Prosecutors argued Friday that autism spectrum disorder cannot be used as a legal defense in the mass murder process of a Toronto man.
Alek Minassian is on trial for the deaths of ten people on April 23, 2018, when Minassian hit ten people with his van.
Minassian has confessed to the crime, so the facts of the mass murder are not disputed.
What is at stake, according to ABC News, is whether the autism spectrum disorder diagnosed by Minassian was enough to obscure his trial on the day of the mass murder.
This is the van Alek Minassian that allegedly killed ten people in Toronto in April 2018
Minassian is now on trial for 10 counts of murder and 16 counts of attempted murder. Pictured: a memorial in Nathan Phillips Square to commemorate the dead in the attack
Minassian, pictured, has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a critical factor in his trial.
Prosecutor Joe Callaghan argued Friday that it should not be a factor in determining whether Minassian is convicted.
“This is a person who committed a mass murder who went on to have ASD, not that the ASD made him commit murders,” Callaghan said.
He also noted that Minassian had debated the mass murder commission for years and that he had been fixated on school traits since he was a student.
Judge Anne Molloy, who presided over the video-only judge case, was careful in her comments.
“Make it clear, autism is not on trial, Alek Minassian is on trial,” Molloy said Friday. “The question of this trial is whether the particular impact of ASD on that person at that particular time was such that he should not be held criminally liable for his actions.”
Minassian, 28, pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of murder and 16 counts of attempted murder by his furious van, in which eight women and two men between the ages of 22 and 94 were killed.
The defense argues that he cannot be held criminally responsible because of his autism spectrum disorder.
In November, the Toronto Star reported that a forensic psychiatrist detained by the defense said Minassian’s “autistic way of thinking was severely distorted in a manner similar to psychosis” when he committed his fury, which is the core of the defense argument.
A resolution will ultimately focus on whether Minassian was aware of the moral injustice of the murders, which the prosecution claims Minassian dealt with mental health advisers.
“Basically, according to the Crown statement, he had the ability to choose,” Callaghan said, according to CTV News. “And in this case, there is no evidence that he has ever lost sight of the inaccuracy of his actions.
“Some of the reasons Mr. Minassian committed these murders have nothing to do with his autism.”
The case and trial have become notable around the world for several shocking revelations that have taken place.
The final arguments of the trial, held by Zoom without a jury, were heard on Friday
The prosecution argues that Minassian’s autism should not alter the outcome of the trial. Pictured: Pains in a wake after the 2018 attack
Meanwhile, the defense argues that Minassian should not be held criminally liable because his ASD can make it difficult to judge moral good and evil. In the photo: Minassian house
Minassian told police he was a member of an Intel community, an online group for “involuntary celibates” who are sexually frustrated. Sometimes misogynistic violence stems from these groups, with at least six mass murders perpetrated by those with the same ideology.
Minassian expressed doubts about ever having a relationship with a woman with mental health counselors.
A machete attack in Toronto in February 2020 that killed one was short-lived.
The attack is the deadliest vehicle homicide in Canadian history
The trial has been marked by many revelations, including publications revealing that Minassian was a member of the Incel community, consisting of “involuntary celibacy” who sometimes resort to misogynistic means of violence.
Minassian’s fate will be decided by Judge Anne Molloy when she rules on March 3
Minassian also told mental health advisers at one point that he was in love with another anonymous mass murderer.
During the case, it was revealed that Minassian had plans to kill at least 100 people in an attack at a different location, only to launch his attack in the spur of the moment while sitting at a red light.
Eight of the ten people killed in the attack were women.
It was also revealed that Minassian had been fixated on the idea of school traits since he himself was a high school student.
With Friday’s final arguments, Judge Molloy will spend the next few weeks deliberating on the case.
The case is scheduled to rule on March 3.
What is an Incel?
“Incel” means “involuntary celibacy” and is a term used by a certain group of men who blame their inability to have sex and have sex with women.
Incel groups have been accused of inciting online violence and misogyny and numerous communities and subreddits have been banned for their content.
A cryptic Facebook message posted by Toronto suspect Alek Minassian, just before the incident, suggested he was part of an online community angry about his inability to establish relationships with the opposite sex.
The now-deleted message welcomed Elliot Rodger, a community college student who killed six people and wounded 13 in shootings and stab wounds near the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2014.
In 2014, Elliot Rodger killed six people and wounded 13 in shootings and stab wounds near the University of California, Santa Barbara.
The Facebook post, calling Rodger “the supreme lord,” declared, “Intel’s rebellion has already begun! We will destroy all Chads and Stacys!”
Chads and Stacys are names used in Internet forums to designate people with more active sex lives.
The reference to the term “incel,” which means involuntary celibacy, was a term used by Rodger in online posts that infuriated women for romantically rejecting him.
The sentiment against women was also reminiscent of the 1989 Canada massacre at the Ecole Polytechnique, an engineering university in Montreal, when Marc Lepine, 25, entered a classroom.
He then separated the men from the women, told the men to leave, and opened fire, killing 14 women before killing himself.
On a suicide note, she blamed feminists for ruining her life.