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Va. Tech Killer Ruled Mentally Ill by Court; Let Go After Hospital Visit
ABC News ^ | April 18, 2007 | NED POTTER and DAVID SCHOETZ

Posted on 04/18/2007 1:55:30 PM PDT by Ben Mugged

A Virginia court found that Virginia Tech killer Seung-Hui Cho was "mentally ill" and dangerous. Then it let him go.

Back in 2005, the District Court in Christiansburg said that Cho was a danger to himself but not others. He was ordered to undergo outpatient care.

The ruling came after Cho was taken to a nearby psychiatric hospital for evaluation in December 2005, after two female schoolmates said they received threatening messages from him and police and school officials became concerned that he might be suicidal.

That information came to light two days after Cho, a Virginia Tech senior, killed 32 people and then himself in a shooting rampage on the university's campus.

Police obtained the order from a local magistrate after it was determined by a state certified employee that Cho met legal criteria for temporary detention that includes being a threat to others and being unable to care for himself.

Under Virginia law, "A magistrate has the authority to issue a detention order upon a finding that a person is mentally ill and in need of hospitalization or treatment.

"The magistrate also must find that the person is an imminent danger to himself or others," says the guideline from Virginia's state court system.

Wendell Flinchum, the chief of the Virginia Tech police department, said that it's common for police to work with mental health facilities

"We normally go through access [appealing to the state's legal system for help] because they have the power to commit people if they need to be committed," said Wendell Flinchum, chief of the Virginia Tech police department.

(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Front Page News; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: cho; communistgoals; massmurderer; psychiatry; vatech; virginiatech; vtech; vtkiller
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To: angkor

Actually, I must correct you: It appears from my research that a court-ordered commitment to a mental institution is also a disqualifier.


41 posted on 04/18/2007 2:19:01 PM PDT by Lazamataz (JOIN THE NRA: https://membership.nrahq.org/forms/signup.asp)
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To: Ben Mugged
Thanks. I couldn't get your first one to work. According to your link, and in order for you to retroactively "exclude" the subject, you'd have to demonstrate that he was mentally-ill at the time of entry. Which in this case, if I recall, was in 1992. Not an easy task, even in an administrative hearing.
42 posted on 04/18/2007 2:19:12 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: 1rudeboy

He had been cited for doing 44 in a 25. When I lived in VA 15 over was automatically reckless driving. Probably why he had to appear in court.


43 posted on 04/18/2007 2:20:07 PM PDT by pa mom (God bless Tech--and I'm a Wahoo!)
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To: Halls
They believe we are all good, but just need education to make sure we stay good.

Leftists think the solution to our prison population is to give the criminal class sufficient education that they are smart enough to not get caught.

44 posted on 04/18/2007 2:20:11 PM PDT by Reeses
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To: Mach5

Yes. Both guns were bought this year.


45 posted on 04/18/2007 2:20:11 PM PDT by varyouga ("Rove is some mysterious God of politics & mind control" - DU 10-24-06)
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To: Halls

There are so many reasons why this young man should have been stopped before he got to the point of committing these awful crimes. There are a number of people who failed to act responsibly in dealing with his mental condition.


46 posted on 04/18/2007 2:20:18 PM PDT by popdonnelly (Our first responsibility is to keep the power of the Presidency out of the hands of the Clintons.)
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To: Ben Mugged

thanks.


47 posted on 04/18/2007 2:20:39 PM PDT by pa mom (God bless Tech--and I'm a Wahoo!)
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To: Lazamataz

It was just an idea. Something clearly went very wrong with the background check system to allow this to slip through the cracks - it’s not like “Seung-Hui Cho” is a very common name in America like “John Smith”, so that reason is ruled out.

Look for the liberals to claim that this proves the background check system is broken because the Republicans didn’t throw enough money at, that an instant background check system “just won’t work”, and that therefore the only answer is to ban private ownership of firearms.


