On December 8th, 1980, John Winston Lennon was shot in the back four times while returning to his apartment in New York. Mark David Chapman was the man who fired these shots. Mark David Chapman was charged with manslaughter but pleaded insanity and got away with it. I believe he knew what he was doing and totally understood the consequences, but played off as he didn’t. I also believe he should’ve been charged with life in prison rather than having his own private prison home.
John Lennon was an extremely beloved man. He was loved by his friends, family, and complete strangers. He was married by a woman named Yoko Ono. Together, they seemed to be the happiest couple alive. Always on the beach, running and playing. There was never any directed …show more content…
Three for the prosecution, six for the defense, and several more on behalf of the court. He was pushing hard for the plea of insanity and he got it. On August 24, 1981, the sentencing hearing took place. Two experts gave evidence on Chapman's behalf. The district attorney argued that Chapman committed the murder as an easy route to fame. When Chapman was asked if he had anything to say, he rose and read the passage from The Catcher in the Rye, when Holden tells his little sister, Phoebe, what he wants to do with his life: “Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around – nobody big, I mean – except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all.” After hearing this come from Chapman, the judge ordered psychiatric treatment in prison and sentenced Chapman to 20-years-to-life. Chapman was given five years less than the maximum because he pleaded guilty to second degree murder, thereby avoiding the time and expense of a …show more content…
It doesn’t matter if he’s insane or not, Mark David Chapman got a sentence that was basically like a high class life. He received special treatment and was proven not insane. I believe he should’ve either gotten life in prison or the death penalty. Although I don’t exactly agree with the death penalty, what he did was a crude thing. No one deserves to be murdered, and the fact that he did it for no reason other than to get attention, is absolutely
John Lennon was an extremely beloved man. He was loved by his friends, family, and complete strangers. He was married by a woman named Yoko Ono. Together, they seemed to be the happiest couple alive. Always on the beach, running and playing. There was never any directed …show more content…
Three for the prosecution, six for the defense, and several more on behalf of the court. He was pushing hard for the plea of insanity and he got it. On August 24, 1981, the sentencing hearing took place. Two experts gave evidence on Chapman's behalf. The district attorney argued that Chapman committed the murder as an easy route to fame. When Chapman was asked if he had anything to say, he rose and read the passage from The Catcher in the Rye, when Holden tells his little sister, Phoebe, what he wants to do with his life: “Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around – nobody big, I mean – except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all.” After hearing this come from Chapman, the judge ordered psychiatric treatment in prison and sentenced Chapman to 20-years-to-life. Chapman was given five years less than the maximum because he pleaded guilty to second degree murder, thereby avoiding the time and expense of a …show more content…
It doesn’t matter if he’s insane or not, Mark David Chapman got a sentence that was basically like a high class life. He received special treatment and was proven not insane. I believe he should’ve either gotten life in prison or the death penalty. Although I don’t exactly agree with the death penalty, what he did was a crude thing. No one deserves to be murdered, and the fact that he did it for no reason other than to get attention, is absolutely