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Ah, the Patty Hearst case. That does take me back. I was about 14 when she was kidnapped. I was about 16, when she was tried for bank robbery and sent to prison.
Let's review the case a bit. Patty was kidnapped when she was nineteen years old and literally dragged from her apartment at gunpoint by a group of terrorists who called themselves the "Symbionese Liberation Army", or the SLA. Following her kidnapping, she was kept in a dark closet for days on end. Frequently, the leader of the movement SLA movement would go into the closet and force her to have sex with him. As part of a brainwashing plot, she was allowed outside the closet provided she did exactly what she was told. Make no mistake. This group she hung out with was a bunch of armed criminals who perpetrated robberies. One of their crimeseven including murdering a public school official. They forced Patty's father, Randy Hearst, to organize a food give-away to the poor which cost him over a $1 million saying they would release her if he did. They than broke their word and she remained captive.
In an ordinary situation, a person might be expected to look for any and all opportunities to escape and turn themselves into the police. Patty did not do this. In fact, in at least one situation she was alone in a van and fired a weapon at a police car. She participated in a bank robbery holding a gun and acting as a lookout on another occasion. She did have at least two or three clear opportunities to escape.
While Patty was gone from the group and running some errand with a couple of other members, the police in Los Angeles discovered the group's main hideout. There was a shootout and tear gas grenades were used. In the midst of this, the house caught on fire. The t.v. news dramatically depicts the house going up in flames and all who were inside perished in the blaze.
I believe when this occurred, Patty was convinced if she tried to surrender to the police she'd never be taken alive. The other members of the movement who were still alive convinced of this as well. I think when she was finally arrested by the FBI, the fact she wasn't killed came as a surprise to Patty.
There is a saying among lawyers that goes "tough cases make bad law". I think its clear in this situation that Patty Hearst was brainwashed and manipulated into doing things that she never would have done if she hadn't been kidnapped and held hostage. The law does allow a defense in criminal cases based on the notion of "duress" or that you were forced into doing something because you feared you'd be killed if you didn't. This defense does not allow you to commit murder. However, it it is defense against lesser crimes such as robbery.
Interestingly, the fact that Patty was wealthy may have actually hurt her in this case. The case occurred shortly after the Watergate Scandal had taken place. There was quite a perception in the country at that time that rich and powerful people managed to escape justice while poor and middle class people suffered the full weight of criminal justice when we committed crimes. The pardon of Richard Nixon for crimes he committed during Watergate had angered millions of people. None of this worked in Patty Hearst's favor.
It was a case with rather complex facts. Perhaps, only someone who went through the ordeal that Patty went through had any business judging her. I see her conviction as a mistake. Yet, I can see how ordinary people sitting on a jury could have reached the conclusion that they did.
Ah, the Patty Hearst case. That does take me back. I was about 14 when she was kidnapped. I was about 16, when she was tried for bank robbery and sent to prison.
Let's review the case a bit. Patty was kidnapped when she was nineteen years old and literally dragged from her apartment at gunpoint by a group of terrorists who called themselves the "Symbionese Liberation Army", or the SLA. Following her kidnapping, she was kept in a dark closet for days on end. Frequently, the leader of the movement SLA movement would go into the closet and force her to have sex with him. As part of a brainwashing plot, she was allowed outside the closet provided she did exactly what she was told. Make no mistake. This group she hung out with was a bunch of armed criminals who perpetrated robberies. One of their crimeseven including murdering a public school official. They forced Patty's father, Randy Hearst, to organize a food give-away to the poor which cost him over a $1 million saying they would release her if he did. They than broke their word and she remained captive.
In an ordinary situation, a person might be expected to look for any and all opportunities to escape and turn themselves into the police. Patty did not do this. In fact, in at least one situation she was alone in a van and fired a weapon at a police car. She participated in a bank robbery holding a gun and acting as a lookout on another occasion. She did have at least two or three clear opportunities to escape.
While Patty was gone from the group and running some errand with a couple of other members, the police in Los Angeles discovered the group's main hideout. There was a shootout and tear gas grenades were used. In the midst of this, the house caught on fire. The t.v. news dramatically depicts the house going up in flames and all who were inside perished in the blaze.
I believe when this occurred, Patty was convinced if she tried to surrender to the police she'd never be taken alive. The other members of the movement who were still alive convinced of this as well. I think when she was finally arrested by the FBI, the fact she wasn't killed came as a surprise to Patty.
