New Laws For Mentally Ill Criminals?

Hello all! I was wondering if there were any new laws in the state of Ohio that help Mentally Ill criminals before they are sentenced in court.

New since when? This year? this month? this week?

If a defendant is found to be guilty, his or her mental status ( if they are ruled to be criminally insane) would have been addressed DURING the trial. If the court ruled the defendant fit to stand trial for the crime of which they are accused, they are not considered "mentally ill" at the time of sentencing. I am not certain what you are asking.

Provide more details for a more precise answer.

It's about my son who is Bipolar and schitzophrenic. Medication DOES help him alot. However, his medication costs $400 - $800 per month. he has used community funding in the past, however as of last July he's been turned down just about everywhere because area funding is declining.

Starting July of 2007, he started getting into trouble because of no meds. He had at one time placed hisself into a mental hospital because he knew he needed his meds & knew he was getting worse.

Jan. of 2008, he got drunk one night and according to his friend that was with him, he went to a known drug dealer to buy a small bag of marijuana. The friend went with him BUT stayed on the drug dealers porch. My son knocked, went inside & then a fight started. My son beat the guy up but he has no idea what happened, he simply was too drunk to remember. My son was charged with aggravated burglary, although the guy let him in his home & according to his witness, my son had no intention in harming the guy when he went there. The victim admitted in court that he let my son into his home BUT he had no idea why my son attacked him. The victim also stated in court that my son went inside his home for a transaction BUT no one asked the victim what kind of transaction it was.

Someone told me there were new laws out to help people that are mentally ill and are facing criminal charges. My son has a public defender but his public defender stated to me that he couldn't help my son & that my son needed to grow up...which I think the attorney has no clue to what mental illness actually is, especially the mental illnesses my son has to fight every day.

Since in the county Jail, my son has been finally receiving his medication & doing just fine, except for the charges against him.

That's about all I know about the story, does anyone know about the new laws out that are suppose to help the mentally ill in criminal court?

Several things...first of all, how old is your son? Is he of legal age. I presume? Also, has the trial taken place? Or is he awaiting trial? What charges did he plea to? Or didn't he plea? Are they felony/misdemeanor charges, and if he was found guilty, what was the charge?

All of these things are important to answer. If you feel the public defender didn't do his job and your son didn't get a fair trial, you will have to hire an attorney and have him appeal the case. Although, if he isn't going to be in jail for very long, it may be better for him to be there and on his medication than out free on the street where he may commit a crime that may land him in jail for life, or worse.

A local attorney providing a low cost ( usually fifty bucks or less) or even free evaluation can answer your question about new laws most effectively.

Yes, he's close to 30 yrs old. His Jury trial is coming up very soon. He's looking at 10 yrs in prison as far as I know. The court is charging him with aggravated burglary which is a first degree felony. People that really know him feel kind of sorry for him simply because of his mental problems & the lack of funding for his meds. I know at one point I had wanted to personally & legally have him comitted to a mental institution altogether. BUT, the laws for me as his mother, even make that complicated & it would take a while fighting the court system just to do that. I saw a documentary on TV once where they claim that prisons in this state have become the new mental institutions...while the real mental institutions keep closing.....it's such a shame. But thank you for your input as well. The regular attorneys around here want a $2,000 retainer fee before they even touch anything, so that one is probably out of the question. I feel that my son is another person lost in the system all because of lack of funding for medication that would have kept him under control to an extent that nobody would have been harmed in this situation. As for the drinking & the marijuana, he had never done it before until he started being denied for funding for medication. Even last year when he comitted hisself to an institution he hadn't drank or smoked by that time. The mental institution released him within a week because he was doing good on the medication he was prescribed by them. Once that ran out, he went way down hill.

There is a difference between a retainer and a no cost evaluation. If that is not a possibility ( either one ) I would go to court yourself and have him declared unfit to care for himself and get yourself appointed his guardian. Be advised, though, he then becomes your responsibility as he was when he was a child. But, doing so can allow YOU to commit him whether he likes it or not. This sounds cruel, but help is so much better than prison. If you need help doing this, perhaps a legal clinic in the area can help you. Also try the public mental health clinic in your area. Or, just go to the courthouse and ask them how do I accomplish this goal? Usually, while they cannot tell you what to do, they can give you THEIR forms to fill out ( but cannot tell you how to fill them out, or advise you if you even should, or if they are suitable for your particular situation.)