48 posted on 04/18/2007 2:20:51 PM PDT by CFC__VRWC (Go Gators! NCAA Football and Basketball Champions!)
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To: Ben Mugged
"VT Killer Taken To Psychiatric Hospital, Ruled Mentally Ill, & Then Let Go"

LOL! You're nuts! Get out of here!

...and don't come back!

49 posted on 04/18/2007 2:21:06 PM PDT by spunkets ("Freedom is about authority", Rudy Giuliani, gun grabber)
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To: CFC__VRWC
Not sure you guys are seeing this:

"National and state databases are accessed simultaneously at the time of transaction. Four are maintained by the Virginia Department of State Police, accessible by the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN): Virginia’s wanted and missing persons files and protective orders, Virginia’s criminal history record files, a calendar file on handgun purchases required to monitor and enforce lawful handgun limitations and Virginia’s database of adjudications of legal incompetence and incapacity, and involuntary commitments to mental institutions.

http://www.vsp.state.va.us/Firearms_VFTP.shtm


50 posted on 04/18/2007 2:21:12 PM PDT by angkor
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To: Ben Mugged

I should also warn you that your law review article is dated 1959. You have almost fifty years of intervening law to research.


51 posted on 04/18/2007 2:21:55 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: Lazamataz
Actually, I must correct you: It appears from my research that a court-ordered commitment to a mental institution is also a disqualifier.

Of course it is Laz.

The minimum threshold is a court adjudication that one is mentally ill, which is what happened here.

52 posted on 04/18/2007 2:23:18 PM PDT by angkor
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To: angkor

Yup.

As I commented, NICS failed, as it is supposed to be linked to VCIN. Even if it’s not, VCIN had to be checked separately anyway. And VCIN didn’t catch him.


53 posted on 04/18/2007 2:24:58 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Lazamataz
HIIPA allows patient record transfers with proper law enforcement requests.

Court records are by definition public records. His court adjudication would not be covered by HIPAA.

54 posted on 04/18/2007 2:25:25 PM PDT by angkor
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To: angkor

Anyone looking into just how well all these databases talk to one another? My guess is that such an investigation will turn up yet another big government boondoggle fueled by unlimited money and zero accountability.

Which means this story will really sink like a stone if the media gets its way.


55 posted on 04/18/2007 2:25:49 PM PDT by CFC__VRWC (Go Gators! NCAA Football and Basketball Champions!)
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To: P-40
"if it gets to the level where a Court has declared you mentally deficient, it has to be. I'll check that out though."

Those records are included by law in several midwestern States. Check VA law.

56 posted on 04/18/2007 2:25:59 PM PDT by spunkets ("Freedom is about authority", Rudy Giuliani, gun grabber)
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To: spunkets

It is going to be interesting to find out just what happened...or didn’t happen.


57 posted on 04/18/2007 2:27:27 PM PDT by P-40 (Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
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To: CFC__VRWC

As of 25 April 2005, VA funding for VCIN was greatly increased. If they’re complaining that NICS is underfunded, that’s fine - since VCIN is both linked to NICS *AND* had to be consulted separately anyway, it means that he should have been caught in any case. This may mean that an instant background check is pretty much useless and worse than nothing.


58 posted on 04/18/2007 2:27:55 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: 1rudeboy

I know it’s not politically correct to be logical, but there has to be some way to deport resident aliens who are insane.


59 posted on 04/18/2007 2:28:12 PM PDT by Ben Mugged (Always cheat; always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.)
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To: angkor
"National and state databases are accessed simultaneously at the time of transaction. Four are maintained by the Virginia Department of State Police, accessible by the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN): Virginia’s wanted and missing persons files and protective orders, Virginia’s criminal history record files, a calendar file on handgun purchases required to monitor and enforce lawful handgun limitations and Virginia’s database of adjudications of legal incompetence and incapacity, and involuntary commitments to mental institutions.

The system failed.

60 posted on 04/18/2007 2:28:16 PM PDT by Lazamataz (JOIN THE NRA: https://membership.nrahq.org/forms/signup.asp)
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