Let me butt in here with a little bit of a different outlook.....
I think the death penalty for this guy would be a big mistake.
First of all, the guy probably wasn't thinking about the train full of people that was going to hit him. He just wanted to die. The thought of them probably never even crossed his mind... I know you might think, "Well, how the hell could he not think of that?!" But I could also say, "How the hell could he WANT to take his own life?" Also, I know that, before hearing about this, I wouldn't have thought that a Jeep could de-rail a train. I've never really thought about it before, and he may not have either... That is, if he was thinking at all.
Second of all, he was one fucked up guy.. Drug use, shitloads of depression... The man has problems. I think it's bad enough for him that he has to live with his stupidity and its horrible consequences. I might be showing a bit of a soft spot in saying this, but for god's sake... the death penalty? That is way too harsh. In my opinion, this guy needs more help than punishment. As far as negative consequences, he's created his own.
He should be sentenced to jail time. I can't really say for how long; it would take me a good amount of time to really decide how I feel about life in prison for him. But you have to think about how messed up this guy was. His intention was to kill HIMSELF, not the eleven or so people that ended up dying. It wasn't "murder with intention" or whatever the technical term is for it. To me, it was attempted suicide. That is all you can really say....
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