The film we saw was a Frontline documentary about the tragic case of Ralph Tortorici called A Case of Insanity. On December 14, 1994, Ralph entered a classroom with a rifle and a hunting knife, taking the entire class hostage. He demanded to speak to President Clinton and threatened to kill the hostages if they did not obey his demands. Ralph was calm towards the students being held hostage and asked outsiders to collect food for them. Nineteen-year-old Jason McEnaney attempted to wrestle the rifle from Ralph's hands, but this caused it to go off and he was shot in the genital area. Several students attacked Ralph and held him until the police moved in and arrested him. Ralph was taken to prison on 14 counts of aggravated assault. His trial was held on January 3, 1996, and Ralph announced that he would not be present at the trial. It was found that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and also had traces of cocaine in his system. Although Ralph's prosecutors indicated to the 12 jurors that Ralph was delusional, he suffered from a mental illness. After watching this film I had the feeling that the court did not give Ralph Tortorici a fair trial. First Ralph had demonstrated a history of mental illness for much of his life and nothing had been done to correct his illness, then the judge also decided to proceed with the trial despite the psychiatrist's assessment showing that Ralph was clearly not mentally ill. stable and had to be hospitalized, and finally Ralph received an unfair and cruel punishment that led him to commit suicide due to the lack of help for his mental illness. Through his history of illness, the lack of due process and the lack of support for his paranoid schizophrenia demonstrate that Ralph Torto... halfway through the document... sent to a psychiatric facility. In conclusion, Ralph Tortorici the trial was unfair. Through his history of anger and loneliness which later led to serious illness, the lack of a proper trial why the prosecution should not have gone forward after there was clear evidence of Ralph's unstable mental health and the lack of support for his paranoia schizophrenia are all factors that demonstrate why Ralph was subjected to an unfair trial. References A case of madness. (n.d.). PBS. Retrieved March 10, 2014, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sAdvances in Psychiatric Treatment (2006) 12: 239-248doi: 10.1192/apt.12.4.239Defining and Assessing Competency to Stand Trial. (2004, February 23). Criminal forensic expertise. Retrieved March 10, 2014, from http://forensicpsychiatry.stanford.edu/Files/Criminal%20Forensics/Competency.2.pdf