Psychiatrist in McLaughlin trial says movie claims exaggerated:
The expert witness for the defense in the John Jason McLaughlin insanity trial rebukes claims by the prosecution that McLaughlin is using movies to fake his mental illness…
Psychiatrist Maureen Hackett, who evaluated McLaughlin several times, said some of the allegations expert witness made last week – such as that McLaughlin took his cues from horror movies – were played up.
“His description of his experiences have been detailed enough to understand it was real to him. When he reported seeing these dead bodies, he didn’t say, `I see dead people,’” Hackett said, in reference to a well-known line from the movie “The Sixth Sense.”
That’s all well and good, but how about the correlations to “A Dangerous Mind” and “The Simpsons”? And if I remember correctly, no one claimed that he said, “I see dead people”.
This is my favorite part. Dr. Hackett claims that McLaughlin isn’t faking mental illness but mental wellness.
“He does not want people to think he is mentally ill,” she said. “I have seen him downplay his symptoms. As with other aspects of his life, he was afraid of being teased about it.”
Faking sanity. That’s a new one on me, but I’m not buying it. Especially when another doctor has said that his “illness” has gotten better while being off meds.
Dr. Hackett also patted herself on the back by saying this…
Hackett said she has evaluated about 300 defendants in criminal cases.
I wonder how many of those were for the defense?
The best way this whole insanity phase of the trial can be summed up is by a comment I received earlier today…
“If McLaughlin is found to have been insane at the time of the shootings, he would be committed to a secure mental facility. If he is found not to have been insane, he will be sent to prison after sentencing. Klumpp (the prosecutor) has argued that McLaughlin is feigning mental illness to enable him to say at a security hospital, where he is able to play video games and order pizza.”
Who’d have figured? 🙄
Who indeed?
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