Extreme "self-defense"

[Bill Glasheen]

I don't have all the details on this case. But what's reported here is a graphic start.

Judge refuses to release teen held in Hanover ax attack


By Bill Mckelway
Published: April 26, 2010
Updated: April 26, 2010 1:25 PM

Hanover Circuit Judge J. Overton Harris today refused to release a 16-year-old being held after an October ax attack on a fellow Lee-Davis High School student.

Harris said he feared that Omar K. Abdelaal may not show up for his trial and could present a threat to the community.

The judge’s decision came after an hourlong hearing during which Abdelaal’s attorney, Craig Cooley presented more than a dozen witnesses who he said could vouch for his client’s character and after telling the court that the incident took place following a long period of bullying.

On Oct. 23, Abdelaal struck the fellow Lee-Davis student with an axe, cutting the left side of his face to the extent that more than 150 stitches were needed to close the wound. The confrontation took place at the nearby Tractor Supply Store.

The judge ruled after watching a surveillance video from inside the store.

Abdelaal faces a charge of aggravated malicious wounding, which carries a punishment of up to life in prison.

- Richmond Times Dispatch

In court, Abdelaal's attorney says the teen was provoked by the victim -- that for years Mayton bullied and threatened Abdelaal including the day of the attack.

Prosecutors call Abdelaal dangerous. They say he told police, shortly after the incident, that he wasn't sure why he swung that axe and that he never had a problem with Mayton.

During the bond hearing surveillance video of the incident was played. The defense says Mayton and several friends followed Abdelaal and his buddies inside the store. Prosecutors say when the two groups were face to face Abdelaal walked 29 feet, grabbed an axe, then attacked.

- WWBT - NBC 12


- Bill

[Bill Glasheen]

Wow...

Just where do you start with something like this?

• One more example of a bully victim going "loco." While this is a perfectly horrible act, it does make you think...
• The absolute brutality of the act. Read Grossman's On Killing to get perspective on this. The proximity of the attack combined with the face as the slashing target is just... inhuman.
• The general cluelessness of the attacker afterwards when talking to police.

- Bill

[Bill Glasheen]

Other odd things a martial artist thinks about.

• Don't be an ass - lest the wimpy person you're being an ass against do the unthinkable. It could happen... It did happen.
• Heard tonight somewhere on this strange planet.... "OK, class. Now today we're going to practice the defense against a teenager wielding an ax in the hardware store."
• "Prosecutors say he told police, shortly after the incident, that he wasn't sure why he swung that axe and that he never had a problem with Mayton."
  
  OK so it's the job of the police and of the prosecutor to make you look like a cold-blooded, hardened criminal.
  
  
  Honey, I'm home!
  
  Meanwhile, no sane person is going to be thinking, acting, and speaking in a sane manner after-the-fact. Lesson of the day??? Shut your mouth and call your lawyer. No matter what... unless you enjoy eating your foot when your future most depends upon it.

- Bill

[CANDANeh]

Shut your mouth and call your lawyer. No matter what... unless you enjoy eating your foot when your future most depends upon it.

I would agree but I wonder about the effects of the trauma he experienced (yes attackers often experience trauma). Not a sane act considering the information made available via media.
What the brain does after a traumatic experience is in my opinion (from experience)one of the "7 wonders" of the human brain.

[Bill Glasheen]

What the brain does after a traumatic experience is in my opinion (from experience)one of the "7 wonders" of the human brain.

You pegged it, Leo.

The prosecutor is going to paint "the evidence" in whatever way (s)he can to get a conviction or hold someone behind bars. Meanwhile... what the person says and thinks after a traumatic event is implicitly contrasted against what a normal individual says (and thinks) under normal conditions. That's hardly a valid comparison. So now the defense attorney has yet one more major hill to get over in defending his/her client.

Another issue involves consistency of story. An interrogating officer, DA, or defense attorney will rip into any inconsistencies over time - as if that's evidence of deception. Sometimes it is. And sometimes it's a matter of how the brain is managing and storing data over time in the aftermath of the traumatic event.

- Bill

[MikeK]

[*] The absolute brutality of the act. Read Grossman's On Killing to get perspective on this. The proximity of the attack combined with the face as the slashing target is just... inhuman.

No Bill, it wasn't inhuman. Matter of fact it was a very human attack. I also don't know what other proximity of attack a person would use with an axe other than close in.

[Bill Glasheen]

No Bill, it wasn't inhuman. Matter of fact it was a very human attack. I also don't know what other proximity of attack a person would use with an axe other than close in.

I won't get into parsing your words, Mike, because I think we'll miss the point I was trying to make.

Grossman's main thesis is that species have an aversion to killing their own. In other words a wolf will readily kill prey, and yet it's programmed in their DNA (through social habits) not to kill his/her own. Grossman then goes on to point out that approximately 85 percent of the human population have this natural aversion. They will not kill in battle - even when faced with their own demise. The modern military now uses operant conditioning to get killing rates up from the "natural" 15 percent to the "trained" 90 percent (+/-). That works up through about 45 days of combat, at which time the 85 perecent will break down and start experiencing symptoms of PTSD.

A main feature of the aversion to killing is distance, and a key feature is the apperance of the human face. See the title of Section III in On Killing.

Killing and Physical Distance: From a Distance, you Don't Look Anything Like a Friend.

It's fairly well documented that "Atari warfare" (launching a cruise missile) is a relatively easy task for an "average" human. Meanwhile, killing someone at close range is much more difficult. It's also fairly well documented that most of the killing in battle happens during retreat - when the advancing side doesn't have to see your face.

Also note this chapter in Section III of On Killing.

