GUILTY OK - 4 dead, many injured when car crashed into crowd at OSU homecoming parade

[BetteDavisEyes]

I suppose we could have anticipated that the defense's psychological evaluation would suggest that Adacia is mentally ill and wasn't in her "right mind" when she plowed her car into a crowd at the homecoming parade. I'm not buying the mental illness defense or that Ms. Chambers was suicidal, and I doubt the families of the victims are hopping on the mentally ill bandwagon. Funny how Adacia walked away from the scene without a scratch while four people were killed and dozens injured If Adacia had been intent on ending her life, she could have done it without taking others along for the ride. :moo:

 

[Kittybunny]

Why would her attorney release details of Adacia's mental health evaluation to the media? Regardless of her crimes, this young woman has a right to privacy in medical matters. I hope the Prosecutor uses better discretion when that report is completed.

It is absolutely in the attorney's interest to release that report - one, it raises issues about her competency to stand trial anytime soon, which is beneficial for his client, as the longer this drags out, the more the immediate outrage, grief, and curiousity/interest in the case fades. Two, in Oklahoma, it is the prosecution who has the burden of proof that Adacia was sane at the time of committing this crime, so the more he continues to push the mentally ill angle, the more he taints the potential jury pool, possibly making it harder for the prosecution to prove she was sane (not that I necessarily buy it, just saying what his reasoning might be).

Anyway, I do believe she is somewhat mentally ill to some degree, and doesn't give a rat's *advertiser censored* what's out there about her, just like she didn't give a rat's *advertiser censored* about the innocent people she took out when she decided to kill herself - if indeed that's what she was trying to do.

Hypothetical question though - let's say she was diagnosed as bipolar, and was prescribed medications and had stopped taking them suddenly - some of those do have psychotic breaks, suicide as possible side effects when you stop them. I wonder if that would qualify her as not being sane at the time of her crime?

Also, I think at this point, the toxicology reports are almost irrelevant - regardless of whether she had drugs or alcohol in her system, the charge is second-degree murder, because now they have evidence that she purposely ran through those barriers. Other than I'm just really nosy and want to know.

 

[Hope4More]

I suppose we could have anticipated that the defense's psychological evaluation would suggest that Adacia is mentally ill and wasn't in her "right mind" when she plowed her car into a crowd at the homecoming parade. I'm not buying the mental illness defense or that Ms. Chambers was suicidal, and I doubt the families of the victims are hopping on the mentally ill bandwagon. Funny how Adacia walked away from the scene without a scratch while four people were killed and dozens injured If Adacia had been intent on ending her life, she could have done it without taking others along for the ride. :moo:

Funny how precisely timed her "psychotic break" was. Relatives said she was happy and normal the night before, she volunteered to help close Freddy's after doing the walk around and was normal, she seemed perfectly normal to her BF in the morning, got to work even a bit early, and though she seemed distracted at work, nobody there thought she was acting oddly.

So on the stroke of 10am she becomes psychotic? And of all the things she could have done after being stricken, she decides to drive her car into a crowd? What does a crowd parade have to do with Jesus?

Preposterous. Sounds like an uninformed layperson's stereotypical idea of an insane person...

 

[Hope4More]

It is absolutely in the attorney's interest to release that report - one, it raises issues about her competency to stand trial anytime soon, which is beneficial for his client, as the longer this drags out, the more the immediate outrage, grief, and curiousity/interest in the case fades. Two, in Oklahoma, it is the prosecution who has the burden of proof that Adacia was sane at the time of committing this crime, so the more he continues to push the mentally ill angle, the more he taints the potential jury pool, possibly making it harder for the prosecution to prove she was sane (not that I necessarily buy it, just saying what his reasoning might be).

Anyway, I do believe she is somewhat mentally ill to some degree, and doesn't give a rat's *advertiser censored* what's out there about her, just like she didn't give a rat's *advertiser censored* about the innocent people she took out when she decided to kill herself - if indeed that's what she was trying to do.

Hypothetical question though - let's say she was diagnosed as bipolar, and was prescribed medications and had stopped taking them suddenly - some of those do have psychotic breaks, suicide as possible side effects when you stop them. I wonder if that would qualify her as not being sane at the time of her crime?

Also, I think at this point, the toxicology reports are almost irrelevant - regardless of whether she had drugs or alcohol in her system, the charge is second-degree murder, because now they have evidence that she purposely ran through those barriers. Other than I'm just really nosy and want to know.

