A Sad State of Affairs

In February, I had a client that was examined by a State psychologist, who determined that my client was incompetent to stand trial. That means that (a) he couldn't help me put the case together and (b) he didn't understand the object and nature of the proceedings against him. In other words, he was so disorganized that he didn't know what was going on.

As a result, he was committed to the State psychiatric hospital, in an effort to return him to competency. He has been there this whole time.

Today, we received a letter from the State psychologist saying that they've treated him all that they can, and he simply isn't responding. In addition, the State psychologist specifically found that he wasn't a threat to himself or others, which takes civil commitment off the table. So, they're going to return him to the jail -- even though he is only marginally better than when I saw him back in February. At this point, the State has exhausted its resources, and now he is being thrown back on the criminal justice system.

So, I expect that we will get his case dismissed and he will be released in the next couple of weeks, still disorganized as when I first met him. And, in two weeks or three months, he'll be back, on some other classic mental-health-client offense. Criminal trespass, disorderly conduct, etc.

That's a damn shame.