School Shooting at Roccori High School near St. Cloud

2007-M-34               State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. John Jason McLaughlin, Appellant.

DESCRIPTION OF CRIME:  On September 24, 2003, fifteen-year-old McLaughlin brought a handgun to Rocori High School south of St. Cloud and shot to death fellow students Seth Bartell and Aaron Rollins.  Gym teacher Mark Johnson took the gun from McLaughlin and walked him to the office.

When the police took McLaughlin to the station, McLaughlin said that he started thinking about bringing a gun to school approximately one week earlier.  He also said that two days before the shootings he checked the school for metal detectors and security cameras.  Toward the end of the interview, the BCA agent asked McLaughlin, “Do you think you did something wrong today?”  McLaughlin replied, “Yeah.” 

THE TRIAL: Approximately six months after the shootings, the Stearns County Juvenile Court certified McLaughlin to stand trial as an adult.  McLaughlin appealed the certification to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, which affirmed the certification order.  

The parties then agreed to a bifurcated bench trial in which McLaughlin would stipulate to guilt in the second-degree murder of Rollins during the trial’s first phase and would attempt to prove a mental illness defense during the second phase.  There was no stipulation as to Bartell. 

At the close of the first phase, the district court found McLaughlin guilty of first-degree murder in Bartell’s death, second-degree murder in Rollins’ death, and possession of a dangerous weapon on school property.  

In the second phase, the court heard testimony from six mental health experts—three retained by McLaughlin, one by the state, and two by the court. 

After six days of testimony in the mental illness phase of McLaughlin’s trial, the district court concluded that McLaughlin could not be excused from responsibility for the crimes he committed because he “had cognitive awareness that shooting the victims was morally wrong.”  

At the end of a sentencing hearing that included expert testimony on bullying, the district court imposed a life sentence for the death of Bartell, to be served consecutively with a 144-month sentence for the death of Rollins.

THIS APPEAL:  On direct appeal, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld McLaughlin’s convictions and sentences.

Justice Gildea joined the unanimous decision by Justice Paul Anderson.

First, the Minnesota Supreme Court declined to use the interests of justice as a basis to consider defendant’s constitutional challenge to the M’Naghten rule given the absence of a well-developed record that is relevant to the particular issue the defendant raises for the first time on appeal. 

Second, the Minnesota Supreme Court held that the district court did not err when it denied a mid-trial continuance when the defendant failed to prove that the court’s denial of the continuance materially affected the outcome of his trial. 

Third, the Minnesota Supreme Court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by imposing permissive consecutive sentences when the court reasonably found that the aggravating and mitigating factors balanced one another, and therefore imposed a sentence commensurate with other sentences imposed for comparable homicides involving multiple victims.

Paul Anderson (Russell Anderson, Page, Hanson, Meyer, Barry Anderson, and Gildea)

DATE OF DECISION:  January 11, 2007

RECORD NUMBER:  2007-009

FULL OPINION:  A05-2327,

DESCRIPTION:  [MURDER]  [INSANITY DEFENSE]