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The Twilight Rapist: When does crazy stop being a defense?
By dwray in The nature of things
September 20, 2011

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Billy Joe Harris, the suspected Twilight Rapist, pled not guilty by reason of insanity. Yesterday, Harris testified about his insanity, claiming he had done things in his life that make those infamous donkey shows in Mexico seem tame.

According to Harris, he had sex with dogs, a female Shetland pony, there were even some unfortunate chickens that got in on the act. Not to mention the testicle-removing aliens, and the multiple personalities he seemed to summon up on the stand. You can read all about it - and yes there is more - in Sonny Long's excellent story.

Last January, he was caught in a local woman's home and the woman testified last week that he sexually assaulted her. Harris says it wasn't him, but an alternate personality, David the dog. He also claimed they were having consensual sex. His defense is also constructed on the basis that he is crazy, and it sounds like he's done everything short of howling like a madman in the courtroom to get that point across.

The worst of it, is Harris' claim that his encounter with the woman in Edna was consensual. Woman get assaulted a lot. For the lucky ones, this might just boil down to being touched by someone without permission. For others, the story doesn't end that way. What must it be like to hear the person who did it claim you said yes?

But not only was it not rape, it was a consensual encounter and it was an alternate personality, not Harris himself, who did it. Harris is crazy. End of story. Right? But when does crazy stop being a good excuse? When does the need to protect the mentally vulnerable in our society outweigh the need for justice?

We were talking about the case at the office this morning and the question came up. His story gets more bizarre at every turn. it'll be interesting to see how the jury handles this, what they make of the insanity defense. Will they believe he is telling the truth? Will they find him not guilty? Should they?

Harris is believed to be linked to at least six sexual assaults and a number of physical assaults and burglaries dating back to January 2009. But Harris says he is crazy. At what point does crazy get someone off the hook?