He ran his defense like this is what he wanted, so I guess he wins?

Not surprised

Allow me to be the first bleeding-heart pink liberal to say:

"Sounds about right."

Correct me if I'm wrong (I haven't given much attention to this) but is this the guy who begged for months to get psychiatric help and was essentially ignored until he went on his murder spree?

If so... I guess his sentence is justice then? American style justice otherwise known as gross negligence everywhere else on the entire planet?

Ah.. the death penalty! And naturally once he's dead the people he murdered will magically come back to life right?

I'm not surprised he was sentenced to death, but that sentence helps nobody. Life in prison without parole is enough, for anyone. The only argument I know of for the death penalty is the Gary Ridgeway argument: the existence of the death penalty allows for a plea that might provide useful information on other cases. It should not be used unless there's something to gain by bargaining down to life in prison.

@7 No, he's an army psychiatrist as I recall. He wanted to kill his fellow soldiers because he went jihadi. I would have given him life and offered him only pork sausage to eat.

Unfortunately this is exactly what he wanted; he'll be known as a martyr for the cause.

@7: Mental illness does not mean that you don't know right from wrong. There are limited cases where you can be declared insane (not liable due to mental illness) but this applies primarily to cases of psychosis or developmental disorders. Mental illness is not associated with greater violence except in the cases of co-occurring substance abuse disorders. And the fact that this violence was premeditated throws out the mental illness question anyways. If you can plan a mass murder, you can understand the morality of your actions. Sorry, but the mental illness defense is bullshit. It can explain disability (forgot to file taxes), but not malice.

@12,
That's not exactly what I was getting at though. I thought he was ignored until he committed a crime and then everyone freaked out. People were behaving in their typically oblivious fashion and then when the predictable happens everyone is instantly reactive and backwards thinking.

I just wasn't sure if that was the case here or not. I recall some shooting in the past few years where the shooter was giving every possible sign of being violent, was ignored, and then proceeded to act upon the very signs he had been giving for months. And everyone acted surprised, as usual.

Hassan got just what he wanted. He didn't defend himself and was looking to get executed. He'll be a martyr for allah. Incarcerating him for the rest of his life would be a worse punishment than death. Also, for those quick to sentence him to death it's nice to know that death sentences are automatically appealed. So, if he actually does ever get strapped to a gurney it's likely it's not going to be for at least another ten years. Also, let's not kid ourselves. Execution is pretty much just revenge killing.