TAPESCRIPT
th
January 6 1998
ABC News : SANITY OR MENTAL ILLNESS ? (4'02")
Insanity, contrary to what you might think, is rarely used as a defense perhaps 1% of all
cases that get to trial and it's almost never successful. It fails in large part because the legal
standard for insanity is almost impossible to satisfy. Generally speaking, if the accused knew
the act he committed was wrong, he is sane in the eyes of the law; that's simple, but mental
illness is not that simple and the Unabomber case would appear to be a dramatic case in
point. So tonight we'll look at the law and the mentally ill. Here again is Terry Morraine.
voices: '...where he did live a hermit-like existence.' 'No heat, no electricity, no plumbing...'
Terry Morraine : Lawyers and psychiatrists agree, Ted Kaczynski clearly is not like the rest of
us.
Barbara Kirwin (Forensic Clinical Psychologist) : It appears from what the media has
reported that he fairly genuinely suffers from a paranoid disorder, possibly paranoid
schizophrenia.
Peter Arenella (Professor UCLA Law School) : Common sense tells what: that any
individual, who lives a life of a hermit and does the things that Mr. Kaczynski is alleged to have
done, must be crazy. But the criminal law is asking a different question.
Christopher Slobogin (Professor Law and Psychology) : I think it is fair to say that this
story does not represent the extreme spectrum of madness, by the same token he does not
represent the other extreme of badness. He is somewhere in the middle between mad and
bad.
Terry Morraine : That's the age-old question at the heart of the trial of Ted Kaczynski : when
are people so mentally ill, so crazy that the law should treat them differently, excusing their
crimes or not holding them fully accountable and in the case of Ted Kazinsky sparing him from
the death penalty ?
David Bruck : If a three-year-old picks up a gun and shoots somebody we don't say : 'well
the person is just as dead, that's an adult crime, therefore they are to be sent to prison for life.
We focus not only on the act that was done, but on the mental state, the maturity, the intent of
the person that committed the crime and so it is with mental illness.
T.M. : In the movies it all seems so simple. Norman Bates, the deranged hotel clerk and serial
killer in "Psycho" and Hannibal Lector, the brilliant psychiatrist turned cannibal in "Silence of
the Lambs" were both caricatures of what the public expects a crazy killer to be. In reality,
who's legally insane and who's not is much harder to determine.
Judge L. C. Gram : Did the defending Jeffrey L. Dahmer have a mental disease ? Answer :
no.
T. M. : Jeffrey Dahmer really did eat his victims, but he was judged sane, found guilty and
sentenced to prison where he was murdered by a fellow inmate.
John Salvi said he heard voices telling him to kill doctors who performed abortions, but
he was found sane and guilty and sentenced to prison where he committed suicide.
After John Hinkley shot President Reagan in order to win the heart of actress Jodie
Foster, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a mental institution.
Judge : Do you remember cutting him ?
Lorena Bobbit : No, I don't remember that.
T.M. : Lorena Bobbit dismembered her husband and pled insanity and the jury agreed. She
served a month under observation in a mental hospital.
In the most notorious recent collision of mental illness and the law, Colin Ferguson who
killed six people in a shooting rampage on a commuter train after venting rage against the
government, Asians, whites and those he called Uncle Tom negroes, was found not only sane,
but competent enough to defend himself at trial.
Judge : And where was the... the suspect at the time that you arrived ?
Witness : You were in the back seat of a mock police car, Long I. Railroad police car in
handcuffs.
DO NOT READ THE TAPESCRIPT UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE
EXERCISES BELOW.
I. Comprehension.
1) Watch the whole report twice without writing anything down.
2) Watch the report again and put a cross after the sentence which best sums up the
document.
a. The report focuses on the issue of serial killers in the United States. ___
b. The report analyses the treatment of famous murder cases in Hollywood films. ___
c. The report mainly shows how difficult it is to convict criminals because of their possible
madness. ___
d. The report deals with the arguments for or against death penalty. ___
3) Among the following possibilities tick the actual legal standard for mental sanity under
American law. (first part of the document)
 the crime was simply premeditated by the accused
 the accused is able to give a logical explanation for his crime
 before committing the crime, the accused had no record of mental illness
 the accused knew the act he committed was wrong
4) Fill the following table using information provided in the second part of the report :
crime committed?
judged sane or
insane?
sentence if
specified?
