Yesterday I wrote about the firing of a Canton, Ohio cop and his police union’s claim that the behavior which led to his firing resulted from post-traumatic stress disorder. I noted that his defenders are resorting to the same tactics defense lawyers use every time an Iraq or Afghanistan war veteran is tried for a crime – he did it because he was suffering from PTSD.
Well, here we go again, and this one is a real jewel.
Joran van der Sloot, 24, the primary suspect in the 2005 disappearance in Aruba of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, has been roosting in a Peruvian prison for 19 months awaiting trial for the murder of 21-year-old Peruvian student Stephany Flores.
On Wednesday, van der Sloot pled guilty in a Peruvian courtroom. He could be sentenced for up to 30 years in prison. A Peruvian official says that because of prison overcrowding – where have we heard that before? – he would serve only 7 – 9 years if he received the maximum sentence.
His attorney asked the judges for leniency on the grounds that – now get this – van der Sloot has been suffering from PTSD, the result of having been hounded in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
Come to think of it, that does beat blaming the murder on a troubled childhood.
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