I’m surprised that Shipp’s attorney’s didn’t pursue a temporary insanity defense. Although we know that the standard of insanity defense in the State of Alabama is so high, that it is virtually never successful. In my opinion, while Kenneth Shipp might have acted irresponsibly in some ways, and it does seem obvious that he picked up his gun and pulled the trigger, the aggravating circumstances add up to manslaughter and twenty years – not life in prison.