Abigail
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I'm surprised the State did not call psychiatrists to testify about JS's mental state while in custody. Unless the defense is going to say that JS was insane during the act only.
Well, it's not like she suddenly recovered. She's been mentally ill for years (I think I remember reading somewhere that she was hospitalized for 9 months at one point). The defense has to prove that she didn't understand right from wrong at the time she murdered her children. The interrogation tape provides fairly powerful evidence that she was out of touch with reality (after the murders). But the hardest part is the premeditation thing. I think they'll probably argue that her intent was suicide (which she repeated throughout her interrogation), and that she decided to take the kids with her for whatever reason (fear that they would inherit her disease, fear that they would be embarrassed) that in her twisted mind made evil seem "good."