PTSD On Trial: Montana Iraq Veteran

A Montana Iraq veteran says he has PTSD and a psychologist agreed but another did not. There are times when someone will use PTSD to get different "justice" from the system and then there are times when they are really suffering. The question is how do we know for sure? More and more times PTSD will be used during a trial but with all the years of research on PTSD, these trials show we are a long way from helping all of them come home from combat.

Little sentenced to 50 years deadly shooting
Bozeman Daily Chronicle
By Whitney Bermes Staff Writer
9 hrs ago

Little was convicted of shooting 24-year-old Larry “LJ” Clayton and James Armstrong with a shotgun during the early morning hours of Sept. 20, 2013. Clayton died the following day at a Seattle hospital. And Armstrong lost the lower part of his left leg due to injuries suffered in the shooting.

Little, who served in the U.S. Army for about two years, suffered from severe PTSD and he was acting under extreme stress when he shot the men, he defense argued when asking for a 10-year prison sentence to be followed by 15 years probation.

“PTSD in this case has been referred to by the state as an excuse,” defense attorney Diana Copeland said. “He has PTSD. He’s had it since Iraq.” And with the jury convicting Little of the lesser offense of mitigated deliberate homicide, they decided it was a “determining factor” in what happened that night.

Little needs specialized PTSD treatment. “He will not receive this treatment at the prison,” Copeland said.

But Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert said that Little did not actually suffer from PTSD, a determination an expert psychologist hired by the state determined after evaluating Little.

“The harm done by this defendant is great. The defendant was on Sept. 20, 2013, and still continues to be a threat to public safety, and the defendant must be held accountable,” said Lambert, who requested that Brown sentence Little the maximum of 80 years in prison. “That’s the price he ought to have to pay.”
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