High Court Won’t Hear Zoloft Killer’s Case

Teen Was 12 Years Old When He Killed His Grandparents, Will Be 42 When Released

(CBS/AP)  The Supreme Court refused Monday to review a 30-year prison sentence for a teen who was 12 when he killed his grandparents in South Carolina.

Lawyers for Christopher Pittman wanted the justices to examine whether the long prison term for a child violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. With no possibility of parole, he will be 42 before he is released, they said.

Pittman is the only inmate serving such a lengthy sentence for a crime committed at such a young age, his lawyers said. The judge who sentenced him was prohibited by law from taking his age into account.

In 2005, 48 Hours' Erin Moriarty profiled Pittman's family and the reaction of their South Carolina community to the murders.

South Carolina contended the punishment is proportionate to the crime and said there is a national trend of increased punishment for young violent criminals.

Pittman used a shotgun to shoot Joe and Joy Pittman in their bed and then set fire to their home in 2001. During his trial four years later, Pittman's attorneys unsuccessfully argued the slayings were influenced by the antidepressant Zoloft - a charge the maker of the drug vigorously denied.

The Supreme Court appeal dealt only with the length of Pittman's sentence.

“The unwillingness of U.S. jurisdictions to punish 12-year-olds so harshly ... reflects a societal consensus that lengthy imprisonment without possibility of parole constitutes excessive punishment as applied to 12-year-old children,” Pittman's lawyers wrote in asking the Supreme Court to take the case.

The South Carolina Supreme Court said Pittman's age belied the complexity of his crime. He planned a double murder, executed an escape plan and concocted a false story of what happened, the state high court said in upholding the punishment.

The state also pointed to recent examples of children as young as 13 receiving sentences of up to life in prison.

“Simply because the combination of factors justifying adult punishment for those so young ... does not happen often, does not mean that when it does the Eighth Amendment forbids a sentence that appropriately addresses society's need for retribution, incapacitation and deterrence,” said state Attorney General Henry McMaster.

Each year about 200,000 defendants under 18 are treated as adults, according to the National Center for Juvenile Justice. Many states automatically define young defendants as adults, due to their age or offense. Those numbers escalated in the 1990s as juvenile crime soared and legislators responded, with 48 states making it easier to transfer children into criminal court, according to the center.

Pittman's case drew wide attention, in part because of the link his lawyers tried to make between the crime and Zoloft. It is the most widely prescribed antidepressant in the United States, with 32.7 million prescriptions written in 2003. In 2004, the Food and Drug Administration ordered Zoloft and other antidepressants to carry “black box” warnings - the government's strongest warning short of a ban - about an increased risk of suicidal behavior in children.

The case is Pittman v. South Carolina, 07-8436.

[ssteven561]

I am appauled at many of the comments on this forum about Christopher. Many of you are misinformed about the case and or just are going on the surface and don''t know the real facts. I am certain if Christopher was your child, incarcerated
at the age of 12, you would all be screaming bloody murder trying to get him released as his attorneys and relatives are doing now. Before many of you down someone else that you know nothing about, take a look at the facts, all the facts, then decide.Zoloft is a very powerful drug and can cause very alarming side-effects, and yes being "high" on it is a very plausible scenario. Christopher was never given a chance by the prosecutors and the courts, come on now people,think about it,is that just for a little child to receive a sentence like that, Many adults commit crime after crime, over and over again, get released,on parole and probation and reoffend. Christopher was a CHILD.....Shame on us for allowing this, and shame on the courts for not having pity on this child....and a big shame on the State Supreme Court for denying the appeal as it had much merit and should have been heard.Where has all the love for thy neighbor, and the compassion for fellow man gone? We have much compassion for an adult who commits offenses, yet when it comes to a child doing one thing wrong, we throw the book at him and throw away the key.
We call ourselves a civilized nation?

[knightgale]

One person stated..."I believe he should be executed" ??

