Man Accused In Oakland Mass Shooting Wants To Die As Soon As Possible To Atone, Psychologist Says
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- The man accused of killing seven people and injuring three others in a shooting rampage at an Oakland university in 2012 wants to die as soon as possible to atone for what he did, a psychologist said Tuesday.
Testifying at a hearing that will determine if One Goh, 47, is mentally competent to stand trial for the shooting at Oikos University on April 2, 2012, Yunghi France said Goh told her in one of their weekly therapy sessions, "I have to get the ultimate punishment because I took seven lives and must pay with my own."
France said Goh told her, "I don't have a chance to give the victims' families justice but I can give them some comfort if I get executed."
Goh, a Korean national, is charged with seven counts of murder, three counts of premeditated attempted murder and the special circumstance allegations of committing a murder during a kidnapping and committing multiple murders for the shooting at Oikos, a Christian vocational school at 7850 Edgewater Drive, near the Oakland International Airport.
Prosecutors have said he appears to have wanted a refund of his tuition and may have been targeting an administrator who was not present on the day of the shooting.
Criminal proceedings against Goh were suspended on Oct. 1, 2012, after his lawyers questioned his mental competency to stand trial and on Jan. 7, 2013, a judge ruled that he was incompetent to stand trial, citing reports by two psychiatrists who examined him. He has been treated at Napa State Hospital for more than two and a half years and most doctors who've examined him have continued to say that he is incapable of understanding the proceedings against him and assisting in his defense.
But a July report by Napa State Hospital forensic psychologist Todd Schirmer found him competent to stand trial so a judge recently ordered that Goh face a hearing on his competency.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys have agreed that Goh wants the death penalty, but they disagreed about whether Goh reasonably feels guilty for his crime and simply wants his punishment or if he suffers from persistent delusions that prevent him from understanding the criminal proceedings against him.
If Alameda County Superior Court Judge Gloria Rhynes, who is presiding over the hearing, finds Goh to be competent he will stand trial on the charges against him and could face the death penalty.
But if she finds him to be mentally incompetent he will be permanently placed at a psychiatric treatment facility such as the Napa State Hospital.
France, who is also from Korea, said she was hired to be a cultural consultant to Goh and that even though he can speak English she mainly talks to him in Korean because he can express his emotions more easily in his first language.
France said there's a stigma about mental illness in Korean culture and Goh has told her that he doesn't want to plead not guilty by reason of insanity because it would bring "stigma and shame" to his family.
France said Goh has also told her that pleading not guilty by reason of insanity would be "the cowardly way out" and he doesn't want anyone to excuse him because of mental illness.
Several members of the victims' families have been attending Goh's hearing, which will resume on Wednesday and is expected to conclude early next week.
Goh, who was shackled, dressed in a red jail uniform, wore thick glasses and sported a goatee, listened attentively but quietly to the testimony at his hearing Tuesday.
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