Well I hope everyone had a awesome New Years! Hope not many of you were like 2 sick haha! As for Mikey and I we didn't drink anything Mikey anit into the drinking thing. Anyway we spent the day flying out here 2 Glendale Arizona. We made the trip ok with a few delays but hell it's weather people need 2 understand that. It's like in the 50's right now Mikey is still sleeping I am all mixed up with the time change I think he could sleep thru a hurricane really. It don't matter he cal sleep all he wants as long as he is by my side. We had a great time camping I will or he will get into that later but trust me it was fun!!!
I was watching TV this morning and watch this show that has my mind just running all over the place with thoughts and all. I want 2 get your thoughts on this if you don't mind. Ok here is the story some of u might have heard it already anyway there is a 14 year old boy that killed his 8 year neighbor girl the story on TV went like this he was outside playing baseball with her I guess they were friends anyway he said that he hit her by accident in the head with the ball I guess pretty hard it knock her out and she was bleeding from the head. Well he got scared and I guess he was scared 2 death of his Dad so he took the girl in the house in his room and this is where it gets bad. So he dragged the girl into his bedroom. He smashed her in the head with a bat to stop her from screaming and when she kept moaning, he grabbed a knife and stabbed her in the throat, he said. He shoved her under his water bed and went to wash up. Joshua still heard moaning. He pulled her from the bed and stabbed her until she stopped breathing, detectives said. An autopsy showed the girl was beaten over the head and stabbed at least nine times in the chest and twice in the neck.
He was charged as an adult with first degree murder and convicted. He was sentenced to LIFE in prison with no possibility of parole. He was a CHILD at the time of the felony. Unfortunately, at his trial he was badly represented and NO witnesses were called in the defense. Medical evidence of a mental disorder was never shared with the jury. At the time, there was a theory that violence was somehow coordinated with abnormal EEGs, or heart rhythms. If such a correlation could be proven, then there might have been a physiological explanation for what he did. In other words, he just followed through on what his brain ordered him to do. However, this theory failed to pan out. Until proven otherwise, he had nothing to blame but himself. Nevertheless there are researchers who firmly believe that violence is clearly the product of some kind of physiological imbalance. Some say it's almost entirely a matter of chemical interactions in the brain, while others believe that physiology and the environment are interconnected.
Now I could go on and on but I think you get the point and click on the links you can find out more about this story. This has me so confused I would like to know your thoughts I will have another post about this and let you know mine. Right now I must go get Mikey up today is the big day his Mountaineers playing later today wish them luck!
Later!
Josh
Josh's Mom
Only site I could find on Maddie
I was watching TV this morning and watch this show that has my mind just running all over the place with thoughts and all. I want 2 get your thoughts on this if you don't mind. Ok here is the story some of u might have heard it already anyway there is a 14 year old boy that killed his 8 year neighbor girl the story on TV went like this he was outside playing baseball with her I guess they were friends anyway he said that he hit her by accident in the head with the ball I guess pretty hard it knock her out and she was bleeding from the head. Well he got scared and I guess he was scared 2 death of his Dad so he took the girl in the house in his room and this is where it gets bad. So he dragged the girl into his bedroom. He smashed her in the head with a bat to stop her from screaming and when she kept moaning, he grabbed a knife and stabbed her in the throat, he said. He shoved her under his water bed and went to wash up. Joshua still heard moaning. He pulled her from the bed and stabbed her until she stopped breathing, detectives said. An autopsy showed the girl was beaten over the head and stabbed at least nine times in the chest and twice in the neck.
He was charged as an adult with first degree murder and convicted. He was sentenced to LIFE in prison with no possibility of parole. He was a CHILD at the time of the felony. Unfortunately, at his trial he was badly represented and NO witnesses were called in the defense. Medical evidence of a mental disorder was never shared with the jury. At the time, there was a theory that violence was somehow coordinated with abnormal EEGs, or heart rhythms. If such a correlation could be proven, then there might have been a physiological explanation for what he did. In other words, he just followed through on what his brain ordered him to do. However, this theory failed to pan out. Until proven otherwise, he had nothing to blame but himself. Nevertheless there are researchers who firmly believe that violence is clearly the product of some kind of physiological imbalance. Some say it's almost entirely a matter of chemical interactions in the brain, while others believe that physiology and the environment are interconnected.
Now I could go on and on but I think you get the point and click on the links you can find out more about this story. This has me so confused I would like to know your thoughts I will have another post about this and let you know mine. Right now I must go get Mikey up today is the big day his Mountaineers playing later today wish them luck!
Later!
Josh
Josh's Mom
Only site I could find on Maddie
I don't really know where I stand on this. I guess basically I feel the kid was old enough to know he was doing wrong and got what he deserved. I know if it were MY child he killed. oh boy. Oh boy.
Glad y'all had a good time camping and are together. You make my heart sing!
It seems Josh sure needs Psychological help but life in prison will do nobody any good. It won't bring Maddie back and Josh will be a burden on society until he dies. With help he could live a productive life and be useful, maybe even teach us how we can prevent a tragedy like this from happening again.
I sure would have liked to be a flea in the camper when you guys were camping out. I'll bet that camper was rocking around the clock and steam was coming out the windows and doors.
