This Daniel Hunt, he was the foreman of Manson's jury in the Shorty Shea murder trial, 11.29.1971. He is leaving sequestration. One of his comments afterwards was that Manson was a bit insane :
[quote author=Dilligaf link=topic=3669.msg29878#msg29878 date=1233291394] His comment is definately one of life's biggest understatements! ;D [/quote] [quote author=penny link=topic=3669.msg29887#msg29887 date=1233346256] Most definitely! ;D [/quote] Not really. When looking at the legal definition of insanity, Manson was not insane! He may be now, but he wasn't at the time of the murders or the trial.
I do not think that Charlie was ever insane, nor do I believe that he is now. I have several friends at Corcoran who have guarded Charlie both when in the PHU, as well as the SHU, and they have shared some of their experiences with me. He is still a master of manipulation, both inside as well as outside the walls. Do I believe that he suffers from a form of mental defect, absolutely! However, I think that the foreman was using a descriptive term as a layperson, communicating in a manner which was comfortable for him. Most insanity defenses, though not used by Manson, fail. It is a common defense, but usually comes within a diminished capacity resolution, not true insanity. The M'naughten Rule has been the standard for over a century, but is found to applicable in very few cases. Even Edmun Kemper, after killing approximately 6 co-eds, his mother, and his mothers friend over in Santa Cruz, as well as his grandparents in 1964, was not considered to be insane. M'naughten was later replaced by the Durham Rule, however, it has faced several legal challenges. In the majority of cases which seek a Diminished Capacity defense, you will usually find at least one instance during the commission of the crime in which the defendant will some type of action, whether it be to hide the crime, attempt to get away, or other acts in which aknowledgement of the crime came be deduced by their actions. This can bring hopes of a jury buying the defense crashing down.
The Foreman's comment was certainly made by a layman. I think Manson was quite sane as Dilligaf has stated but he suffered from a diminished heart. No love for anything other than Charlie.