There is a saying among lawyers that goes "tough cases make bad law". I think its clear in this situation that Patty Hearst was brainwashed and manipulated into doing things that she never would have done if she hadn't been kidnapped and held hostage. The law does allow a defense in criminal cases based on the notion of "duress" or that you were forced into doing something because you feared you'd be killed if you didn't. This defense does not allow you to commit murder. However, it it is defense against lesser crimes such as robbery.
Interestingly, the fact that Patty was wealthy may have actually hurt her in this case. The case occurred shortly after the Watergate Scandal had taken place. There was quite a perception in the country at that time that rich and powerful people managed to escape justice while poor and middle class people suffered the full weight of criminal justice when we committed crimes. The pardon of Richard Nixon for crimes he committed during Watergate had angered millions of people. None of this worked in Patty Hearst's favor.
It was a case with rather complex facts. Perhaps, only someone who went through the ordeal that Patty went through had any business judging her. I see her conviction as a mistake. Yet, I can see how ordinary people sitting on a jury could have reached the conclusion that they did.
I remember this case as well and agree with everything you posted.
Glad Patty was able to go to a normal life...she looked good a few years ago when her dog was in the Westminster Dog Show...a French Bulldog I think
Last time I saw her was when she hosted a short mini-series on her grandfather, William Randolph Hearst, and the Hearst Castle at San Simeon. Her grandfather had died before she was even born.
I was the same age as Patty when she was kidnapped and I remember it very clearly. She was thrown into a closet for 30 days and raped repeatedly. No way I will ever judge how she acted.
Had she not been kidnapped we probably would never have heard of her. She was a crime victim. And a survivor.
Spending all that time in a coffin type environment when not being abused, would definitely give one a severe case of PTS/Stockholm and be a horrific ordeal. I don't think the jury had too much trouble convicting.
I think I remember she finally got away by slowly building up a relationship with the kidnappers wife/girlfriend who allowed her to stay out of the box more and more, while the abductor was away. I believe she just asked to walk away one day and the girlfriend let her.
I would probably end up fighting to my death, if it came to that, trying to get away in either of the cases you mention.
I have some trouble understanding how people like Jaycee Dugard and Steven Stayner didn't get away sooner, but I guess their souls really were stolen in a way.
I read the book and found it incredibly chilling. Colleen had a strength that I know I couldn't have, because just having my head entrapped in that box would have sent my mind bye-bye. I'm highly claustrophobic.
And she took her slow time, tolerating her situation until the opportunity came. Took years. This was such a bizarre case, and I don't think most women could have made it.
I think Patty Hearst "went along with it" due to no choices at the time. Colleen, I think, decided to adapt and make do with her situation. She later built a trust in her captor's wife, which became the key. I'd say that she had Stockholm Syndrome for sure.
I read the book and found it incredibly chilling. Colleen had a strength that I know I couldn't have, because just having my head entrapped in that box would have sent my mind bye-bye. I'm highly claustrophobic.
And she took her slow time, tolerating her situation until the opportunity came. Took years. This was such a bizarre case, and I don't think most women could have made it.
I think Patty Hearst "went along with it" due to no choices at the time. Colleen, I think, decided to adapt and make do with her situation. She later built a trust in her captor's wife, which became the key. I'd say that she had Stockholm Syndrome for sure.
I find it challenging enough to be encapsuled in a plane, or even stay in a hotel room with hermetically-sealed windows, and I break into a sweat thinking of ever having endured 5 minutes with what Coleen endured being in that box.
I really believe her mind did say bye-bye to survive it all.
And Cameron Hooker, her kidnapper, what did he get out of it and what should have been his punishment?
To merely give people like him a prison sentence, IMO, is being extremely soft on crime.
I befriended a number of inmates, back in the 90's, struck up some penpal correspondence and it was a learning exprience. Just how nice and comfortable some of these people have it prison.
Last edited by tijlover; 07-01-2010 at 02:19 AM..
Reason: add word
Last time I saw her was when she hosted a short mini-series on her grandfather, William Randolph Hearst, and the Hearst Castle at San Simeon. Her grandfather had died before she was even born.
As did I. I think though that when let out of that box by the wife, an adrenaline rush like nobodys business with the strength of massive force would have enveloped me, and I would have punched that woman out of my path and ran!!!!!
I think given the fact that she had lived a very sheltered life, was so young, was severely traumatized by her kidnappers and then sent to prison.....I'm really surprised she came out of the thing a relatively sane adult. I read years ago that she married her body guard.
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