-Caveat Lector- "Fahy told Cambria that he has chips implanted in his head"
Newsday (New York, NY) February 2, 2002 Saturday QUEENS EDITION SECTION: NEWS, Pg. A13 LENGTH: 472 words HEADLINE: Injured Cop Released From Hospital BYLINE: By Sean Gardiner; STAFF WRITER BODY: A police officer shot in the leg during a standoff in Rockaway Park was released from a Queens hospital Friday while the emotionally disturbed teenager accused of shooting him was in a psychiatric ward, awaiting arraignment. Officer Kevin Boyle, 43, of Massapequa Park, was released from Jamaica Hospital Medical Center Friday after being treated for a gunshot wound to his left calf. The 18-year-old man accused of shooting him Thursday, Timothy Fahy, remained at Kings County Hospital Center Friday night undergoing psychiatric evaluation, police said. Police sources said Fahy has a history of emotional problems and it's believed that on Thursday he had stopped taking his medicine, Risperdal, a drug used to treat schizophrenia. Police officials had also heard, but were unable to confirm, that Fahy's brother had been on television news receiving a scholastic award that night and that caused an already unstable Fahy to go off. Officials from the Queens district attorney's office said Fahy will be charged with attempted murder, attempted aggravated assault and criminal possession of a weapon. It was uncertain Friday night when arraignment would take place. Officials said it was also still unclear how Fahy obtained the .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun used to shoot Boyle and graze the right ankle of another officer, Keith Papsodero. The incident started just before 6 p.m. when Fahy's grandfather, Martin Fahy, called 911 to report that his grandson had been acting aggressively and was armed with a baseball bat. When police arrived at the Fahys' two-story home at 121-07 Newport Ave., they found the grandfather struggling with the teen. When Timothy Fahy spotted police he locked himself in a bathroom. After Martin Fahy, a retired detective, accounted for the two guns he keeps in the house, the officers tried to get Timothy Fahy out of the bathroom. After an hour, police used a sledgehammer to break a hole in the door and, through the hole, stunned Fahy with a Taser gun. Fahy then blindly fired two shots through the hole, hitting Boyle and grazing Papsodero, police said. Lt. Jack Cambria, head of the police department's Hostage Negotiation Unit, then was called in. Over the next two hours, Fahy told Cambria that he has chips implanted in his head, the television set talks to him and he feels his parents don't love him anymore, a police source said. Just before 9 p.m., Cambria persuaded Fahy to surrender. "Thank God the officer was only injured in the leg," said City Councilman Joseph Addabbo, who visited Boyle in the hospital Thursday night and then went to the scene. "It could have been a lot worse." Police sources said it appears that Fahy had been receiving treatment for mental illness at St. John's Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway. ===== According to court papers filed by prosecutors, Campbell had traveled from Georgia to the Pentagon because he believed the U.S. government had implanted a mind-controlling computer chip in his brain. Campbell believed the government -- most likely the CIA -- was trying to change his thinking and "using his mind without his approval," wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney W. Neil Hammerstrom Jr., who handled the government's case. The Washington Post November 17, 1994, Thursday, Final Edition SECTION: METRO; PAGE C8 LENGTH: 555 words HEADLINE: Insanity Ruling Issued In Slaying at Pentagon; Mental Patient Killed Navy Commander in '91 SERIES: Occasional BYLINE: Bill Miller, Washington Post Staff Writer BODY: Carl E. Campbell, the longtime mental patient who shot and killed a Navy commander three years ago outside the Pentagon, was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity yesterday after doctors concluded he was having delusions when he opened fire. The sudden, brazen killing of Cmdr. Edward J. Higgins, 42, which took place in broad daylight on a bright spring day, stunned Pentagon workers. Higgins, a 21-year Navy veteran and father of two, was shot as he waited along with several other passengers for a shuttle bus in a parking lot south of the Pentagon. The bus stop is about half a block from the busy Pentagon Metro station. Yesterday's ruling, which followed a brief hearing before Judge Albert V. Bryan Jr. in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, means