Doctor testifies Stephen Stanko is psychopath

[Mark]

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/15243497.htm

Doctor testifies Stephen Stanko is psychopath

Thomas Sachy, a forensic psychologist in private practice from Georgia testified for the defense Thursday morning in the Stephen Stanko death penalty trial in Georgetown.

Sachy said Stanko is a psychopath and therefore cannot control his impulses when he becomes angry.

"The brakes are right here," Sachy said, pointing to an area of the forehead. "People with damage to the frontal lobe are prone to fits of anger or violence. We know damage to this part of the brain takes the emergency brakes off."

Stanko, an ex-convict and nonfiction author, is accused of rape, murder, armed robbery and assault and battery with intent to kill in the strangling death of girfriend Laura Ling, with whom he lived, and the sexual assault and beating of the teenage girl at Ling's home on Murrells Inlet Road.

Stanko also is accused of killing Conway resident Henry Lee Turner on April 8, 2005, at Turner's home.

A PET brain scan shows Stephen Stanko's brain is smaller than a normal brain and show decreased activity in the frontal lobes, Sachy said Thursday.

Sachy said this is the first time PET scan evidence has been used as part of the defense's case in a criminal trial in South Carolina.

 

[Cyre2067]

Eery that admiting psychopathy is a "defense" in our courts. More evidence it was designed to keep them alive, and able to infect as many norms as possible.

 

[Mark]

Eery that admiting psychopathy is a "defense" in our courts. More evidence it was designed to keep them alive, and able to infect as many norms as possible.

Well, as bad as psychopaths are, I don't condone the death penalty. If I did I'd be no different than the psychopaths. I'd rather see them confined in some manner. I'm just glad to see it coming up in court, along with the idea that brain scans and expert analysis might reveal such a person.

 

[Renaissance]

From the article:

Sachy said Stanko is a psychopath and therefore cannot control his impulses when he becomes angry.

What I find interesting is that this doctor seems to be applying human anger to a psychopath. The irrational actions of an emotionally distraught, normal person are very different from the deliberate connivances of a psychopath. The doctor seems to want it both ways.

 

[Cyre2067]

Not to start a "death penalty debate" b/c in america, i agree with you, it shouldn't be condoned, however what to do with violent psychopaths?

Are they different from non-violent ones?

In my humble opinion, if one is guilty of murder one should be killed. Our legal system is imperfect and as such cannot determine accurately if one is guilty. However if i had witnessed a murder, esp the murder of a loved one, i would destroy the offender. Conversely, if my life were threatened, or the lives of my loved ones threatened i would use any and all means to defend them, including erradication of the threat.

I'm not advocating this position for all, nor claiming it is the "right" position, merely telling how i am currently programed to respond to such audacity.

 

[Cyre2067]

What I find interesting is that this doctor seems to be applying human anger to a psychopath. The irrational actions of an emotionally distraught, normal person are very different from the deliberate connivances of a psychopath. The doctor seems to want it both ways.

The doctor doesn't seem to have a profound understanding of the subject. Disturbing.

 

[CCLing]

Hello! I just discovered your website. I find intelligent and refreshing. I know this is an outdated topic, but once I saw the comments I felt compelled to respond. The prevailing contradiction with the defenses position is that Stanko can only not control himself when children, women and old men are the prey. However, when in prison with guys larger than he or that at least have some guts, he controls himself just fine. You can't be half pregnant and you can't be half insane. This coward is simply narcissistic and cares only about his well being. Just a thought.

 

[Laura]

Or it is a misunderstanding of psychopathy to say that he IS one BECAUSE he can't control his impulses. Seems to me that plenty of psychopaths control themselves very well when it gets them what they want.

 

[Pierre]

The prevailing contradiction with the defenses position is that Stanko can only not control himself when children, women and old men are the prey. However, when in prison with guys larger than he or that at least have some guts, he controls himself just fine. You can't be half pregnant and you can't be half insane. This coward is simply narcissistic and cares only about his well being. Just a thought.

In the book entitled "mask of sanity" you can find interesting descriptions of the typical double game played by psychopaths : sane/unsane, psychiatric hospital/jail, control/no control...

If you didn't downolad it yet, here is the address :
http://www.cassiopaea.com/cassiopaea/psychopath.htm

 

[Art]

Ponerology. p. 135

(only bolds are mine)

If time ever comes when "conditions will change" and "evil will no longer rule", it could be because progress in the study of pathological phenomena and their ponerogenic role will make it possible for societies to calmly accept the existance of this phenomena and comprehen them as categories of nature. The vision of a new, just structure of society can then be realized within the framework and under the control of normal people. Having reconciled ourselves to the fact that such people are different and have limited capacity for social adjustment, we should create a system of permanent protection for them within the framework of reazon and proper knowledge, a system which will partially make their dreams come true.

Tolerance. Intelligence. Ethicity. Values to consider. Human Values superior to those of "them".

We cannot play by their rules, nor use the coins they use.