Hatching a Plan

Trey Smith

One of the recurrent aspects of the shooting in Aurora, Colorado, in late July is whether or not the alleged gunman, James Eagan Holmes, was sane or not. It seems that both the prosecution and the mainstream media are building a case that the attack was well planned; ergo Holmes was sane. This same feeling appears to be held by many Americans as evidenced through comments left on the websites of various news organizations.

While I can in no way offer an expert legal opinion on this matter, I do wish to offer a notion for readers to consider: The ability to orchestrate a heinous attack is not proof, in and of itself, of an individual's sanity.

Let's say your next door neighbor (Fred) suffers from delusions and paranoia in regards to pink elephants. Throughout the course of each day, Fred is convinced that pink elephants are surrounding his house and prepared to stomp on him if he ventures outside in the daylight. When you encounter Fred at dusk, he tells you about the phalanx of pink elephants that lay in wait for him each day.

You might inform Fred that you work in your garden adjacent to his yard most days of the week and you have not seen even one pink elephant. Most likely, Fred will discount this information and insist that the pink elephants are real...and out there.

One evening you notice that Fred is out in his yard armed with a shovel. As you move closer, you notice that he has dug several large holes all around his property. "Fred, what in tarnation are you doing?" you ask. "I'm going to trap the pink elephants," he tells you. He asks you to help him move brush over each hole, so that the pink elephants won't see the traps he has set for them.

These "traps" may be simple or elaborate. Fred may have gone to extreme efforts to measure the depth and width of each hole. He may have created a diagram to show the location of the holes and he may have placed them in a strategic array. Who knows. Maybe he has set up remote cameras to film the pink elephants falling into the traps.

Would his actions lead you to think that Fred is sane? Would you think that, because Fred has orchestrated an elaborate plan to snare pink elephants that do not exist, he is in full control of his mental facilities?

My point here is that, just because James Holmes planned his massacre, this does not mean he is sane. It also does not mean he wasn't sane. That's something for a judge and/or jury to decide.