News from The Associated Press - AP Exclusive: Insanity ruling not likely in Norway

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Jul 31, 10:01 AM EDT

AP Exclusive: Insanity ruling not likely in Norway

By IAN MacDOUGALL

Associated Press





AP Photo/Jon-Are Berg-sen

World Video



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OSLO, Norway (AP) -- It's unlikely that the right-wing extremist who admitted

killing dozens in Norway last week will be declared legally insane because he

appears to have been in control of his actions, the head of the panel that will

review his psychiatric evaluation told The Associated Press.

The decision on Anders Behring Breivik's mental state will determine whether he

can be held criminally liable and punished with a prison sentence or sent to a

psychiatric ward for treatment.

The July 22 attacks were so carefully planned and executed that it would be

difficult to argue they were the work of a delusional madman, said Dr. Tarjei

Rygnestad, who heads the Norwegian Board of Forensic Medicine.

In Norway, an insanity defense requires that a defendant be in a state of

psychosis while committing the crime with which he or she is charged. That means

the defendant has lost contact with reality to the point that he's no longer in

control of his own actions.

" It's not very likely he was psychotic, " Rygnestad told the AP.

The forensic board must review and approve the examination by two

court-appointed psychiatrists before the report goes to the judge hearing the

case. The judge will then decide whether Breivik can be held criminally liable.

Rygnestad told the AP a psychotic person can only perform simple tasks. Even

driving from downtown Oslo to the lake northwest of the capital, where Breivik

opened fire at a political youth camp, would be too complicated.

" If you have voices in your head telling you to do this and that, it will

disturb everything, and driving a car is very complex, " Rygnestad said.

" How he prepared " for the rampage - meticulously acquiring the materials and

skills he needed to carry out his attack while maintaining silence to avoid

detection - argues against psychosis, Rygnestad added.

By his own account, the 32-year-old Norwegian spent years plotting the attack.

On July 22, he set off a car bomb that killed eight people in downtown Oslo's

government district, then drove north to a youth camp on Utoya, a small lake

island set amid a quiet countryside of pines and spruces.

There, he spent 90 minutes executing 69 people, mostly teenage members of the

youth wing of Norway's governing Labor Party.

In a 1,500-page manifesto released just before the attacks, Breivik describes

his two-pronged attack as the opening salvos of a new crusade that, by 2083,

will purge Europe of Muslims and the " cultural Marxists " he complains are

letting them have the run of the continent.

Breivik, who is being held pending trial, has admitted to the facts of the case,

but denies criminal guilt because he believes the massacre was necessary to save

Norway and Europe, his defense attorney Geir Lippestad said, hinting at a

possible insanity defense.

" This whole case has indicated that he's insane, " Lippestad told reporters last

week.

Lippestad did not return calls over the weekend seeking reaction to Rygnestad's

comments.

If tried and convicted of terrorism, Breivik will face up to 21 years in prison

or an alternative custody arrangement that could keep him behind bars

indefinitely.

If he is declared insane, a judge could order him institutionalized in a

psychiatric ward only so long as he is deemed mentally ill, though Norway does

have provisions for keeping dangerous, but no longer insane, people in custody

even after they're discharged from the hospital.

Judging by his manifesto, it's not likely that Breivik would want to pursue an

insanity defense if it were up to him. He anticipates that, after his attack, he

will be labeled " psycho, " " maniac " and " insane. "

" I have an extremely strong psyche (stronger than anyone I have ever known), " he

wrote.

Two Norwegian psychiatrists selected by the court this week are set to complete

their evaluation of Breivik by Nov. 1.

To prove insanity, most American courts require that the defendant be possessed

by an " irresistible impulse " to commit the alleged crime - a mental illness that

prevented the defendant from controlling his or her actions.

McVeigh killed 168 people when he set off a car bomb, similar in many

ways to Breivik's, that tore through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in

Oklahoma City in 1995.

" thought he was starting a revolution, too, " said Dr. Seymour L.

Halleck, a forensic psychiatrist who examined McVeigh to determine whether he

was competent to stand trial.

To carry out such an attack, " you need a certain kind of competency and

determination - and some need to make a mark on the world, " Halleck said. " There

was nothing we found psychotic about McVeigh. "

---

Associated Press writer Karl Ritter contributed to this report.

© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be

published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy

Policy and Terms of Use.

