Lawyer For Teen Mass Murderer Asks Cop About Written Confessions

Описание: The sentencing hearing for the North Carolina teenager who murdered five people is so extensive it feels like a trial.

Judge Paul Ridgeway is hearing testimony as part of a "Miller hearing" pursuant to a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said people who committed a homicide when they were under 18 can’t be sentenced to life in prison without parole unless their youthfulness at the time of the offense is considered.

Austin Thompson's lawyer Deonte' Thomas, the chief public defender in Wake County, questioned Sgt. William Tripp of the Raleigh Police Department on Thursday (February 5) after Tripp detailed evidence against Thompson, including surveillance video and a confession note. (You can watch Tripp testify about the notes here:    • 'I Am Not Mental': Mass Shooter's Note Bla...  )

Thomas' questions tried to emphasize that Thompson's writings around the time of the killings were not normal for him, part of a defense attempt to show he was in a different state of mind.

04:22 "You ever found anything else that hinted at like any kind of extreme environmentalism or anything like that, correct?"
"No, sir."

05:44 "In interviewing both parents, it was, it was apparent that he was more it was closer to his father."

10:00 "the Thompson family is both accused, Austin, and also the victim?" "Yes"

14:07 "It was during this time you were reported that Austin was making, I think you said, inappropriate comments and doing finger guns and asking to tase his dad and stuff like that."

Thompson was 15 when he killed his 16-year-old brother, James, then murdered four people in an Oct. 13, 2022, shooting spree that also injured a woman and a Raleigh police officer.

Thompson pleaded guilty last week to all charges, including five counts of first-degree murder and two counts of counts of attempted murder.

Thompson's lawyers have blamed his acne medication. Thompson sustained a traumatic brain injury when he shot himself in the forehead before he was arrested.

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