This might be so easy to say, being it was NOT YOUR child, tho punishment is certainly warranted, it takes a cold, no hearted person, to want to "execute" a "child". Educating oneself in the world of antidepressants/drugs will enlighten your brain cells, get the case facts, he was ONLY 12, and is NOT a monster. ADULTS in his world contributed to where he is today. Look who prescribed that drug, an adult!! Look who forced him to take this drug, an adult!! Where were the ADULTS?? in his world??? when he needed them most. There is NO way he was in his "right" mind, when this tragedy occurred. To contribute to the "destruction" of this child, is indeed a CRIME itself. What a cold, cruel, heartless society!!!

[swwils]

Well 42 is still young enough to enjoy life.Personally I believe no matter what the age,if it is murder,your done.Life without parole,and if premeditated,or very horrific, then death.That is the only way to get these sick people from doing these crimes without thinking of the consequences involved.

gwno1, even a person who kills another, even murders, CAN be rehabilitated. That does not change the fact that fair punishment needs to be given out. Very little is straight black and white. I dont totally trust all DAs just because of their positions. We have lots of Das out there that its in their self interest (elected) to charge murder when its only manslaughter (or whatever), look at the high profile case of the Duke lacrosse players for one. Same with police, mostly good, but the bad ones really mess it up for the rest.

I am not saying that all can be rehabilitated, some are so vile they should not walk on this earth any longer than it takes to get them to the gas chamber.

I notice that classylady5 hasn%u2019t posted anything since she had a chance to read gwno1%u2019s post of 07:33 PM explaining the crime.

Personally, I do not trust Zoloft, or any other %u201Craise by drugs%u201D concept. The local school system tried to get me to medicate my boy with riddlin (sp?) because he was borderline AHDD, and I saw that their attempt was nothing more than a babysitting attempt while he was in class. That would have been easier than keeping his interest motivated to learn, or in other words, doing their jobs. Still, some other questions need to be answered, like a tad bit more background on the kid%u2019s prior behavior. Monsters do not just appear, they give off tell-tail signs of the way they are growing.

I also don%u2019t think that our jail system is the answer. Not until we pump money into it to actually rehabilitate those that CAN be rehabilitated. Notice that I said %u201Ccan%u201D. We all WANT a better society, but I haven%u2019t read anywhere where people are willing to PAY for it. It%u2019s not free. We%u2019d rather send people to prison to get trained for their release dates, and put better muggers or whatever out on the street. Make light of it if you want to, but to stop the cycle we need to educate, train, and provide for the safety of the inmates to keep them from becoming repeat offenders.

[pure505]

I would certainly agree with the death penalty. I understand he was only 12 at the time of the crime, but murder out of cold blood is unjustifiable. I disagree with him being in prison until age 42 because he''s going to be even worse off than he is now and even more damaged, however, the death penalty would ensure no more lives are damaged at the hands of this guy. I would certainly be ok with that.

[pure505]

...until he turns 42 and gets out. Then many lives are lost since he doesn''t know how to function outside of prison. Rehabilitation could have ended the loss of lives with his grandparents but prison is only going to cost more lives when he gets out.

[usbrit-2009]

No on this occasion I''m not blaming the gun. I understand the whole thing about guns not being able to shoot themselves without a human attached. I''m saying if one was not available to him in the house, it may not have happened. (I assume a 12 year-old can''t go out and buy a gun antwhere.) Would he have thought to use a kitchen knife or a baseball bat? Could one of the victims stopped him if he''d had a less lethal weapon? All conjecture I know - but the ease of him getting the gun raises questions.

[pure505]

Why was he even living with his grandparents? Where are his parents? Perhaps there are a lot more issues in this family, and especially with this child, than what meets the eye. Would that explain why a 12 yr old is taking Rx Zoloft? Maybe instead of medication (or in addition to) he should have been in intensive therapy. Obviously there''s a history there that has created a volatile, tortured, incapable child. It may not have been to early to rehabilitate him, being such a young age. His aggression came from somewhere. But 30 years (most of them during adolescent/developmental years) will surely create a more dangerous man at age 42. He should have a punishment, but intensive therapy and lock-up at a juvenile detention center, not a prison filled with gangs, pedophiles and drugs, may have given him a chance at life. Unfortunately, he''s going to spend the second half of his life hurting more people as a hardened criminal.

[usbrit-2009]

Yes - unfortunately guns are legal in the US - that does not mean a 12-year old should be allowed to get their hands on one.