Jeffrey Dahmer
John Salvi
John Hinkley
Lorena Bobbit
Colin Ferguson
5) Watch the whole report again and read the tapescript at the same time. Here is some
information to help you understand :
Ted Kaczynski, also called the Unabomber, is currently being judged in the United States for
sending letter-bombs over a period of 17 years, leaving 3 people dead and 23 injured.
II. Vocabulary. In each of the following series of words cross the odd one out [l'intrus].
a. trial / process / abortion / hearing
b. fair / reasonable / adequate / successful
c. penalty / token / sign / symbol
d. crazy / simple / deranged / mad
e. therefore / thus / accordingly / by reason of
f. the accused / the defendant / the prosecutor / the criminal
g. come / vent / express / voice
h. mock / fake / guilty / false
i. purpose / goal / intent / definition
j. rampage / rage / hunt / fit of madness
k. charge / plead / admit / acknowledge
III. Grammar.
A. Adjectif substantivé (devenu Nom)
(catégorisation d'un ensemble
d'individus : invariable)
we'll look at the law and the mentally ill (l.6)
(cas particulier de l'expression
de l'âge: singulier et pluriel
classique)
If a three-year-old picks up a gun (l.24)
Ex. : gangs of 12-year-olds are not unusual in the U.S.
Participe Passé devenu Nom
(singulier ici, pluriel invariable)
If the accused knew (l.3)
Ex. :Marcus and Lucas were charged with murder. The
accused were both sentenced to death.
B. Comparaison.
Comme + Nom : like
Ted Kaczynski clearly is not like the rest of us (l.8)
Like dans un adjectif comosé
a hermit-like existence (l.7) (comme celle d'un ermite)
Il en est de même pour : So + it is with
... and so it is with mental illness (l.27)
C. Action programmée.
BE + TO
therefore they are to be sent to prison (l.25)
IV. Translation.
1. Des chiens pour les aveugles doivent être offerts par la communauté.
2. Jeffrey Dahmer a été reconnu fou; il en fut de même pour Lorena Bobbit.
3. Comme J. Dahmer, John Salvi est mort en prison.
4. Deux jeunes de 17 ans ont été accusés de meurtre.
5. Seuls les priviligiés peuvent s'offrir les meilleurs avocats.
6. Cette poupée a des cheveux semblables à ceux d'un bébé.

SANITY OR MENTAL ILLNESS ?
I. 2)
a. The report focuses on the issue of serial killers in the United States. ___
b. The report analyses the treatment of famous murder cases in Hollywood films.
c. The report mainly shows how difficult it is to convict criminals because of their possible
madness. 
d. The report deals with the arguments for or against death penalty.
I. 3)
 the crime was simply premeditated by the accused
 the accused is able to give a logical explanation for his crime
 before committing the crime, the accused had no record of mental illness
 the accused knew the act he committed was wrong
I. 4)
crime committed?
ate his victims
judged sane or
insane?
sane
sentence if
specified?
prison
killed an abortionist
sane
prison
John Hinkley
shot Pdt Reagan
insane
mental institution
Lorena Bobbit
dismembered her
husband
killed 6 people
insane
1 month in a
mental hospital
Jeffrey Dahmer
John Salvi
Colin Ferguson
sane
II. a. abortion b. successful c. penalty d. simple e. by reason of f. the prosecutor g. come
h. guilty i. definition j. hunt k. charge
IV.
1. Dogs for the blind are to be offered by the community.
2. Jeffrey Dahmer was found mad; so it was with Lorena Bobbit.
3. Like J. Dahmer, John Salvi died in prison.
4. Two 17-year-olds have been charged with murder.
5. Only the privileged can afford the best lawyers.
6. This doll has got baby-like hair.