An Aspen District Judge has ruled Thomas Proesel, the 32 year old skier who threw a snowboarder off a chairlift in January, not guilty of attempted assault Monday by reason of insanity as reported by postindependent.com.
We have been following this case since the beginning after news that a snowboarder was tossed 20 to 25 feet by a skier after commenting,“To get tits deep pow shots you just need to be on your edges.” Judge Chris Seldin had this to say after reviewing the states psychological examination of the accused:
“It’s clear from (the psychologist’s) report that Mr. Proesel was, at the time of the incident, experiencing a mental state that rendered him incapable of forming the culpable mental state (to commit attempted first-degree assault).”
Proesel has had a history of mental illness and was not taking his medication while living in Aspen. He is now at his parents’ house in the Chicago area and is being given monthly injections of an anti-psychotic medication which means he does not have to monitored to ensure he takes his medication.
We are just happy he is getting the help he needs and no one was injured in the incident. I just want to echo a sentiment from a previous post about the case…
*It is important that we all stay vigilant about our friends and family members when it comes to mental health. The more we talk about it and the less we stigmatize it the better we will all be.