I had a friend who had to do this after Hurricane Katrina. Her mentally challenged son disappeared during Katrina and they thought he had perished. A year later, she gets a call from a hospital in California who had him and was trying to find someone to take and care for him. A week later, he was on her door step. He started getting into trouble, doing irrational things like taking the car, driving it until it ran out of gas and then just leaving it in the middle of the road. She went to court, had him declared unfit ad became his guardian and was able to put him in a state funded group home with other young men like himself and he has flourished since that time. He bathes, grooms himself ( he used to walk the street without clothes on at times ) and even works at a fast food restaurant full time. Having the proper care changed his life. He stands tall, looks you in the eye when you speak to him , instead of slumping over, walking the streets all day waiting for someone to befriend him.

Hopefully, with loving parents such as yourself, your son can get this illness under control and lead a full and productive life.

My best to you both.

Thank you so much for caring & all your help. I spoke with my sons attorney & he filed a motion for continuance for my son, which was granted by the judge. My sons attorney told me the judge wants to see my son do at least 8 yrs in prison BUT if his attorney can come up with the mental health records & show good proof that my son does have a serious mental problem, he may consider less time. The continuance is only a 2 week extention. I'm really glad you mentioned guardianship, I just wish I would of thought of it way before this happened. If I had guardianship of him, he could have easily used my medical & prescription insurance for his treatment & medication! So I'm off to find out, "If he does (which he probably will) get sentenced to prison, can I still get guardianship over him while he's in prison?"

I had also mentioned guardianship to my son & he's happy to sign any paperwork to help...thank you again!

Ask your sons attorney about having him declared incompetent ( i.e. making you the guardian). It is routinely done, although proper medical paperwork would be required to substantiate your sons need. Hopefully in light of his extreme mental state, he can avoid jail which will do little to help him with his illness.

I'm thrilled to see a glimmer of hope for you. Post back and tell me how things are going for you.

Only the best...

I would like to thank everyone for their concerns for my son & their personal messages to which I am giving all a personal update of how things went.

The person (drug dealer) my son supposively beat up, had no signs of abuse on him the very next day in court. I had also found out that it took the victim 1 hour & 36 minutes to call the police AFTER the incident. In the process of contacting an attorney for guardianship & getting it started before trial, my son hit the panic button & agreed to a plea bargain. ( I had told my son to make sure the case went to trial) The judge, understanding that my son "may" have mental problems promised to sentence him to no more than 5 years & no less than 3 years. Sentencing was held later, AFTER the judge looked at his mental health records...which were subpoenaed into court.

While in court, during sentencing, it appeared the judge didn't want to sentence him to prison at all due to the findings in his mental health records. There was a long discussion between the prosecuting attorney, my sons attorney & the judge. Afterwards the judge sat quietly for a few minutes which seemed to be an eternity to me. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison, minus the time spent in jail which made it 2 yrs 4 months of a prison term he has to serve.

I'm very sad that he was sentenced, but yet relieved it wasn't 10 yrs. Now came the hard part. Once my son was transported to prison, he had told them of his mental health & the medications he was on. The prison didn't believe him! (He was transported on a friday) the following monday I called the mental health in prison, I did this because of a funny feeling I had. I had to fax the prison his mental health records & the meds he was on before they would even give medication to him! "I was told the county would send everything with him & they didn't!" As I was speaking to the mental health personel in prison after they got his mental health records, they told me my son should have been sent to a mental institution NOT prison. (He's on really strong medication which is one of the reasons they needed to confirm his meds). So for now, I am making sure I visit him as often as possible, & making sure he has as much contact with family members as possible & I'm counting down the time for his return.

I don't understand why the judge just considered that he 'may' have a mental problem. Did his attorney tell him to plead? Didn't the attorney find the medical information compelling enough to find him not guilty?

Interesting case.. sorry it didn't work out as well as you wanted, but thankfully no worse. Hopefully, he will be out soon for good behavior.

Good luck.