that Campbell, 30, could be freed from a federal psychiatric facility if he ever recovers from his mental illness. However, a psychologist recently determined that Campbell remains seriously ill. "We will oppose any attempt to release him," U.S. Attorney Helen F. Fahey said. "We consider him a danger to society." Campbell, of Manchester, Ga., was arrested immediately after the attack on May 30, 1991, and charged with murder. He has been held at a federal psychiatric hospital in Springfield, Mo., where doctors only recently concluded that he was fit to stand trial with the aid of medication. According to court papers filed by prosecutors, Campbell had traveled from Georgia to the Pentagon because he believed the U.S. government had implanted a mind-controlling computer chip in his brain. Campbell believed the government -- most likely the CIA -- was trying to change his thinking and "using his mind without his approval," wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney W. Neil Hammerstrom Jr., who handled the government's case. Authorities said Campbell had been treated since 1988 for paranoid schizophrenia and spent time in psychiatric hospitals in Georgia. He had complained for years about voices telling him what to do, they said. Shortly before the shooting, Campbell was turned away after seeking a meeting with Gen. Colin L. Powell, who then was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He stormed to the parking lot and targeted Higgins to "show his displeasure with the United States government," the court papers said. Witnesses said Campbell, holding a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol, charged toward Higgins and several other people who were about to board a Department of Defense bus. He shot Higgins eight times in the chest and abdomen and then dropped the weapon. No one else was hurt. Like the recent shooting outside the White House, the incident raised concerns about security. However, officials said violence rarely occurs at the site. Immediately after the shooting, witnesses quoted Campbell as saying, "I surrender. They put a machine in my head. It was terrible." Under federal law, Campbell cannot be held criminally liable if his mental illness prevented him from realizing the nature or wrongfulness of his acts at the time of the offense. The government's doctors will submit another report on his condition to Bryan, who has scheduled a hearing for Dec. 30 to determine what happens next. Higgins, who lived in Fairfax County, was a Navy arms control specialist. His wife, Gerry, declined to discuss the ruling. ==== The Associated Press State & Local Wire The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. These materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The Associated Press. June 22, 1999, Tuesday, PM cycle SECTION: State and Regional LENGTH: 493 words HEADLINE: Caes found guilty in abduction, rape trial BYLINE: JAMES HANNAH, Associated Press Writer DATELINE: DAYTON, Ohio BODY: Compelling testimony by a Tennessee woman who was abducted, raped repeatedly and held captive for a month bolstered the case against the man found guilty of kidnapping her, a prosecutor said. "There's no question you could hear a pin drop in this courtroom when the victim was testifying," said assistant Montgomery County prosecutor David Franceschelli. "The jury wanted to know each and every detail of the horrific events that took place. She was just treated brutally." Rejecting an insanity defense, a jury on Monday convicted Kevin Caes, 34, of Clarksville, Tenn. Caes was found guilty of 22 counts of rape, three counts of felonious assault and one count each of kidnapping and unlawful possession of a dangerous ordnance. Caes showed no emotion as he was led from the courtroom. He faces a possible term of life in prison because the offenses he was convicted of carry maximum penalties totaling more than 200 years. Judge Dennis Langer of Montgomery County Common Pleas Court set sentencing for July 30. The jury deliberated for seven hours over two days. Franceschelli has said that Caes was sane and responsible when he kidnapped and repeatedly raped and tortured the 25-year-old Nashville woman he held captive July 17, 1997, to August 20, 1997. Defense attorneys contended that Caes is a paranoid schizophrenic who does not know right from wrong. Defense attorney Dana Martino said his client believed that God told him to father the woman's children. Martino said Caes, who was twice removed from the courtroom for disrupting the trial, believes there is a "cosmic intelligence agency" that controls