Fred+Porter+1A



Christopher Pittman, 15, was convicted in 2005 for shooting his grandparents and then burning their house when he was 12 years old. Pittman had been living with his grandparents, Joe and Joy Pittman, to get away from his father. On November 28th, 2001, there was an argument in the Pittman's South Carolina home, and Joe Pittman paddled Christopher. Christopher then waited until both grandparents were asleep and shot them with a shotgun his father had sent them. Because he was a minor, his age played a major role in the conviction.

The defendant's defense was based on the fact that Christopher had been taking antidepressants like Zoloft and the side effects had made him manic and psychotic, and unable to discern right from wrong. Antidepressants have been linked to abnormal behavior like suicidal thoughts, agitation and restlessness. The defense tried to establish that Christopher had not been himself that night and that he had not been aware that what he was doing was wrong.

The prosecution said that the crimes Christopher had committed "flowed too well" for someone who couldn't tell right from wrong. If Christopher had been psychotic that night, the prosecutors reasoned, he would not have been able to shoot his grandparents, set the house on fire, escape, and then blame the killing on someone else to detectives. Someone who was suffering from side effects of Zoloft would not have planned out a crime and then carried it out that way. They maintained that Christopher had 'criminal intent' because he planned the crimes, which is considered impossible for people under 14 under South Carolina law.

The jury, after deliberating for six and a half hours over two days, finally concluded that Pittman was guilty for two counts of murder. The jurors did not believe the defense's claim that Pittman was affected by the antidepressant and that he was not in his right mind the night he killed his grandparents. Judge Danny Pieper then sentenced Pittman to 30 years in prison, the mandatory state minimum sentence.

This case shows that 'adolescent justice' doesn't always mean 'gentler justice' or 'relaxed sentence'. This court, and this ruling, was a good example of adolescent justice. Christopher Pittman was obviously guilty of the charges and all involved knew it. The only point of the defense was to try and lessen the charges. Because Christopher was only 12, he could have gotten a lesser sentence, however, the extreme amount of evidence against him lead the court to try him as an adult. The judge's ruling was fair for the situation, and I would not have changed anything about it. If Pittman had been under the influence of Zoloft, then it wouldn't have been fair to give him such a harsh sentence, but once it became clear that the Zoloft had little to no effect, then convicting him became the right thing to do. It was a just ruling, and a just trial. Pittman was guilty, he murdered his grandparents, and he was fairly punished.

Sources:

Springer, J. (2005, February 16). //Jurors find teenager guilty of murdering his grandparents//. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/02/16/pittman/index.html

Associated Press, A.P. (Photographer). (2008). //2001 handout of pittman family// [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/images/365431/0_61_041408_YoungKiller.jpg

Associated Press, A.P. (Photographer). (2005). //Christopher pittman, center, stands as the verdict is read// [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Zoloft-defence-fails-teen-killer-gets-30-years-jail/2005/02/16/1108500159342.html