Killing at Edged-Weapons Rage: An "Intimate Brutality."

THAT is the context of my remarks, Mike.

Even without knowledge of research in the field of killology, the average juror will view this ax-to-face act as being exceptionally brutal. A closer look at the data and research on the matter will only confirm their gut instincts. Bottom line... Absent any successful temporary insanity defense, this young man likely will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

- Bill

[MikeK]

Well as I've stated before, Grossman's research is generally faulty and he's generally full of beans.

[Bill Glasheen]

Well as I've stated before, Grossman's research is generally faulty and he's generally full of beans.

Wow, Mike!

Well... At least I know I'm not misinterpreting your post now.



- Bill

[Van Canna]

Lots of learning from this as you point out _Bill.

The 'wimp' will kill you as surely as a Mr. America would, sometimes in more ruthless ways you never expected, if you push him hard enough.

Heard tonight somewhere on this strange planet.... " OK, class. Now today we're going to practice the defense against a teenager wielding an ax in the hardware store. "

But this sensei does not tell the student how to overcome the first defensive hurdle…

Impaired Thinking.

One's very "ability to think in a rational, creative, and reflective manner" is likely to be reduced or perhaps eliminated under sudden mortal threat conditions.

This "will generally cause a massive block of the brain's ability to process thought functions."

Thought functions are still necessary in those moments to blend with any sort of ‘mushin’ concepts we might be relying on…

The inability to process thought functions rationally and reflectively in an instant …will have an obvious effect on one's ability to clearly sort out the proper response action…with some pretty disastrous physical, emotional, legal and financial consequences.

The Tachypsychia effect will be there in an instant, whether we believe in it or not.

That brings in the Denial Response – flashing through your mind…it is like …On an otherwise normal day, you get a call out of the blue telling you that your mother has died. Your first response? _ "No! Mother can't be dead!"

Another common example is people yelling "no" at a car that's about to hit them, or hit someone else.

" Prosecutors say he told police, shortly after the incident, that he wasn't sure why he swung that axe and that he never had a problem with Mayton. "

The Tachypsychia effect…brings on Cognitive Dissonance --

Common manifestations of Cognitive Dissonance include remembering things out of sequence, trivial things looming large in the mind immediately after the incident, and important things being lost to short-term memory immediately after the incident.

With this confusion comes ‘logorrhea’ where there is a disconnect between the brain and the lips that will keep on flapping nonsense.

Cognitive dissonance can be one of the mind's ways of saying "no, I didn't just come within 5 seconds of being dead, that didn't happen to me."

Then there is this

Cognitive dissonance also entails doing things out of sequence when stressed.

We have all experienced it.

One chilling example: When unloading a pistol with a round in the chamber and a full magazine __ the proper procedure is to first remove the magazine, then cycle the slide, ejecting the round in the chamber, then lowering the hammer [ some do it by pulling the trigger]__

Under cognitive dissonance [ confusion] brought by stress __ many will do the reverse, i.e.,first cycle the slide on a full magazine, thereby placing a round "up the spout" __ next remove the magazine, and finally lower the hammer [ some do it by pulling the trigger] and the gun goes off.

So you will practice defense against some crazy guy attacking you with an axe. OK…

Watch out for the effects of adrenaline…

“What adrenaline, Van…there won’t be any time for adrenaline effects…it will come later”

Sure…let’s listen to Mr. Farnam who teaches defensive pistolcraft

Adrenaline can be experienced in two main forms, Anticipated and Unexpected.

If we expect something unpleasant is going to happen our body will release adrenaline in order to prepare us for confrontation the more unpleasant the experience the more adrenaline is released.

When something unpleasant happens that we don't expect adrenaline is dumped into the bloodstream in one go so that we enter a type of "overdrive state".

[CANDANeh]

A main feature of the aversion to killing is distance, and a key feature is the apperance of the human face.

WW2 fighter Ace Lieutenant DeBlanc gave an interview for television before his death that leads me to conclude he was an expert on killing and the effects of doing so. Much of what he stated supports Grossman`s research (my opinion). He shot down 9 aircraft under near impossible conditions. On one occasion he could see the fear in the enemy pilots eyes knowing he had outmaneuvered him by side stalling his own aircraft.The other he killed a rear gunner watching the gunner panic and again he could see the look on his face. He stated that he had nightmares every night seeing those faces. The other aircraft were just "kills".

[Bill Glasheen]

Just for some perspective here...

I am intentionally not directly posting these images here, as they may be offensive to some. But then again, that's the point.

Here's the face of someone during surgery at Columbia University neurosurgical center. This person experienced an attack similar to what happened in Hanover.

Patient who sustained a stab wound to the face

It isn't just the superficial. The below photograph is a blow-up of part of the wound, where two ends of a severed facial nerve are highlighted with an asterisk.

Intraoperative, highly-magnified view

That person was actually lucky enough to have gone under the knife of a talented surgeon in a major medical center. The nerve was reattached. The outcome however will rarely involve 100 percent recovery of facial muscle function.

I was talking with my spouse about this just yesterday. She's a health care practitioner. As I noted... Every time this person comes up for parole from prison or release from a psychiatric facility, the victim will show up. And this is what the judge will have to see before agreeing to let the person go back into society.

Healed facial wounds

That's actually an excellent result. I have wounds of my forehead from my highchair failing and my face falling into a china bowl. The scars on my forehead (50 stitches) don't look that good. And that's 5 decades later.

Here's another healed facial wound of comparable magnitude.

Cheek scars

Intimate brutality indeed. Some things don't require a PhD to get. A juror will see it - as plain as the cheeks on your face.

- Bill