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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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This resident alien should have had deportation proceedings started in December 2005 under the provisions of the McCarran act. This act provides for the deportation of aliens who were excludable at time of entry as "persons afflicted with psychopathic personality". If immigration law had been applied these students would still be alive.

Reference http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0044-0094%28195904%2968%3A5%3C931%3ALOCPTD%3E2.0.CO%3B2-J&size=LARGE

1 posted on 04/18/2007 1:55:31 PM PDT by Ben Mugged
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To: Ben Mugged

this doesn’t surprise me!


2 posted on 04/18/2007 1:56:36 PM PDT by Halls (check out my profile and it will explain everything!)
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To: Ben Mugged
This act provides for the deportation of aliens who were excludable at time of entry as "persons afflicted with psychopathic personality".

Cho entered the country in 1992, so I doubt that would have worked here.

3 posted on 04/18/2007 1:56:54 PM PDT by dirtboy (Duncan Hunter 08/But Fred would also be great)
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To: Ben Mugged
David Berkowitz, Jr.2
4 posted on 04/18/2007 1:57:22 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Islam is a religion of peace, and Muslims reserve the right to kill anyone who says otherwise.)
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To: Ben Mugged

I wonder why that court record did not trip up his NICS check.


5 posted on 04/18/2007 1:57:29 PM PDT by P-40 (Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
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To: Ben Mugged

The triumph of liberalism. The individual can do no wrong.

Society must adjust to the short fallings and accomodate the indiovidual.


6 posted on 04/18/2007 1:58:20 PM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. Don't eat Spinich. The spinich growers are against the war and funding our troops)
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To: P-40

“I wonder why that court record did not trip up his NICS check.”

I do not think NICS is linked to that sort of issue. Maybe it should be.


7 posted on 04/18/2007 1:59:35 PM PDT by hophead ("Enjoy Every Sandwich")
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To: Ben Mugged

I saw something else on TV about this guy or another Korean in a neighborhood that was harassing or stabbing people in his neighborhood and was then let go. Was it this guy or someone else?


8 posted on 04/18/2007 1:59:46 PM PDT by garyhope (It's World War IV, right here, right now courtesy of Islam.)
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To: P-40

He clearly lied on 12f. on the 4473 and it wasn’t caught in the check. There has to be a disconnect somewhere.


9 posted on 04/18/2007 2:00:03 PM PDT by Tijeras_Slim
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To: Ben Mugged

Being a danger to yourself OR others is cause and grounds for involuntary admission. Its not required you be a threat to BOTH, at least not my understanding.


10 posted on 04/18/2007 2:01:13 PM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: Ben Mugged

No, you don’t say!

This guy was just skirting the edges of insanity and criminality. He was never quite far enough gone to commit or arrest him, I guess.

And I doubt that the mental illness would have shown up at his entry. He was 8.


11 posted on 04/18/2007 2:01:30 PM PDT by pa mom (God bless Tech--and I'm a Wahoo!)
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To: bert

Don’t you know, education can fix anyone!! That is what the liberals believe. Cho just needed education and he would have been ok, right?

I totally hate liberalism! They believe we are all good, but just need education to make sure we stay good.


12 posted on 04/18/2007 2:02:20 PM PDT by Halls (check out my profile and it will explain everything!)
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To: hophead
I do not think NICS is linked to that sort of issue.

My understanding is that if your medical records from your doctor say you have mental issues, it cannot be part of NICS...but if it gets to the level where a Court has declared you mentally deficient, it has to be. I'll check that out though.
13 posted on 04/18/2007 2:03:18 PM PDT by P-40 (Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
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To: Ben Mugged
Hm, doesn't this violate 11.f og the ATF Form 4473?

And if so, why didn't the much vaunted Brady Instant Check System catch it?

14 posted on 04/18/2007 2:03:43 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Ben Mugged; bang_list
Then Cho flunks the BATF form 4473, which specifically asks if you have been adjudicated mentally ill or committed to a mental institution. The definition of 'committed to a mental institution' covers a court order.

This person was illegally in possession of a firearm.

15 posted on 04/18/2007 2:03:50 PM PDT by Lazamataz (JOIN THE NRA: https://membership.nrahq.org/forms/signup.asp)
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To: pa mom
The McCarren act is for aliens who develop mental illness after entering the US. It states that the alien must always meet the criteria required for entry. It does not state an age requirement for entry.
16 posted on 04/18/2007 2:04:11 PM PDT by Ben Mugged (Always cheat; always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.)
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To: Ben Mugged
When did he get the guns?

Was the mental health disposition enough to disqualify him from a gun purchase?

17 posted on 04/18/2007 2:04:56 PM PDT by Mach5
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To: Spktyr
You are seven seconds smarter than me.

HOW CAN WE DISSEMINATE THIS INFORMATION TO ALL PERTINENT PARTIES? Drudge, etcetera?

18 posted on 04/18/2007 2:05:01 PM PDT by Lazamataz (JOIN THE NRA: https://membership.nrahq.org/forms/signup.asp)
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To: Ben Mugged
He should not have been approved by NICS for forearms purchase. Sometheing went wrong.

"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

19 posted on 04/18/2007 2:05:28 PM PDT by angkor
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To: Spktyr
why didn't the much vaunted Brady Instant Check System catch it?

It sounds like the records did not transfer from the Court...for some reason.
20 posted on 04/18/2007 2:05:32 PM PDT by P-40 (Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
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