Discovery channel "48 hrs. hard evidence" episode

[spatch]

I was watching a very interesting episode of "48 hrs. hard evidence" on the discovery channel just now.

Before I get to it, I want you to think of the movie "Frankenstein." Now if the monster Frankenstein goes and kills people, who do you blame? The frankenstein himself? No. You blame the doctor that created the evil for the crimes that the evil comitted.

Well now for the actual episode. Well like any other 17 year old's hormones, mine were fluctuating, and this episode almost brought me to tears. Its about a young boy, erick, that killed a classmate of his in 1993(I'm pretty sure its his classmate, but they were both little kids). His trial was before the paroll board.

I watched this with my mom. She thinks that he should never be let out of jail and that he is evil and should die in prison.

I look at this in a much different way. They had people on the show that said erick was constantly bullied by other kids, including the one he killed. He often skipped school just so he wouldnt be picked on. He described school as a "living hell, one that I would do anything not to be a part of."

Now think about frankenstein for a minute. When he kills people, we blame the person/people that created the evil. Why should erick be any different?

Those who bullied and harassed him created the evil, the hell, the devil inside of him.

I believe he should have been parolled. Maybe i'm just too young to understand the magnitude of the crime he did. Or maybe I cant ask for forgiveness when I need it if im not prepared to give it myself.

Long story short, he wasnt parolled.

PS- Please dont post anything thats going to get this thread closed. Thanks.

 

[CDB]

There's a line you've got walk with such cases is all. Murder is wrong, plain and simple. Now, having been in a similar situation for a while when I was younger I can empathize with the kid, but we went seperate ways. He chose murder, and to me that suggests whatever pressure he was under he didn't deal with it effectively. Were I responsible for paroling such people I would be more willing to be forgiving with him than I would for an= cold blooded adult murderer. But it's still just a willingness, in the end he made the choice he did and for a reason which suggests he might not be functional in the real world. What's he going to do the next time stress hits, you know?

 

[spatch]

There's a line you've got walk with such cases is all. Murder is wrong, plain and simple. Now, having been in a similar situation for a while when I was younger I can empathize with the kid, but we went seperate ways. He chose murder, and to me that suggests whatever pressure he was under he didn't deal with it effectively. Were I responsible for paroling such people I would be more willing to be forgiving with him than I would for an= cold blooded adult murderer. But it's still just a willingness, in the end he made the choice he did and for a reason which suggests he might not be functional in the real world. What's he going to do the next time stress hits, you know?

CDB- I'm glad you responded. Your post on topics like this are always the best.


I'll take emphasis on the part where you said "...which suggests he might not be functional in the real world." This shows the long term effects of what this kid went through. He will never ever be the same, no matter how much jail time or treatment he recieves.

Look at columbine. What did they bring in after the shooting, metal detectors. This wont help the problem long term. A better solution would be to remove the asses who drove the 2 shooters crazy, and suspend anyone who remotley offends or harrasses anyone.

 

[BigVrunga]

I'll take emphasis on the part where you said "...which suggests he might not be functional in the real world." This shows the long term effects of what this kid went through. He will never ever be the same, no matter how much jail time or treatment he recieves.

Look at columbine. What did they bring in after the shooting, metal detectors. This wont help the problem long term. A better solution would be to remove the asses who drove the 2 shooters crazy, and suspend anyone who remotley offends or harrasses anyone.

Its a tough one because we can all empathize with the kid. But killing the bully isnt the answer. Kicking his ass, maybe. Ignoring him, focusing on schoolwork and getting a scholarship to a great school while he knocks up his girlfriend and works at Wal-Mart for the rest of his life would be better.

There's no excuse for murder - other than in extreme cases I guess. (If someone killed a loved one, raped your wife,etc I dont see an issue with wiping them off the planet)

CDB was right - if he cracked from getting picked on, what would he do when life got tough later down the road?

BV

 

[spatch]

Its a tough one because we can all empathize with the kid. But killing the bully isnt the answer. Kicking his ass, maybe. Ignoring him, focusing on schoolwork and getting a scholarship to a great school while he knocks up his girlfriend and works at Wal-Mart for the rest of his life would be better.

There's no excuse for murder - other than in extreme cases I guess. (If someone killed a loved one, raped your wife,etc I dont see an issue with wiping them off the planet)

CDB was right - if he cracked from getting picked on, what would he do when life got tough later down the road?

