Tag: M’Naghten Rule

Minnesota Supreme Court upholds Rocori shooter’s convictions:

A few months back, I posted that the attorneys for Rocori High School shooter John Jason McLaughlin were trying to have his conviction overturned.

The attorney argued that Minnesota’s insanity law, known as the M’Naghten Rule, is outdated and that it doesn’t apply to teens. If you remember, McLaughlin shot and killed Aaron Rollins and Seth Bartell with Seth being the intended target.

Attorneys for McLaughlin argued that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and only intended to wound Seth Bartell. In my unprofessional opinion, he only suffered from “I’m faking it”-itis.

Anyway, the Minnesota Supreme Court has refused to rule on the appeal, stating that the defense did not argue this point at trial.

McLaughlin is serving consecutive life terms in prison.

McLaughlin trial puts focus on insanity defense:

It seems that some people have their panties in a wad over Minnesota’s insanity defense law, known as the M’Naghten Rule. Especially after John Jason McLaughlin was ruled sane after being found guilty of shooting and killing two of his classmates. Which is all well and good except for one thing. McLaughlin was more than likely faking it.

The similarities between his “symptoms” and movies and TV shows that are documented that he saw are too strong to ignore. Yet, the article declares that he had multiple diagnoses of schizophrenia. What they forget to mention is that he wasn’t diagnosed until after the killings. How convenient. But I’ve been over this before.

The bottom line is if you relax the M’Naghten Rule, you’re just giving cold-blooded killers one more chance to walk.