The Patty Hearst Trial presents one of the most controversial cases that have attracted attention of many scholars. Various legal experts and other analysts have presented different views in relation to this case by evaluating circumstance that surrounded the entire trial from diverse perspectives. The case revolves around Patty Hearst, a renowned newspapers heiress who engages in various unlawful activities especially after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). Hearst trial presents a rich scenario, which explores various social-economic and political issues in relation to the justice system. The trial highlights the general use of customary psychiatric defenses including the diminished capacity and insanity in criminal cases. Hearst utilizes quasi-psychiatric defense of coercion after being kidnapped and charged for her role in the armed robbery commit by the SLA (Freedman 143). Hearst’s lawyers base their argument on various theoretical postulates to prove the innocence of their client. A prominent concern raised by most scholars regarding Hearst’s case questions whether the initial condition of the Hearst as a victim of the kidnap and experience she suffered in the hands of the kidnappers were capable of depriving her of basic general intent of engaging in the charged crimes. Hearst trial is an insightful case from which one can deduce various lessons. The paper adopts a position that Hearst’s case presents an informative episode that explains the force of presumed authority, duress and coercion which are influential elements that individuals commonly respond to in their daily lives.
The case developed from the kidnapping of Patty, a daughter from a royal family. The kidnappers included the SLA, a group that was linked with serious terrorism allegations. The kidnappers knowing that Patty came from a wealthy family, requested her family to contribute food to the community. However, despite her family complying with the kidnappers’ request, they refuse to release her (Miller 24). The incident assumes a different dimension in few weeks time when Patty started criticizing her parent and their lifestyle. She claimed that she willingly enrolled in a group of urban guerrillas. Patty is seen to cooperate with the SLA group as she assumed a nickname “Tania.” She accuses her parents and the FBI claiming that they were ridiculous and lacked a rational mind as they had been brainwashed by useless ideologies. She further criticizes her ex-fiancé regarding him as a “clown.” In objection, she stated that she presented a revolutionary feminist or a sexual agent with the authority of controlling her own destiny (France 59). Later Patty participates in various armed robberies that made the society believe that she had abandoned her family and her former lifestyle to join terrorists. In few months time, the police officers attacked SLA’s hideout, after which they aired news that they had murdered most members of SLA group. Following this incident, Hearst provided a eulogy of her murdered mentors who she praised for their brave actions. Patty went underground since this incident, but she was arrested and later prosecuted for various charges including participating in the bank robberies (Freedman 60).
The trial of Patty Hearst developed to be an event of high interest in the media. In the course of the trial, Patty argues that her actions were prompted by fear and intimidation. She explains that she was subjected to an obscene experience that affected her reasoning. The challengers claimed that Patty’s situation presented a rebel who was in search of a cause. This meant that Hearst was conscious of her actions and the consequences that characterized them, but she went on participating on the crimes because she knew that she could get refuge in her situation (Carey 10). In contrast, the defense emphasized that the situation that Hearst was subjected into left her with no option rather than behaving like they way she acted. The jury eventually adopted a decision that implicated Hearst for bank robbery that earned her severe sentence. However, she did not serve her entire sentence as the president later commuted her sentence to time served. Patty’s case later attracted serious debates in various contexts with the most prominent one attempting to justify the jury’s decision while other defended her by attributing her condition to psychological disorders (France 21).
Establishing the key aspects that prompted Hearst’s decision is challenging. It is relevant to state that Hearst’s decision to embrace SLA happened under the influence of the brainwashing and indoctrination in time of her captivity. According to Graebner (63), Hearst‘s irrational decision to ally with abductors affirm that she suffered from Stockholm syndrome. Being a captive, she essentially considered the need of identifying with her captors to survive their captivity. It is also factual to state that the state of Hearst’s captivity deemed her vulnerable to severe psychological response. Hearst affirms this condition by stating that the kidnappers maintained her blindfolded in a closet for a couple of months. She also testified that they physically abused and raped her, although these allegations have never been proved. Furthermore, the abductors made Patty release various communiqués on behalf of SLA. These communiqués suggested her developing commitment to the terrorist group that combined elements of black power, populist and anti-war ideologies of early 1970s. (Freedman 30).
In defending Hearst, lawyers utilized a strategy of attempting to show that their client had undergone brainwashing and suffered a condition exemplified by the Stockholm syndrome. They maintained that Hearst acted as commanded by the kidnappers in order to rescue her life. This is in consideration that failing to cooperate with her abductors could probably have prompted them into killing her. Stockholm syndrome is a condition where individuals become completely dependent of their abductors. Graebner (78) support the rationale of this argument by noting that Hearst was not a willing member of the SLA. This meant that she had no free will of choosing whether to support their activities or not. In essence, being sympathetic with the group appears as the better option for ensuring her safety rather than objecting and criticizing their actions (Altman and David 48). In consideration to the fact that Hearst was a captive, it is apparent that her captors mainly defined her fate and course of action. However, it is worthwhile noting that the defense approach of linking the Hearst’s situation with duress and brainwashing presented various problems that discredited the argument. Hearst lawyers even attempted to line up a psychiatrist to affirm that their client was brainwashed during the time of the robbery. France (22) argues that the statements and activities of Hearst especially after the robbery genuinely suggested that her actions were motivated by her own free will. For example, one wonders why she opted not to run away yet she had enough time of escaping from her kidnappers. However, this was not persuasive enough as the jury eventually convicted Heart. Another weakness with the argument presented by the defense includes the fact that the federal law does not identify brainwashing as defense. This means that this strategy could not have been relevant unless the defense was able to prove that Hearst acted out of the looming fear of her life. It is however worthwhile noting that even in such a case a proving this theory could have been challenging (Freedman 68).
