LA jury: woman who ran over man she called 'road kill' was insane

ap on Riverside Press Enterprise ^ | 8/16/06 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

LOS ANGELES

A woman who was convicted of repeatedly running her car over a Hispanic man she called "road kill" will be sentenced to a state mental hospital after a jury found her insane.

The panel deliberated for four hours Tuesday before returning its verdict in a retrial of the Sept. 1, 2000, death of Jesus Plascencia, 65.

Marie Elise West, 41, of Hermosa Beach was convicted of second-degree murder in November 2004 for running over the restaurant worker outside a Van Nuys bagel shop, but that jury deadlocked on whether she was sane at the time of the crime. The jurors also rejected the prosecution's contention that the crime was motivated by racial hatred.

The latest trial began in July 26 after repeated delays because West was hospitalized multiple times for her mental illness.

During retrial, prosecutors argued that the crime was premeditated and described West as a cold-blooded killer. Witnesses said she made racist remarks before and after driving over Plascencia, then walked into the bagel shop and told an employee that there was some "road kill" in the parking lot.

Defense attorney Angelyn Gates countered in closing arguments that West ran over an innocent man for no apparent reason.

"There is no reasonable, rational explanation for this," Gates said. "The only explanation is insanity."

A judge will determine the length of West's hospital stay at a hearing scheduled for Sept. 7.

West's mother said she was relieved her daughter avoided a prison term.

"Prison would have been like a death sentence. She couldn't have survived that," Geraldine West said.

[Global2010]

Sounds like a killer with a sense of humor.

I would not call it insane I would say more like she did not like Hispanic people.

I would of found her guilty of murder minus the insanity tag.

[lovecraft]

The jury only deliberated for 4 hours? That woman must have been obviously bug-sh*t crazy.

[robertpaulsen]

"Prison would have been like a death sentence."

No, being run over multiple times would be like a death sentence.

[Condor 63]

I would of found her guilty of murder minus the insanity tag.

Ditto. This one doesn't pass the smell test.

[ClearCase_guy]

The guys who are killed by lethal injection from time to time, usually have committed crimes so foul that I just shake my head and say, "No normal person would do something that heinous. You'd have to be crazy to be so callous."

But I don't think that is sufficient grounds for them to avoid prison and execution. I guess she's different.

[teenyelliott]

I don't care if she is crazy or not.

If you are capable of murdering another person, you should go directly to prison.

Hate crime, insanity, "difficult childhood", I am sick of the labels. You kill, you should get permanently removed from society.

[goldstategop]

I would have had her excuted for murder. But if you're a female murderer, people are guided not by the facts but by their feelings for the fair sex. A woman who can run over a man must be out of her mind - her buggin' mind! So we medicalize evil.

(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)

[avacado]

"Marie Elise West and her husband, Al Bowman, in Las Vegas shortly after their 1999 wedding. "I fell in love with the sane part of her," Bowman said. "I figured I could handle the insane part if I had to."

http://easyreader.hermosawave.net/news2001/1018/coverstory.asp

[netmilsmom]

>>Jesus Plascencia, <<

Running over Jesus with a car is just bad Karma.

[ElTiante]

I would have had her excuted for murder. But if you're a female murderer, people are guided not by the facts but by their feelings for the fair sex. A woman who can run over a man must be out of her mind - her buggin' mind! So we medicalize evil.

A vagina is get-out-of-jail-free card.

[TChris]

"There is no reasonable, rational explanation for this," Gates said. "The only explanation is insanity."

This theory leads inexorably to the conclusion that all murder is the result of insanity, since no "reasonable, rational" person would murder.

[murphE]

"There is no reasonable, rational explanation for this," Gates said. "The only explanation is insanity."

There is another explanation, evil. Evil is never reasonable.

[goldstategop]

I guess with a face like that - the jury's hearts' broke. Its the same face that drove the Greeks to launch a thousand ships to save the fair Helen. Its the same feminine beauty that will allow people to forgive a woman even the unspeakable. Would Marie Elise have been found insane if she had been plain Jane? I doubt it.

(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)

[M1Tanker]

"Prison would have been like a death sentence. She couldn't have survived that,"

Obviously no one really cares that the pedestrian got the death sentence. Unique moral perspective.

Being that cool and detached after repeatedly running over someone is a form of insanity... The same "insanity" we throw serial killers in prison for.

I'll wager we will see this same woman in headlines after she is released and runs over, or murders in some other fashion, someone else.

[I still care]

Excellent article. Most people don't understand mental illness, and very few realize the profound lack of reasoning that goes along with it.

My husband was bipolar. I remember one night having to lock the door of my bedroom with my kids and me behind it, simply because I could not trust him to do something nuts.

Hospitals routinely send people like this home. It's a nightmare for families, that love the person, but understand they are not rational and cannot be trusted to act out on their delusions.

[Heyworth]

Running over Jesus with a car is just bad Karma.

Not to mention complicated theology.

[avacado]

This is from her husband:

Then, in March of 2000, a frustrated Bowman asked the Hermosa Beach police to take his wife into custody because he thought she was a danger to herself.

But her innocent, angelic tone convinced the police to turn their heads and walk the other way.

"They took one look at her and said she was fine," Bowman said.

[Centurion2000]

You kill, you should get permanently removed from society.

Permanent removal would be execution .... of course I'm of the same mind about it as well. No excuses .. .just shoot the criminals.

[goldstategop]

Someone who looks that angelic isn't necessarily innocent. Our eyes oft deceive us to what we ought to know better in our hearts.

(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)