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		Is Kaczynski crazy enough to be saved? PAGE 2 OF 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - So what will his defense look like? I expect a lot of stipulations in order to try and undercut the emotional impact of the government's evidence. I don't think the defense will contest the fact that Kaczynski is the Unabomber. They will simply argue reasonable doubt about his criminal intent. What are their chances of being successful? It's going to be very difficult for them when Kaczynski's own diaries show that he understood what he was doing, and that he intended to kill people with his bombs. How can the defense counteract this? The defense will probably introduce evidence, during the guilt phase, of his strange lifestyle, suggesting that because he was mentally ill -- one rather crazy fellow -- he could not entertain the criminal intent. I'm sure they would have preferred to back their case with psychiatric experts. Were you surprised by the government's apparent refusal to accept a plea bargain that would have spared Kaczynski the death penalty? No, but from my perspective it's somewhat disappointing. One of the many things I think that the public is unaware of is that in this country the death penalty can be imposed on mentally ill killers. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that even though a jury in a death penalty case must consider evidence in mitigation, such as mental illness, they don't have to give a life sentence instead of a death penalty if they find the defendant is mentally ill. The jury constitutionally can say, "We don't care because we find other aggravating factors -- the harm of the crime, the number of victims -- outweighs this mitigating evidence." The Justice Department's rejection of the plea bargain is basically a decision to let representatives of the community decide whether or not death is appropriate in this case. What do we know about the jury at this point? I gather that Judy Clarke and Quin Denvir have done a terrific job for the defense team of getting on the jury some individuals who have some very significant reservations about the death penalty. If true, that can only help Kaczynski at the death penalty phase because you need a unanimous jury deciding on the question of life vs. death. What other factors might come up in the penalty phase? The mitigating evidence will all be about Kaczynski himself -- that if you look at the way he lived and what he said and wrote, although he is extremely intelligent, he is extremely ill. He believes there are organized forces in society out to get him, and this is a classic description of a paranoid schizophrenic. In any death penalty case, the ultimate challenge for the defense is to humanize their client. If they can get the jury to have compassion not just for victims of the defendant but for the defendant himself and his own pathology -- in short, to see the defendant as someone who was victimized by his own illness -- then there's a good chance of avoiding the death penalty. But there's no guarantee. I know you hate being asked this, but do you think Kaczynski will be sentenced to death? There are two factors that may work in his favor. The first is, ample evidence of severe mental illness. Second, he has two excellent lawyers; one of them, Judy Clarke, saved Susan Smith, the woman who drove her two children into a lake. She was astute enough as a lawyer to handle the case in such a manner that despite outrage about the crime, she saved her client's life. She's done a terrific job, with Quin Denvir, of selecting this jury. Given the combination of the legal talent and the powerful evidence of Kaczynski's mental illness, I think he has a real shot at avoiding the death penalty. SALON | Jan. 5, 1998 Ros Davidson reports regularly for Salon. Previously she interviewed an expert on serial killers about the Unabomber. What is the right punishment for the Unabomber. Join the discussion in Headlines.