DRUG ADDICTION DEFENSE SHOULD BRING JAIL TIME

It's been said before, but it needs saying again: People who use drugs as a
defense for a crime should have an additional sentence tacked on, even if
they are found not guilty of their original charge.

Consider 29-year-old James Ben Brownfield, who a Scottsboro jury convicted
of capital murder last week in the 2001 Christmas slayings of his sister,
her 3-year-old grandson and estranged husband.

All were beaten to death with a hammer.

Mr. Brownfield's defense was that he was in a drug stupor during the
killings. His defense attorney contended his client was not responsible
because he had been taking crystal methamphetamine and the
sedative-hypnotic agent Xanax when he confessed to the murders.

At this point, Circuit Judge Jenifer Holt should have stopped the testimony
and recommend that the district attorney file drug charges against Mr.
Brownfield.

A person killing, robbing, assaulting, or otherwise inflicting themselves
on another individual should never be allowed to claim drug use as a
defense. Those who habitually use drugs, just as those who habitually use
alcohol, are not forced by anyone to indulge in their habits.

If judges could disallow such a defense, it would be interesting to see
what, or who, some of these individuals would then choose to blame for
their actions.