Long read.
Lacey
(Of course, her responses to Frosty could have been a defence of the
argument offered by Scotty rather than a blind defence of the person themselves? Just a thought)
"A few" could be suffering mental health issues. Indeed, (though I'd question what consitututes "a few").Sure, some pull it as a criminal defence...always have done but (quite commonly) others are diagnosed
as a consequence of such actions. Why didn't they come forward for help earlier? Isolation, anxiety, fear, confusion, avolition, perceived lack of empathy, stigma (who'da thunk it?) or, in the case of personality disorders, they simply don't recognise that their way of thinking, feeling or behaving is aberrant... they've always been like that; they were born like that.
Personally, I always utlise a simple heuristic when considering such issues / cases; don't generalise because I know no real details of the person's history and "there but for the grace of God".