Comments by "GH1618" (@GH-oi2jf) on "VERDICT | Mother Stabbed Murder Trial" video.

  1. The minimum is 15.
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  2. She will have access to mental health care in prison.
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  3. She can get mental health services in prison.
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  4. The prosecutor explained that. The two charges just represent two theories of the case. The first is that she intended to kill her mother at the outset of the attack. The second is that she intended to assaut her mother without specific intent of killing her, but resulting in her death. It doesn’t mean she gets twice the sentence.
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  5. “Mentally ill” does not necessarily mean legally insane. She should be able to get treatment in prison, as well as education.
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  6. Yes, she is genuinely upset at the reading of the verdict, as almost anyone in that situation would be. I don’t understand the people here who are obsessed with whether they see tears or not.
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  7. With regard to the opening remark by the male reporter, the finding is not that Powell was not “suffering from acute mental breakdown,” the finding is merely that she was aware of the wrongfullness of her acts, hence not legally insane.
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  8. The defense psychologists had no credibility. As for the family, they are not impartial, so their opinions should not be taken into account. I think the verdict was correct. That doesn’t mean she is not in need of mental health treatment. She is, and can receive that in prison.
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  9. Yes. It’s strange, because dropping out of college for a time is not unusual. I finished two years behind schedule myself.
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  10. She may be psychotic, but that wasn’t the question. The question was: was she insane at the time of the killing? “Insane” means unaware of the wrongfulness of her acts.
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  11. Right. It is not unusual to have a rough start at first, then come back from it. I took a year off after my first year, then came back with a new sense of purpose after I figured out what I wanted to do.
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  12. There may be some people speaking for her at sentencing. Such testimonials just don’t have a place in the prosecution case.
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  13. Her experts had different diagnoses. The lawyer can’t fix that.
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  14. Bond is normal. To deny bond, the judge must find that either she is a danger or a flight risk. She was neither, under the conditions of her release.
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  15.  @MartinisnOlives — The prosecutor does not make the decision on bail. They can request no bail. I don’t know whether they did in this case, but the judge decides the conditions of release. She did not harm anyone while released on bail, nor did she try to flee, so there is no basis for second-guessing the judge’s decision.
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  16. The crime was sickening. Seeing her upset at having screwed up her life is not sickening, it is a normal reaction. The whole affair is a tragedy. Your reaction seems inappropriate to me. It was the correct verdict, but this is not an occasion to celebrate.
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  17. Life without parole is not an option. Why do people come to the comments who aren’t following the case?
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  18. Nobody is taking her medication. She will receive medical care in prison, including mental health care.
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  19. I don’t understand why people think “God” had anything to do with this. “God” did not protect Brenda.
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  20. Sydney is the one who screwed up.
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  21. She is probably someone who has been assigned to be with her at court.
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  22. The judge considers aggravating and mitigating circumstances. In any case, a future parole board will determine how long she serves.
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  23. There were no adverse consequences while she was out, so there is no basis for critizing the judgment of the court on that point.
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  24. It was the correct verdict, but nothing to feel happy about. It is tragedy.
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  25. Your statement is inconsistent.
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  26.  @maryblushes7189 — Parole is entirely up to the parole board. It is not part of the sentence. She will be elegible for parole.
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  27.  @maryblushes7189 — Parole generally depends on the record of the inmate during custody. She will have access to mental health care. She needs to make the best use of it.
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  28. The defense psychologists had no credibility. The prosecution psychologist was more credible because she did a lot of work examining records of Sydney’s activities just before and after the killing.
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  29. Sydney was good academically in high school, though. She may have wanted to go to college. I haven’t read what went wrong for her.
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  30. Failing in college is not rare. For most people, it is first time they have been on their own, responsible for their time management. Some people don't adjust to the added responsibility.
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  31. The sentence is 15 to life.
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  32.  @harisqureshi421 — yes
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  33. She was a legal adult, but not “grown up.”
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  34. Yes. I can’t imagine how he copes with this.
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  35. That is not an option. Have you paid any attention to this case?
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  36. Justice is for the people. We don’t want people going around killing each other as a solution to their problems. Civil society requires a system to discourage that sort of thing, and to protect society from violent people.
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  37. There is very little straight news reporting these days.
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  38. Sentencing has not yet been done.
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  39. She did not call the police herself.
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  40. Very few convicts actually are put to death. Many states no longer have the death penalty, and those that do rarely use it.
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  41. I’m sure all the psychologists were paid. The defense psychologists had no credibility, though.
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  42. Release on bond is not unusual. It is normal. She had a substantial bond, and no doubt conditions of release. There has been no report of her violating release conditions, so there is nothing to complain about.
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  43.  @Backstage2024 — You don’t understand how bond works. It depends on whether the defendant is a danger, or a flight risk. She was neither under the conditions of release, so the judge was correct in allowing it. Her privilege was that she was able to come up with enough money to pay the bond.
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  44. She was genuinely upset, as most anyone would be.
