress said:
It's an assassination in that he attempted to kill a public figure. It's a nut who was probably working alone or with only one or two people and is pretty clearly mentally deranged. The two are not mutually exclusive.
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Actually, that would be an assissination attempt.
 
apdst said:
That's a good point, if it were an assissination, he would have popped Giffords and disappeared in the confusion.
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I'd say it is an act of terrorism
 
apdst said:
Actually, that would be an assissination attempt.
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From wiki: "An assassination is "to murder (a usually prominent person) by sudden or secret attack, often for political reasons.""

This qualifies. You don't have to be a professional to assassinate some one. This is however just a semantics game. It's murder and attempted murder either way and I think both you and I hope he never sees a day of freedom again at the very least.
 
Redress said:
That would probably be a stretch. There is no evidence currently that he was attempting to terrorize.
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I would say he was trying to instill fear into the populace at large. Like suicide bombers do.
 
winston53660 said:
I would say he was trying to instill fear into the populace at large. Like suicide bombers do.
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I don't think we have any evidence of that at this time. It's not impossible, but I think unlikely.
 
Redress said:
I don't think we have any evidence of that at this time. It's not impossible, but I think unlikely.
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I'm not saying he was a part of an organized group. I do think he was trying to scare the **** out of people though.
 
winston53660 said:
I would say he was trying to instill fear into the populace at large. Like suicide bombers do.
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If a Palesinian opened up fire with a gun in an Israeli market place it would be considered a terrorist act. So I think you are right as he was trying to terrorize as many people he could. Killing an innocent little 9 year old girl is about the most terrorizing act one can imagine to most.

I just now wonder if we are going to see a copy cat. If I was a congress person I would seriously consider if going into public is wise anymore.
 
winston53660 said:
I'm not saying he was a part of an organized group. I do think he was trying to scare the **** out of people though.
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It's not impossible, but again, we have no evidence of his motivations in this.
 
Can you believe this , Keith Olberman is blaming this on conservative talk radio and Fox News.
 
SgtRock said:
Can you believe this , Keith Olberman is blaming this on conservative talk radio and Fox News.
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Yes I can.

I Dont know if that is true or not but Keith Olberman along with other tools like him (Rush & Beck) on both sides are part of the PROBLEM and not part of the SOLUTION.
 
Crosscheck said:
I have said before that there has been a change in people's attitudes to politicians and we can expect more of this. It is seen in a increasing approval by people upsetting a politician's speech by verbal outrage.

There is so much hatred of both sides that some with mental imbalances will act on it. You see this tendency to make light of harm to the president. There was a recent thread here about a MMA fighter who wanted to beat down Obama. Many scoffed that he really didn't mean it and I doubt he actually wanted to attack the president. But is sets up a precedent that it is more and more okay to approve of such hatred.
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The Pima County Sheriff spoke to that. He said we have free speech, but it is not without consequences, and that that people who are unbalanced are especially susceptible to vitriol.
 
SgtRock said:
Can you believe this , Keith Olberman is blaming this on conservative talk radio and Fox News.
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MSNBC hopped on that bandwagon from the gitgo.
 
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