Some scholars have attempted to explain elements that informed the jury into convicting Patty. Fersch (47) argues that the jury failed to believe Patty and decide to convict her because she presented the excess of a disorganized youth who engaged in criminal activities without reasoning of the consequences of her actions. She was also considered a victim of the coddled lifestyle assumed by the wealthy and the 1960s sexual revolution marked with the drugs, sex and unconcerned habits. The judges were not moved by the defense arguments as they claimed that they identified brainwashing defense confusing and had no time of adopting expert’s studies to Hearst’s case (France 25). The media constantly presented her as a worthless rebellious rich girl. In this context, most Americans had problems in comprehending the situation under which wealthy elite like her could have been lured to embrace the terrorist activities of the SLA (Altman and David 56).
France (23) introduces a new insight in the interpretation of the case by arguing that Patty’s trial stretched beholds the act of engaging in the bank robbery. France considers Patty’s trial to be a proxy of concern that questioned how rich White girls became armed rebel and anti-racist (France 25). This is notable in attempting to understand the “real Patty Hearst.” Patty exemplified a girl from a royal family who had been brainwashed thus losing her ability to think rationally. In consequence, she assumes actions that get her into serious troubles. Patty emerges, as complicated symbol of an armed rebel and a White guerilla girl when she becomes a fugitive and media celebrity wanted by the FBI. The situation becomes more sophisticated when one attempts to establish the motivating factors that resulted to the development of the Patty’s behavior especially after the horrific encounter of abduction. It was against the society’s expectation to witness an heiress to a popular tycoon in America to present as a girl destined to be a political radical, fugitive, bank robber and revolutionary feminist (Altman and David 46). The American media were not used to witnessing a privileged White Woman of her class associating with rebel groups like SLA whose political ideologies included fighting for the rights of the poor and unprivileged in the society. The most disturbing situation is her continued commitment towards the rebel group despite her parents’ effort of blaming her actions on a disturbed psychological state that she might have developed following her unfortunate encounter (Graebner 26).
Exploring the Patty Hearst case has provided substantial information that is essential in understanding various aspects of life. Patty’s case presents a controversial situation that prompts one into a dilemma of establishing which side to support. Substantial facts that support each side of the case are identifiable. Hearst was prosecuted for using assault weapon to execute the crime of bank robbery. From one perspective, the jury’s decision of convicting Patty appears justified. This position is essentially relevant when one considers Petty’s questionable commitment in supporting the LSA ideologies and activities. It is clear that some of the Hearst’s actions presented her willingness in the actions that she committed. On the other hand, it is relevant to state that the condition under which Petty was subjected to, might have forced her into assuming her actions. In essence, the situation surrounding her might have created a psychological state that made her engage in unlawful actions. However, scholars still engage in steaming debate regarding whether duress or voluntary aspects motivated Patty to join the SLA. This includes questioning what essentially the idea of “voluntary” means especially when a person is acting under severe mental duress such as the one provoked by the act of kidnapping.
Work Cited
Altman, Robert, and David Sterritt. Robert Altman: Interviews. Jackson: Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2000. Print.
Carey, Benedict. "Harry L. Kozol, 102, Expert in Patty Hearst Trial.(National Desk)(Obituary)." The New York Times 2008: 6. Academic OneFile. Web. 11 Nov. 201
Fersch, Ellsworth A. Thinking About the Insanity Defense: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions with Case Examples. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2005. Print.
France, Winddance. Girls with Guns: Firearms, Feminism, and Militarism Framing 21st Century Social Issues. New York, NY: Routledge, 2013. Print.
Freedman, Suzanne. The Bank Robbery Trial of Heiress Patty Hearst: A Headline Court Case. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 2002. Print.
Graebner, William. Patty's Got a Gun: Patty Hearst in 1970s America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008. Print.
John, Greenya. "When Patty Hearst met Revolution." Washington Times, The (DC) n.d.: Regional Business News. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
Miller, Mark. "A Bloody 'Army' on Trial: A court plans to relive the '70s revolution--and bring back Patty Hearst. (CRIME; National Affairs) (the arrest of former Symbionese Liberation Army member Kathleen Soliah, knows as Sara Jane Olson)." Newsweek 2000: Academic OneFile. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
