Lawyers Say Levi Aron Insane, Confession Coerced
Defense attorneys for a New York City man charged with abducting, killing and dismembering an 8-year-old boy say his confession was coerced. They are also expected to request that the trial be moved elsewhere, believing that he will not be able to get a fair trial in Brooklyn.
At a hearing Monday, they said authorities told Levi Aron what to write down. They say he is not sane enough to be aware of his actions.
Aron has pleaded not guilty in the death of Leiby Kletzy (LY’-bee KLEHT’-skee).
Attorney Howard Greenberg, a new lawyer added recently to the Aron defense team, says they intend to prove their client is not guilty by reason of insanity.
Leiby went missing July 11 while walking home from day camp. Police say the boy’s severed feet were found in the freezer at Aron’s apartment.
Prosecutors say Aron kidnapped Kletzky, killed him and then dismembered his body after Leiby met him on the street and asked for help.
Levi Aron has been ruled fit to stand trial in July.
The change of venue request is expected because they don’t believe Aron can get a fair trial in Brooklyn.
how insane to plan?
hw was originally fit for trial, what changed? does he really think a trial will be different in a adifferent place? he lied to a child, held, and killed him. if that wasnt enough, he dismembered the poor child, that takes a lot of thinking, not to mention hiding part in other places
Milhouse
I’d be willing to buy that if the parts hadn’t been exactly where he told the police to look. That shows that, coerced or not, the confession was fundamentally true (though some of the details might not be). It also shows that he knew what he was doing, which means the only room for an insanity plea is to show that he was so unbalanced at the time as not to realize that what he was doing was wrong. (That he tried to hide the body proves that he knew he’d done wrong later, but it could still be that he didn’t know it at the time.)
In any case, an insanity plea shows that the defense is desperate. Insanity pleas very rarely work; defendants only try it when they have no other options, and no plea bargains are being offered, so a tiny chance seems better than none at all.
agree
he is def crazy and the trial should be moved out of brooklyn but he is still guilty and should get the death penalty
Milhouse
#1, he’s still fit for trial. The question is whether he was sane at the time of the killing. And yes, outside NYC jurors would be less likely to have followed the story closely, and to have formed a prejudice against him. He may also be hoping to get fewer Jews and/or antisemites on his jury, both of which are in shorter supply outside NYC. What he did afterward points to his sanity, but it remains possible (very unlikely but still possible) that at the time of the killing he was incapable of knowing that he was doing wrong.
Andrea Schonberger
Insane my foot! However, I guess that I’d plead insanity too if I was up for murder 1.
to number 3
He is crazy and that’s what needs to be taken into consideration. If someone is really mentally ill, they cannot be held responsible for their insane actions. So, he SHOULD NOT get the death penalty!! I can’t believe you’d actually say that another Jew should be killed!!! He should, of course, be put away into an appropriate asylum or mental health center.
eliyahu nochum
whaaaat? what were the legs doing in his freezer?
Anon
It takes an insane man to do what he did. I feel for the family of Leiby that their son was this mans victim. Hopefully he will live in some form of institution for the rest of his life. What scares me is that the world is filled with people that commit these heinous crimes and we hear about them more and more every day.
chana
HASHEM is the true judge…
Thinkster
For goodness sake, put him down! Lethal injection! Then he won’t be insane anymore!
To #10
Gosh, he’s not an animal that can just be put down! He’s a Jew and has a Neshama. I’m not defending him, what he dd was horrible! But Jews shouldn’t pray that other Jews be killed. No matter what the reason or crime. He should be put away in an asylum or mental institution..
Shloimeleh
I hate to say this, but if he is insane, he is “pegi’atan ra’ah”. And thus he is chalachically not responsible for his actions…