BV

I'm pretty sure the kid didnt actually MEAN to kill him, he beat him to death. Not like he used a gun/knife.

PS- Forgot. He beat him, then beat him with a rock. That could go either way.

 

[tattoopierced1]

Personal responsibility has to play a role in this...he PERSONALLY chose to do what he did, whether it is beating someone to death, shooting them, stabbing, etc... People know what is right or wrong and have to make their own decisions for themselves. Sure maybe he was picked on, did he do anything about it? Talk to his parents, principal etc... or did he think skipping school would be the answer to avoiding them? I'm sure something could have been rectified another way if he brought his parents and school administration into this before taking the situation into his own hands.

 

[spatch]

Personal responsibility has to play a role in this...he PERSONALLY chose to do what he did, whether it is beating someone to death, shooting them, stabbing, etc... People know what is right or wrong and have to make their own decisions for themselves. Sure maybe he was picked on, did he do anything about it? Talk to his parents, principal etc... or did he think skipping school would be the answer to avoiding them? I'm sure something could have been rectified another way if he brought his parents and school administration into this before taking the situation into his own hands.

The human brain is a fragile thing. I use to be picked on alot when I was fat in middle school. I now realize that I subcontiencly(sp?) avoided school back then. Weather I said I was sick (when my mind made me think I really was), or something else, I just avoided it. Kind of like how my friend whos father use to beat him still subcontiencly avoids him.

No, I didnt hurt anyone. I got jacked and now im not picked on any more. However, my case wasnt as extreme as his was.

The fact is, it was his subcontience (sp?), IMO, that drove him to murder. A subcontience that was broken and twisted by other kids at school.

 

[tattoopierced1]

Well, we see differently. IMO, I think either a person is prone to "snap" or not. Teasing etc.. isnt an excuse whether you blame it on subconcience or not. Truth of the matter is, no one will know, except him, why he did what he did. Scientists can speculate all they want, but he holds the real answer to what he did, whether it be a chemical imbalance, or he was just plain nuts to begin with, we will never know. My dad used to beat the crap out of me when I was little, I was picked on in school, but yet I've never gone off the handle on anyone because I have great self control.... Sure I wanted to beat the crap out of some people, but I didnt...

 

[bicepPump]

Here is an example that just happened near where i live.
This kid just snapped. They gonna blame video games or something and not blame the fact he was picked on.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/orl-mkidshot1506jan15,0,5770924.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

 

[tattoopierced1]

its actually sad that no one want to take responsability for these types of things, but yet blame. Hey, lets blame video games, and not look at, hey, what could we have done to prevent this, maybe teachers and parents get more involved in their kids life and schooling. It almost seems that school now is more of a "day care" for kids rather than a learning enviorment. If anyone saw Friday's 20/20 it was a good example of how poor our school system is compared to other countries....alot less of this stuff is happening overseas too...

 

[robfromny]

when i was 17 i killed my 16yr old girlfriend by crashing my car... i did two years in prison because i wass speeding that day and there was stilll pot in my blood when i crashed (i wasnt high)..... to me that is not justice, what do you thnik?

 

[tattoopierced1]

i dont necessarily think you should have done jail time, but even having pot in your system a judge will frown upon, that I would guess is the reason you went to prison, but again, I'm not the judge, I cant say why he did what he did.

 

[winsome90]

Olde Franky is not a real entity...however mitigating circumstances are always looked into when it comes to sentencing...however like one lawyer stated yes he is sorry for his actions, but he purposely lured a kid out to kill him...Eric must be punished or we will create a society of excuse makers, not responsible for anything they do. I'll blame it on let's see um my math teacher gave me an F last semester so I'm not to blame for kicking someone else's ass

 

[WATERLOGGED]

well when i went to school in the early 70's **** like combine didnt happen because if you were picked on you got tougher and kicked there ass !...now , these days my son is in middle school and he cant even look at a kid crosseyed let alone defend himself without the school calling the law and havin him charged , because he had a boy constantly screwin with him and he had all he could take and jumped on him and proceeded to kick the kids asss, short vesion the priniple told him he wasnt allowed to touch the smartass kid no matter how much he bothered my boy and told him it was assaut and they'd prosecute him[first offence suspensoin] , so that says it right there scool today wont let them vent there problems like they did , sure youd get suspended from school but not arrested/prosecuted .......hey they need to let these kids duke it out , they gain more respect for each other when they see how somebody stands up forthemseves....just my opion