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Jul 31, 10:01 AM EDT

AP Exclusive: Insanity ruling not likely in Norway

By IAN MacDOUGALL

Associated Press





AP Photo/Jon-Are Berg-sen

World Video



Advertisement







Buy AP Photo Reprints



OSLO, Norway (AP) -- It's unlikely that the right-wing extremist who admitted

killing dozens in Norway last week will be declared legally insane because he

appears to have been in control of his actions, the head of the panel that will

review his psychiatric evaluation told The Associated Press.

The decision on Anders Behring Breivik's mental state will determine whether he

can be held criminally liable and punished with a prison sentence or sent to a

psychiatric ward for treatment.

The July 22 attacks were so carefully planned and executed that it would be

difficult to argue they were the work of a delusional madman, said Dr. Tarjei

Rygnestad, who heads the Norwegian Board of Forensic Medicine.

In Norway, an insanity defense requires that a defendant be in a state of

psychosis while committing the crime with which he or she is charged. That means

the defendant has lost contact with reality to the point that he's no longer in

control of his own actions.

" It's not very likely he was psychotic, " Rygnestad told the AP.

The forensic board must review and approve the examination by two

court-appointed psychiatrists before the report goes to the judge hearing the

case. The judge will then decide whether Breivik can be held criminally liable.

Rygnestad told the AP a psychotic person can only perform simple tasks. Even

driving from downtown Oslo to the lake northwest of the capital, where Breivik

opened fire at a political youth camp, would be too complicated.

" If you have voices in your head telling you to do this and that, it will

disturb everything, and driving a car is very complex, " Rygnestad said.

" How he prepared " for the rampage - meticulously acquiring the materials and

skills he needed to carry out his attack while maintaining silence to avoid

detection - argues against psychosis, Rygnestad added.

By his own account, the 32-year-old Norwegian spent years plotting the attack.

On July 22, he set off a car bomb that killed eight people in downtown Oslo's

government district, then drove north to a youth camp on Utoya, a small lake

island set amid a quiet countryside of pines and spruces.

There, he spent 90 minutes executing 69 people, mostly teenage members of the

youth wing of Norway's governing Labor Party.

In a 1,500-page manifesto released just before the attacks, Breivik describes

his two-pronged attack as the opening salvos of a new crusade that, by 2083,

will purge Europe of Muslims and the " cultural Marxists " he complains are

letting them have the run of the continent.

Breivik, who is being held pending trial, has admitted to the facts of the case,

but denies criminal guilt because he believes the massacre was necessary to save

Norway and Europe, his defense attorney Geir Lippestad said, hinting at a

possible insanity defense.

" This whole case has indicated that he's insane, " Lippestad told reporters last

week.

Lippestad did not return calls over the weekend seeking reaction to Rygnestad's

comments.

If tried and convicted of terrorism, Breivik will face up to 21 years in prison

or an alternative custody arrangement that could keep him behind bars

indefinitely.

If he is declared insane, a judge could order him institutionalized in a

psychiatric ward only so long as he is deemed mentally ill, though Norway does

have provisions for keeping dangerous, but no longer insane, people in custody

even after they're discharged from the hospital.

Judging by his manifesto, it's not likely that Breivik would want to pursue an

insanity defense if it were up to him. He anticipates that, after his attack, he

will be labeled " psycho, " " maniac " and " insane. "

" I have an extremely strong psyche (stronger than anyone I have ever known), " he

wrote.

Two Norwegian psychiatrists selected by the court this week are set to complete

their evaluation of Breivik by Nov. 1.

To prove insanity, most American courts require that the defendant be possessed

by an " irresistible impulse " to commit the alleged crime - a mental illness that

prevented the defendant from controlling his or her actions.

McVeigh killed 168 people when he set off a car bomb, similar in many

ways to Breivik's, that tore through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in

Oklahoma City in 1995.

" thought he was starting a revolution, too, " said Dr. Seymour L.

Halleck, a forensic psychiatrist who examined McVeigh to determine whether he

was competent to stand trial.

To carry out such an attack, " you need a certain kind of competency and

determination - and some need to make a mark on the world, " Halleck said. " There

was nothing we found psychotic about McVeigh. "

---

Associated Press writer Karl Ritter contributed to this report.

© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be

published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy

Policy and Terms of Use.