Completely hypothetical, since she wasn't taking psych meds and hadn't been for 2 years.

 

[Mountaingazer]

It does seem suspect, but I have found reading here that people with severe mental illness can almost compartmentalize their lives for a good while until everything explodes. Teleka Patrick is a good example. She was a brilliant woman doing her residency all the while believing she was carrying on a secret relationship with a celebrity minister telepathically through twitter.

 

[SCHMAE]

If she ran over them on purpose then she knew she would be killing people and intended to do so. Any type of ' insanity' defense would have to hinge on her not being aware of what she was doing and/ or not being aware that it would result in loss of life. Right?

 

[watergirl62]

Hmmm... a recent decision in OK:

An admitted killer who suffers from delusions he is the king of the world and believes he sees ghosts was found not guilty Friday of first-degree murder by reason of insanity.

http://newsok.com/article/5434414

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

My question/comment about the rationale behind the attorney releasing details of psych evaluation was intended to be rhetorical; hence, Adacia's attorney has pushed the mental health defense from Day 1 and made sure that his hand-picked psychologist saw things the same way. I don't need to know details of Adacia's mental competency or lack thereof, but the Prosecutor's psychological conclusions might be different.

For now, I'm not convinced that Ms. Chambers is mentally ill and not competent to stand trial on the counts for which she is charged. I doubt the families of the victims will accept that their loved ones were killed by this young woman because she was having a bad day. Someone looked at Adacia cross-eyed or said something that she didn't like, so she used her car to get back at someone for the perceived slight. Sounds more like immaturity than mental illness. Call me cynical, but far too many folks today blame others for their problems, won't take responsibility for their actions, and use some type of mental illness as an excuse. :moo:

 

[KaaBoom]

Why would her attorney release details of Adacia's mental health evaluation to the media? Regardless of her crimes, this young woman has a right to privacy in medical matters. I hope the Prosecutor uses better discretion when that report is completed.

Because his client is clearly mentally ill, and he wants to make that clear to everyone. I think he is a bit more concerned with keeping her out of prison for the rest of her life, then with her privacy in medical matters

What is harder to believe is that some people are claiming that he is making this up, and she is faking her mental illness. Like it’s impossible to believe that someone who would intentionally drive their car into a parade route could actually be mentally ill.

 

[Mollyandme]

Because his client is clearly mentally ill, and he wants to make that clear to everyone. I think he is a bit more concerned with keeping her out of prison for the rest of her life, then with her privacy in medical matters

What is harder to believe is that some people are claiming that he is making this up, and she is faking her mental illness. Like it’s impossible to believe that someone who would intentionally drive their car into a parade route could actually be mentally ill.

I think she's mentally ill, and in terms of faking or exaggerating this mental illness I really don't have an opinion on at this moment but she clearly suffers from some mental illness. I think the main issue is whether or not she knew what she was doing when she drove into the parade route and killed four innocent bystanders and whether an insanity defense would be successful in this case. but yea, to say she's completely faking and not mentally ill at all seems a little unreasonable in my opinion, I mean she has been hospitalized for it 3 times in the past.

 

[Kittybunny]

Funny how precisely timed her "psychotic break" was. Relatives said she was happy and normal the night before, she volunteered to help close Freddy's after doing the walk around and was normal, she seemed perfectly normal to her BF in the morning, got to work even a bit early, and though she seemed distracted at work, nobody there thought she was acting oddly.

So on the stroke of 10am she becomes psychotic? And of all the things she could have done after being stricken, she decides to drive her car into a crowd? What does a crowd parade have to do with Jesus?

Preposterous. Sounds like an uninformed layperson's stereotypical idea of an insane person...

BBM. Which begs the question, what DID cause this seemingly normal woman to plow into the crowd? Normal people in their right mind don't do stuff like that without reason.

As someone pointed out, she has been hospitalized for psychiatric issues in the past, so it's not completely out of the realm of possibility that she has mental problems. Again though, that doesn't necessarily rise to the level of criminally insane at the time she drove into the crowd. It will be interesting to (eventually) see what the prosecution's mental health evaluation determines. Also, we still haven't heard the real reason about why she left work early (not even sure if she was asked to leave or if she left of her own volition) or what the toxicology results are, both which could provide explanations. If we hear that she was reprimanded or angry at someone at work AND the toxicology results are negative, I will be more inclined to believe that she really intended to cold-bloodedly kill people through her actions. I'm not quite 100% there yet.

 

[Hope4More]

I think she's mentally ill, and in terms of faking or exaggerating this mental illness I really don't have an opinion on at this moment but she clearly suffers from some mental illness. I think the main issue is whether or not she knew what she was doing when she drove into the parade route and killed four innocent bystanders and whether an insanity defense would be successful in this case. but yea, to say she's completely faking and not mentally ill at all seems a little unreasonable in my opinion, I mean she has been hospitalized for it 3 times in the past.

She was hospitalized twice, not 3 times, if the info out there is correct, and she was hospitalized for being suicidal, not being psychotic and seeing Jesus.

Is she mentally sound? Obviously not. Normal people aren't apt to plow through barricades and drive 40-50 mph straight into a crowd, much less one packed with babies and children.

Nothing about what happened suggests psychosis though, IMO, or a girl too mentally ill that she couldn't make different choices. If she really wanted to commit suicide she'd be dead, and the 4 people she killed and dozens injured would be alive & well.

 

[MommyStephV]

I don't doubt she has some level of mental illness. What I do question, she allegedly went AROUND the barricade so she obviously was aware enough to know the barricade was intended to block people from entering, otherwise why go around? If she "didn't know what she was doing" I tend to think she would have drove straight through the barricade.


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[Mollyandme]

She was hospitalized twice, not 3 times, if the info out there is correct, and she was hospitalized for being suicidal, not being psychotic and seeing Jesus.

Is she mentally sound? Obviously not. Normal people aren't apt to plow through barricades and drive 40-50 mph straight into a crowd, much less one packed with babies and children.

Nothing about what happened suggests psychosis though, IMO, or a girl too mentally ill that she couldn't make different choices. If she really wanted to commit suicide she'd be dead, and the 4 people she killed and dozens injured would be alive & well.

I'm not defending her I'm discussing what her lawyer might try to say. And just bc she was hospitalized for being suicidal doesn't mean she wasn't diagnosed with something while there. We don't know all the details of those hospitalizations. Mental illness can progress and she may very well be seeing Jesus now. I'm not saying I believe that but it's not out of the realm of possibility. As you said, she's clearly not mentally sound so I'm not exactly sure what your disagreement with me is.

I personally will put much more stock into what the states psych evaluation says than the defenses hired gun.

If she really is seeing and talking to Jesus and doesn't remember her terrible actions that killed four people, maybe it's her brains way of dealing with the trauma she caused. That's the only thing I can think of. I am curious what her tox screen will show. I really hope her victims get the justice they deserve.

 

[Mollyandme]

I don't doubt she has some level of mental illness. What I do question, she allegedly went AROUND the barricade so she obviously was aware enough to know the barricade was intended to block people from entering, otherwise why go around? If she "didn't know what she was doing" I tend to think she would have drove straight through the barricade.


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I agree. I think she was aware at the time. I am having a hard time getting past how a completely unaware person would have the ability to go straight to the parade route and right around the baracade.

 

[angelainwi]

It is very possible that she was in a dissociative state during the crash.

 

[Mollyandme]

It is very possible that she was in a dissociative state during the crash.

Yes this was the term I was trying to think of. If she was in a dissociative state would she have been able to go around the barricades? Could she have been aware of her actions but then slipped into a dissociative state immediately following the accident?

 

[angelainwi]

Yes this was the term I was trying to think of. If she was in a dissociative state would she have been able to go around the barricades? Could she have been aware of her actions but then slipped into a dissociative state immediately following the accident?

In a dissociative state you can do anything really that you would do in a non-dissociative state. You just do not remember it.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

She may or may not have had a psychotic break, but something triggered her to do what she did.

Until it's revealed what that trigger was, I think any discussions about her mental state at the time are moot.

 

[nrdsb4]

Why would her attorney release details of Adacia's mental health evaluation to the media? Regardless of her crimes, this young woman has a right to privacy in medical matters. I hope the Prosecutor uses better discretion when that report is completed.

As I understand it, once medical issues become a relevant part of a criminal or civil proceeding, they eventually become public record. Her attorney could have kept this private until he submitted it to the court (has he done so yet?), but as discussed, he is trying to taint the jury pool in her favor.