[usbrit-2009]

Oh and one other thing - apart from having him on Zoloft - why did the parents leave a shotgun around for him to use? Maybe they saw what the drug did to him and used him because they were the ones who wanted grandma and grandpa dead.

[usbrit-2009]

gwano1 - Well at least you spelt wanker right - I''m surprised you''ve heard the term though. I''m not saying this kid should get off scott free - I''m saying that no-one of his age deserves to be executed or sentenced to life in prison. Hell in any other civilized country, he''d be out at 21 with a new name and an expunged record (viz the James Bulger story in Liverpool). I''m not saying that that is right either but incarcerating him with adults is going to guarantee he''s going to be dangerous at 42 and is thus cruel and unusual punishment.

[suzieh2308]

He killed two people it really doesn''t matter how old he is, he is obviously a threat and don''t blame ur bad judgement on a medication becuz i have taken Zoloft before and i didn''t kill my grandparent, b a man own up to what u did, serve ur time and shut up. There is nothing cruel or unusual about being punished for a horrible crime u commited. The age is totally irrelevant, u murder someone, u go to jail end of story.

[secundus2]

Awful story, just like most CBS stories concerning the law and especially about the Supreme Court. Not a word in it about the Court''s reasoning (or was the case rejected w/o comment?)or votes (or was it unanimous?). No wonder this news organization is sinking fast.

[knightgale]

Indeed, this case is NOT the first one of it''s kind, just take a look at over 2300 cases, documents of a variety of cases, http://www.ssristories.com It is reality, a real eye opener, into the world of the big phama, murders, suicide, injuries etc. A must read site, if you wanted to get "educated", the evil culprit is these drugs forced upon "children". They did NOT get to where they are today, ALL by "themselves"!!

[emjay16]

It''s very interesting that Pittman''s sentence is viewed as cruel and unusual punishment but is not for other teens convicted of similar crimes, especially in his homestate of SC. If he was so under the influence of the drugs, why didn''t he or somebody else get hel for him instead of letting him kill his grandparents? And where were his parents (and the slew of relatives supporting him at trial) when he needed help? Why weren''t they questioning the Zoloft when he was taking it? They didn''t seemed concerned about him until he committed murder. He did the crime, let him do the time.

[runningralph]

What was this boy''s motivation for killing his grandparents? Nobody has said that Zoloft will cause a person to murder for no reason. Did they mistreat him? Beat him? Starve him? Molest him somehow? People will do extreme things under influence of drugs, but it''s like "in vino veritas". The underlying motivation must have already been there.

[usbrit-2009]

I see compassionate conservatism is out and about this morning showing its true colors through the pig ignorant remarks of gwno1, haoli25 and toolmangler. Classy Lady - you are classy to stand up to these morons. People from abroad reading their posts would be saying - "see that''s what''s wrong with American society; they''d murder a kid rather than using rehabilitation and then they call themselves Christians! God help the children."

[extremophil]

Bravo to CBS for referring to him as the "Zoloft Killer". He''s an innocent widdle kid and them bad ol'' pills made him do it!

[Renegade.Rivers]

This is just another victory for big Pharma, and that is all it is. Big Pharma has many deep dark secrets that they are hiding from the American public. It has gotten to a point where any medicine that is prescribed to you should be researched extensively, and the benefits weighed against the possible negative, and side effects. Anyone that blindly believes the hype that big Pharma puts out, and does not research the meds they are taking could easily be putting their lives in danger. This is especially true with most meds that are prescribed for stress, ADD, ADHD, bipolar conditions, and any other of a number of other psychological conditions that doctors and psychologists have created to line the pockets of big Pharma.

I have know people who have taken Zoloft, and they have said that its effect was so bad, that they felt like they were a zombie. This young man is not the first, and with things as they are he will not be the last who violently reacts to the affects of this and similar drugs of its ilk. This case is the epitome of how unfair, and unjust our legal system can be. Instead of holding the drug companies responsible for the concoctions they create, it is easier to take a boy, and put him in prison for years because of something he may well of not had the sense to realize what he was doing because of the medication. This seems to me to be not only ludicrous, but it makes a mockery of the justice system we hold to such high esteem.