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Jul 31, 10:01 AM EDT

AP Exclusive: Insanity ruling not likely in Norway

By IAN MacDOUGALL

Associated Press





AP Photo/Jon-Are Berg-sen

World Video



Advertisement







Buy AP Photo Reprints



OSLO, Norway (AP) -- It's unlikely that the right-wing extremist who admitted

killing dozens in Norway last week will be declared legally insane because he

appears to have been in control of his actions, the head of the panel that will

review his psychiatric evaluation told The Associated Press.

The decision on Anders Behring Breivik's mental state will determine whether he

can be held criminally liable and punished with a prison sentence or sent to a

psychiatric ward for treatment.

The July 22 attacks were so carefully planned and executed that it would be

difficult to argue they were the work of a delusional madman, said Dr. Tarjei

Rygnestad, who heads the Norwegian Board of Forensic Medicine.

In Norway, an insanity defense requires that a defendant be in a state of

psychosis while committing the crime with which he or she is charged. That means

the defendant has lost contact with reality to the point that he's no longer in

control of his own actions.

" It's not very likely he was psychotic, " Rygnestad told the AP.

The forensic board must review and approve the examination by two

court-appointed psychiatrists before the report goes to the judge hearing the

case. The judge will then decide whether Breivik can be held criminally liable.

Rygnestad told the AP a psychotic person can only perform simple tasks. Even

driving from downtown Oslo to the lake northwest of the capital, where Breivik

opened fire at a political youth camp, would be too complicated.

" If you have voices in your head telling you to do this and that, it will

disturb everything, and driving a car is very complex, " Rygnestad said.

" How he prepared " for the rampage - meticulously acquiring the materials and

skills he needed to carry out his attack while maintaining silence to avoid

detection - argues against psychosis, Rygnestad added.

By his own account, the 32-year-old Norwegian spent years plotting the attack.

On July 22, he set off a car bomb that killed eight people in downtown Oslo's

government district, then drove north to a youth camp on Utoya, a small lake

island set amid a quiet countryside of pines and spruces.

There, he spent 90 minutes executing 69 people, mostly teenage members of the

youth wing of Norway's governing Labor Party.

In a 1,500-page manifesto released just before the attacks, Breivik describes

his two-pronged attack as the opening salvos of a new crusade that, by 2083,

will purge Europe of Muslims and the " cultural Marxists " he complains are

letting them have the run of the continent.

Breivik, who is being held pending trial, has admitted to the facts of the case,

but denies criminal guilt because he believes the massacre was necessary to save

Norway and Europe, his defense attorney Geir Lippestad said, hinting at a

possible insanity defense.

" This whole case has indicated that he's insane, " Lippestad told reporters last

week.

Lippestad did not return calls over the weekend seeking reaction to Rygnestad's

comments.

If tried and convicted of terrorism, Breivik will face up to 21 years in prison

or an alternative custody arrangement that could keep him behind bars

indefinitely.

If he is declared insane, a judge could order him institutionalized in a

psychiatric ward only so long as he is deemed mentally ill, though Norway does

have provisions for keeping dangerous, but no longer insane, people in custody

even after they're discharged from the hospital.

Judging by his manifesto, it's not likely that Breivik would want to pursue an

insanity defense if it were up to him. He anticipates that, after his attack, he

will be labeled " psycho, " " maniac " and " insane. "

" I have an extremely strong psyche (stronger than anyone I have ever known), " he

wrote.

Two Norwegian psychiatrists selected by the court this week are set to complete

their evaluation of Breivik by Nov. 1.

To prove insanity, most American courts require that the defendant be possessed

by an " irresistible impulse " to commit the alleged crime - a mental illness that

prevented the defendant from controlling his or her actions.

McVeigh killed 168 people when he set off a car bomb, similar in many

ways to Breivik's, that tore through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in

Oklahoma City in 1995.

" thought he was starting a revolution, too, " said Dr. Seymour L.

Halleck, a forensic psychiatrist who examined McVeigh to determine whether he

was competent to stand trial.

To carry out such an attack, " you need a certain kind of competency and

determination - and some need to make a mark on the world, " Halleck said. " There

was nothing we found psychotic about McVeigh. "

---

Associated Press writer Karl Ritter contributed to this report.

© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be

published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy

Policy and Terms of Use.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T

[Guest guest]

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Jul 31, 10:01 AM EDT

AP Exclusive: Insanity ruling not likely in Norway

By IAN MacDOUGALL

Associated Press





AP Photo/Jon-Are Berg-sen

World Video



Advertisement







Buy AP Photo Reprints



OSLO, Norway (AP) -- It's unlikely that the right-wing extremist who admitted

killing dozens in Norway last week will be declared legally insane because he

appears to have been in control of his actions, the head of the panel that will

review his psychiatric evaluation told The Associated Press.

The decision on Anders Behring Breivik's mental state will determine whether he

can be held criminally liable and punished with a prison sentence or sent to a

psychiatric ward for treatment.

The July 22 attacks were so carefully planned and executed that it would be

difficult to argue they were the work of a delusional madman, said Dr. Tarjei

Rygnestad, who heads the Norwegian Board of Forensic Medicine.

In Norway, an insanity defense requires that a defendant be in a state of

psychosis while committing the crime with which he or she is charged. That means

the defendant has lost contact with reality to the point that he's no longer in

control of his own actions.

" It's not very likely he was psychotic, " Rygnestad told the AP.

The forensic board must review and approve the examination by two

court-appointed psychiatrists before the report goes to the judge hearing the

case. The judge will then decide whether Breivik can be held criminally liable.

Rygnestad told the AP a psychotic person can only perform simple tasks. Even

driving from downtown Oslo to the lake northwest of the capital, where Breivik

opened fire at a political youth camp, would be too complicated.

" If you have voices in your head telling you to do this and that, it will

disturb everything, and driving a car is very complex, " Rygnestad said.

" How he prepared " for the rampage - meticulously acquiring the materials and

skills he needed to carry out his attack while maintaining silence to avoid

detection - argues against psychosis, Rygnestad added.

By his own account, the 32-year-old Norwegian spent years plotting the attack.

On July 22, he set off a car bomb that killed eight people in downtown Oslo's

government district, then drove north to a youth camp on Utoya, a small lake

island set amid a quiet countryside of pines and spruces.

There, he spent 90 minutes executing 69 people, mostly teenage members of the

youth wing of Norway's governing Labor Party.

In a 1,500-page manifesto released just before the attacks, Breivik describes

his two-pronged attack as the opening salvos of a new crusade that, by 2083,

will purge Europe of Muslims and the " cultural Marxists " he complains are

letting them have the run of the continent.

Breivik, who is being held pending trial, has admitted to the facts of the case,

but denies criminal guilt because he believes the massacre was necessary to save

Norway and Europe, his defense attorney Geir Lippestad said, hinting at a

possible insanity defense.

" This whole case has indicated that he's insane, " Lippestad told reporters last

week.

Lippestad did not return calls over the weekend seeking reaction to Rygnestad's

comments.

If tried and convicted of terrorism, Breivik will face up to 21 years in prison

or an alternative custody arrangement that could keep him behind bars

indefinitely.

If he is declared insane, a judge could order him institutionalized in a

psychiatric ward only so long as he is deemed mentally ill, though Norway does

have provisions for keeping dangerous, but no longer insane, people in custody

even after they're discharged from the hospital.

Judging by his manifesto, it's not likely that Breivik would want to pursue an

insanity defense if it were up to him. He anticipates that, after his attack, he

will be labeled " psycho, " " maniac " and " insane. "

" I have an extremely strong psyche (stronger than anyone I have ever known), " he

wrote.

Two Norwegian psychiatrists selected by the court this week are set to complete

their evaluation of Breivik by Nov. 1.

To prove insanity, most American courts require that the defendant be possessed

by an " irresistible impulse " to commit the alleged crime - a mental illness that

prevented the defendant from controlling his or her actions.

McVeigh killed 168 people when he set off a car bomb, similar in many

ways to Breivik's, that tore through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in

Oklahoma City in 1995.

" thought he was starting a revolution, too, " said Dr. Seymour L.

Halleck, a forensic psychiatrist who examined McVeigh to determine whether he

was competent to stand trial.

To carry out such an attack, " you need a certain kind of competency and

determination - and some need to make a mark on the world, " Halleck said. " There

was nothing we found psychotic about McVeigh. "

---

Associated Press writer Karl Ritter contributed to this report.

© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be

published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy

Policy and Terms of Use.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT & T