Road Rage Antidepressant 09/11/2004 Minnesota 16 Year Old Boy Causes $45,000 in Damages Summary:

The second paragraph reads: "The then-16-year-old admitted what he'd done, but said a combination of sleep apnea and anti-depressant medication had prevented him from knowing what he had done was wrong."

http://wcco.com/localnews/local_story_314174008.html


Nov 9, 2004 4:37 pm US/Central
St. Paul (AP) Theft and other felony convictions will stand for a boy whose joy ride caused more than $45,000 in damage in the south-central Minnesota town of Morgan last year, the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.

The then-16-year-old admitted what he'd done, but said a combination of sleep apnea and anti-depressant medication had prevented him from knowing what he had done was wrong.

The boy had told police he was angry and started ramming his pickup truck into multiple parked cars. He was arrested after someone reported the activity to police.

When authorities arrived, they spotted a badly damaged pickup truck. A boy then jumped out of the truck and into another nearby truck. The boy took off, leaving the road and onto a four-wheeler trail. He eventually ran out of gas and fled on foot.

Authorities tracked the damaged pickup truck to the suspect's home, where the boy allegedly confessed. The boy also was accused of damage to other vehicles, street signs and mailboxes in the area.

In an appeal, the boy argued among other things that his confession was involuntary because the police used "coercive, manipulative, and overpowering" interrogation techniques.

The three-judge appeals panel made up of Judges Jill Flaskamp Halbrooks, Robert Schumacher and Doris Huspeni, said authorities hadn't done anything to jeopardize the case.

That means the boy's convictions on the following charges will stand, fleeing a peace officer, one count of first-degree criminal damage to property and two counts of motor-vehicle theft.

Morgan is about 30 miles northwest of New Ulm.