Sword-wielding bipolar man in elf costume stabs BMW, fights criminal charges in trial

[jnelsoninjax]

The woman and her 16-year-old daughter froze in fear.

They were stuck in a traffic jam when a 6-foot-4 man dressed as an elf suddenly climbed onto their BMW, stabbed it with a sword and slashed its tires.

The daughter frantically dialed 911. Other drivers at the Southeast Portland intersection of Seventh Avenue and Morrison Street also called 911 about 7 a.m. on May 13, 2014. They honked. Some drove around the man.

The woman and her daughter eventually were able to drive off, too -- just as police arrived and threatened to use a stun gun on the man and he quickly surrendered. He later said he had bipolar disorder, had taken an assortment of mind-altering party drugs and thought he was an elf superhero slaying a monster.

Konrad Alden Bass, 31, also known as McKane, was charged with causing more than $4,000 worth of damage to the BMW and obstructing traffic. The bizarre attack made local and national headlines and drew its share of snickers on the Internet.

Yet beyond its notoriety, rarely does a case so vividly illustrate the intersection of drugs and mental illness in the criminal justice system.

Like many defendants -- one estimate puts it at more than 40 percent -- Bass is mentally ill.

But unlike many of those defendants, Bass wasn't willing to plead guilty and admit that he was criminally responsible for his behavior. And the prosecution wasn't willing to give him an out by agreeing that his mental illness made him do it.

So the case went to trial, publicly aired in the fourth floor courtroom of Multnomah County Circuit Judge Kenneth Walker.

During three days of testimony and argument, jurors heard a deeper, more nuanced story.

They also got to witness firsthand one of the system's biggest struggles: At the end, they had to decide if a man who so obviously had a serious mental illness should be convicted of any crimes.

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[PsYcHoKiLLa]

Always knew Link was nuts

[rfirth]

When medical staff asked him, "Why are you here?" he responded: "Because I had a bad LSD trip." Bass also said he "was trying to slash a lady's tires who wasn't being very nice to me."?

 

"That's why I love being crazy. ... It's my get-out-of-jail-free card," Bass was quoted as saying.?

[FloatingFatMan]

Nice to see the cops took the more responsible action instead of just opening fire, as you so often hear in cases like this.