Go Mountaineers just don't cancel my soap opera. haha It is 9 degrees here today and down to zero tonight. Then up to 60 on Sunday. Why would that make us sick? You guys have fun even if Mikey ain't into drankin' that shows he is smart beyond his age. Love you guys to hell and back, hugs. Ed
Wow, I really don't remember that
story. I don't know what to think.
In my own defense, I don't want
to pass judgement.
I'm glad to hear that y'all had fun
and are still having it. Mikey is
like me. I could sleep forever and
a day if given the chance. Too bad
I have a bladder that says other
wise and a retarded dog that won't
let me. I have a picture that you
need to see. He looks so innocent.
Unlike the one when he killed his
stuffed animal.
personally I think execution is less cruel than life in prison so I don't think they did him any favors. But I don't buy the theory that violence comes from a chemical imbalance. If that were the case than animals would be classified as insane for eating each other.
I think the boy is not right and should be kept for life in a mental ward rather than a prison but I don't think a normal kid would stab someone that many times unless there was something wrong with him in the first place. Nor do I think that after committing that kind of deed that he should be permitted to roam free there has to be some kind of debt for taking a life and that was a violent horrible death.
Also I don't trust the mother to be objective, and I think she is grasping at straws to deny her son was involved. She tries to say the dog never had any interest in the body so it must have been planted there but doesn't explain why the dog didn't go crazy when the body was found.
I think it is unfortunate that her lawyer sucked and a better one would have got the state to pay for a psch review on the boy. Which may have got him an insanity plea instead of life in prison it would have been life in an asylum.
Lotta big plays! Good to see BigEast teams win, especially after all the defections a few years ago.
The boy does deserve a retrial, but the end results will prolly be similar. He asked for a lawyer during interrogation and was denied. That tells me 2 things: he was mentally aware, and he was railroaded by detectives. This doesn't mean he is not guilty, but the case should be reviewed, at the least.
Is that fair to the victims family? No. But the the detectives have to uphold the law, as well.
I realize this is a very sensitive issue and ppl are going to disagree with me. And I admit I don't know all the facts. But the little girl also deserves the truth.
Ryan--The tragic story of Josha and Maddie is horrible and confusing on so many levels--I can see why it caught your attention, and is troubling you.
I googled this story and read a few articles, and here are my thoughts:
--It appears that Joshua's constitutional rights were violated in several ways--he asked for a lawyer and did not get one until after 5 interviews, done w/o his parents or a lawyer, and he probably had incompetent legal representation, as none of that medical info was introduced, and in fact no defense witnesses testified;
--I don't know Florida law, but it doesn't appear that the prosecution proved 1st degree murder--most states require proof of intent, and it appears that this horrible event started as an accident;
--Having said that, even if he has grounds for appeal, he would not get a reversal unless the errors would have resulted in a different verdict. That doesn't appear likely;
--ok, I'll admit now that I am an attorney---
--anyway, I agree with other commenters that this boy needed and presumably still needs serious mental health care, which he is not going to get in any regular prison;
If he was tried as a juvenile, he would likely be in prison or a mental health facility only until age 18, and whether or not he has some physiological defects that may have screwed him up, I think he is still clearly a danger to society.
--wow--you sure have found a great example of problems with the Florida justice system, at least concerning teenagers/homicide/and possible mental health issues!!
Ryan, it troubles me when people make statements like, "...until proven otherwise, he had nothing to blame but himself." Well, duh. Himself *IS* to blame! A 14 y/o boy knows the difference between right and wrong. Whether he had a so-called "chemical imbalance" or is just plain crazy, it does not matter. He *needs* to be separated from society from the rest of his life.
Oh, and by the way, the "kid" is 24 now - the killing happened in 1998. I would not be comfortable with him out on the skreet.
Anyway, what he did was no accident. The mother, understandably, clings to a very thin thread of some bizarre and outlandish theories that Josh might not have killed the girl--that the police themselves might have planted her under Josh's waterbed--or that the son of a woman killed by one of Maddie's uncles might have killed her in revenge and then, inexplicably, snuck the body unnoticed into Josh's house and hid her under Josh's bed. Yeaaahhhhhh, oooooooookaaaaaay. (But she's probably nutsy-cuckoo too--18 months after Josh's deal, her husband/Josh's father was killed in a "one-car accident" near the prison. Suicide, dad?)
That Josh's arrest and defense were screwed up is undeniable. But the fact is, HE DID IT! So, in crying for another trial and a better lawyer, all we're doing is saying that we want him to have a chance to get away with it this time. Not me, babe!
Sorry, Joshy. You killed that little girl, then hid her body under your waterbed and pretended to help with the search. YOU did it. Brain-damaged or not, you're still guilty. I don't mind spending some of my Florida tax dollars to keep you locked up for the rest of your miserable life.
OK don't be hatin I am just throwing this out there for discussion - because I really don't know enough of the facts of the case to really voice a solid opinion. Is it possible that he really did know what he was doing? It may have started out as an accident (the initial ball to the head) but his actions after that - show intent (again from what you are saying here)
Whatever the reason that it happened - its tragic not only for the family of the little girl that died but for him and his family as well.