Colorado movie theater shooting suspect (a word based on news reports that is legally needed but at this point there is no doubt) James E. Holmes made his first appearance on court since the massacre that left 12 dead and 58 wounded. And the instant analysis began:
He looked out of it, didn’t he? That means he will have an insanity defense. Or — wait — maybe he was on some kind of medication. Would that ruin an insanity defense? Or — wait! — he didn’t seem really out of control so there goes an insanity defense. All of which was the least thing on the minds of those who’ve lost loved ones or who are tending to wounded loved ones.
But judge for yourself:
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.