In the new psychobabble his actions would be seen as a a person with an adolescent level of brain development; the neurobiology for which it is documented not to finish until the mid-twenties. Teens, on average, lack the capacity to anticipate the consequences of their actions, thus they seem and are quite impulsive. Not all teens are this way. I can recall being paralyzed as a youth because I could always see clearly the range of possible consequences of my actions; I recognized that many of my peers suffered no such angst and were able to have more fun as a result; there were also a few deaths, multiple permanent disabilities and quite a few girls knocked up in my high-school class. There were of course costs for this adolescent freedom from thought. The punishment should be based upon the reasonable mindset of the perpetrator. A fifteen year old standing slack jawed in utter disbelief at the outcome of shocking someone could slightly be forgiven, especially since the 'victim' would likely have done the same and been equally surprized at the result. The fifteen year old has some reasonable prospect of becomming a reasonable mature and functional adult in our society if properly monitored. Now this character has to be judged as a 25 year old. He placed himself in the position of a job requiring more judgement than he could provide. He is not likely to acquire greater judgement in the future; his prognosis for successful rehabilitation and safe release into society is quite dim. He and we need the safety and security of a nice cell courtesey of the state for a good couple of decades.