kinda left field from this topic but kinda related at the same time
i was just revisiting this documentary earlier this week (DC Snipers)
im sure most people would say this 16 year old was old enough to "know right from wrong"
but to me that's always an easy way to over-simplify things.
instead of calling it what it was. this boy was "adopted" by this adult with his own personal agendas, and manipulated into being a tool for his revenge against society.
with the absence of a fully developed frontal lobe, Malvo was more susceptible to this manipulation without REALLY thinking things through, or at least stopping at some point to think more critically about the adult leading him. having the ability to SEE THROUGH some of the bullshit he was being fed.
the court acknowledging this was enough to spare him from the death penalty that the adult got, but i don't think he should be in jail for life.