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  45. Bail is a right which can only be denied when the defendant is judged a danger, or a flight risk. During more than three years out on bail she harmed no one and did not attempt to flee. Therefore, the judges decision was correct. I think you should save your complaint for a case wherein the judge was wrong. As for sentencing, that hasn’t happened yet.
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  46. She will be eligible for parole. It is unlikely she will serve life.
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  47. To deny bail, a judge must decide that either a defendant is a danger to the community, or a flight risk. Sydney did not hurt anyone when she was out on bail, nor did shee flee. Therefore, the judge was correct in deciding whether she was eligible for bail. I don’t see why people are complaining about this. Bail is normal.
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  48. Mental illness does not necessarily mean legal insanity. A murder need not be “in cold blood” to be murder. Most murders are in “hot blood.” The issue was not whether she has mental problems, it was only whether she was aware of the wrongfullness of her acts. Her inability to control her rage is not an excuse. A lot of murderers fall into that category. I try to imagine whether a son of similar age and circumstances would receive much sympathy. I doubt it. Should girls get a pass? I don’t think so. Not for murder.
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  49. Beating children is not the answer. That will create violent people.
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  50. She has not been judged insane, but she should get treatment for mental health.
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  51. True, but I don’t understand her irrational fear of failure. Many people wash out of college, and some of those come back later and do well. Whether she would have or not is unknown, but if not, it isn’t the end of your life. Unless you murder someone. It is just so irrational I wonder if there is a backstory that could explain it.
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  52. Not a possibility. Have you been following this case?
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  53.  @wilsonlincoln280 — None of the conditions for aggravated murder applies.
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  54. She is genuinely upset at the reading of the verdicts, in my opinion. Of course she would be.
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  55. It has been three and a half years.
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  56. Why are people obsessed with tears? I don’t think I could see tears through my screen, but it doesn’t matter. It seemed to me she was genuinely upset at the verdict, as most anyone would be. She probably thought she had a chance of being acquitted of murder, and now she knows she will go to prison. Of course she’s upset!
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  57. I don’t see that often. That aspect of the case seems unusual to me.
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  58. By which you mean give her effective mental health therapy, I hope.
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  59. What do you know about this judge? Probably nothing.
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  60.  @pw191164 — I haven’t made any excuses. Ohio law allows a criminal defendant to be outside the courtroom under certain conditions, and the prosecution did not object. I don’t get why people make such a fuss over an unimportant detail. The judge did remand Sydney to custody after the verdicts, so you were wrong about the judge possibly letting her walk out free.
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  61. She may be sick, but she is not insane. Insanity defenses rarely work.
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  62. She heard the trial when she was out of the courtroom.
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  63. The possible sentences fall in a relatively narrow range, as the prosecutor said in this video.
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  64. Even though she was convicted, there is still a double standard operating regarding male and female offenders. There has been a lot of talk about Sydney’s mental health and whether it amounted to insanity. Nobody talks about the mental health of Carlos Hallowell being a mitigating factor in the killing of his mother, except his defense attorney.
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  65. In our system of justice, the state decides. Justice must be impartial.
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  66. There is no place in the trial procedure for a witness speaking on behalf of the victim. The place for that is before sentencing.
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  67. It has been three and one-half years.
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  68. Her mother was home when she was talking to her father.
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  69. Was she offered a deal? I don’t see how this could be considered manslaughter.
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  70. Society does. Families do not decide these things, although they may express their views.
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  71. Normally, a defendant doesn't.
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  72. She may be clearly not well, but whether she was insane is a question for the jury. They decided she was not. She will get medical care in prison, including mental health care. Perhaps she will be a better person when she gets out.
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  73. That doesn’t mean anything. She is obviously genuinely upset here, as almost anyone would be.
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  74. She has not yet been sentenced. She should be sentenced tomorrow, 28 Sep.
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  75. Bond is routine. Denial of bond is an exception which requires a finding that the accused is a danger or a flight risk. The judge did not make those findings, but set a high bond and appropriate conditions. As it turned out, Sydney did no harm to anyone while on release, and did not try to flee. Therefore, the judge’s decision was correct. I think you should wait until the judge is wrong to make that complaint.
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  76. She had a tissue. I don’t think you can determine that accurately through a digital link. I think her reaction was genuine. It is the sort of reaction I expected.
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  77. She can be in a prison hospital.
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  78. Where do people get the idea that they should be able to see tears on a computer screen without a close-up shot? Anyway, it doesn't matter how many tears she had. She was convicted and is obviously upset, as anyone would be.
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  79. Bail is not unusual, it is normal. To hold someone without bail, there must be specific reason, and the judge did not find that either reason fit the circumstances.
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  80. That is not an option. Why do people comment on such things without following the case? This video gives the range of the sentence.
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  81. It is the correct result, but not something to celebrate, in my opinion. It is a tragedy, regardless.
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  82. It is 15 to life. The judge has constraints on sentencing.
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