everybody and has embedded a microchip in his buttocks to monitor his movements. Franceschelli said Caes met the woman in Nashville on July 17 and paid her to perform oral sex on him. After she got into his car, Franceschelli said, Caes shot her in the neck with a stun gun and tied her up. Caes then drove her to a trailer near Clinton, Ind., where the woman was handcuffed and bound with rope, the prosecutor said. When she tried to escape once, Franceschelli said, Caes punctured her eye with an ice pick, blurring her vision. On Aug. 13, Caes put the woman in the trunk of his car and drove her to the Dayton-area home of his parents, who were on vacation, Franceschelli said. Caes was arrested Aug. 20 after sheriff's deputies found the woman handcuffed, shackled, gagged and tethered in a basement bedroom. She had triggered a wire alarm with a razor blade held in her mouth. Police said they found gunpowder and bomb-making material in the basement. Caes arrived at the house shortly after deputies discovered the woman, and he led them on a high-speed chase. He was accused of trying to hit a deputy with his car before his capture. Caes was indicted on 23 counts of rape, but one of the counts was dismissed during the trial when the woman failed to testify about the alleged actions that led to that count. ==== "Hejazi was diagnosed as delusional and as a chronically paranoid schizophrenic. She told her family and doctors that the CIA had been following and torturing her and would do the same to her children." The Plain Dealer August 9, 1994 Tuesday, FINAL / ALL SECTION: METRO; Pg. 2B LENGTH: 395 words HEADLINE: MOM WHO KILLED CHILD LOSES DYING PLEA BYLINE: By HAKI CRISDEN; PLAIN DEALER REPORTER DATELINE: CLEVELAND BODY: Delores Hejazi lost her fight to spend her last days at home. The Parma woman died Sunday night at MetroHealth Medical Center. In 1991, Hejazi, 37, fatally stabbed her oldest daughter and wounded her two younger daughters before trying to kill herself. She was found not guilty by reason of insanity and institutionalized at Western Reserve Psychiatric Hospital. This year, as terminal throat cancer weakened Hejazi's body, her mother, Doretta Berkesch, helped her fight an unsuccessful legal battle with Cuyahoga County for permission to go to Berkesch's Cleveland home to die. Judge Thomas J. Pokorny, of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, called the death "a tragic ending to a tragic set of circumstances." Hejazi was diagnosed as delusional and as a chronically paranoid schizophrenic. She told her family and doctors that the CIA had been following and torturing her and would do the same to her children. Pokorny denied Hejazi's last petition for release into her mother's custody because home health care could not be arranged. Hejazi's cousin, Sheila Griffith, a licensed practical nurse from New Jersey, had said she would provide the care but changed her mind. Hejazi developed pneumonia last week and was admitted to MetroHealth on Friday. Assistant County Prosecutor Timothy Dobeck agreed yesterday that the case was tragic. But he stood by the county's previous requests that Hejazi remain institutionalized. "The state has to be concerned about society's safety," Dobeck said. "We felt that we couldn't be sure she wouldn't cause harm to herself or others (if allowed to live at home)." The children remain with Hejazi's ex-husband, who has custody. Berkesch described her daughter as a loving, devoted mother who had a talent for crocheting and creating ceramic crafts. She said Hejazi had a beautiful mind and was not described accurately in news accounts. "I think they (the courts and the media) made an example out of her," she said. "She wanted to die and she wanted to take the children with her and they made it look like she was some crazed killer. I wish they had told the truth." But Hejazi's mother has found solace despite that anger. "I'm glad it's over," she said. "I begged God to take her, and he did. She's free now." Berkesch and other survivors will attend a private service for her today. ==== The Associated Press State & Local Wire The materials in the AP file were compiled by The Associated Press. These materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The Associated Press. April 20, 1999, Tuesday, PM cycle SECTION: State and Regional LENGTH: 649 words HEADLINE: Neuropsychologist: head injuries may have added to behavior abnormalities BYLINE: DAVID FREY, Associated Press Writer DATELINE: NASHVILLE, Tenn. BODY: Convicted killer Paul Reid has had abnormal patterns of behavior most of his life and those abnormalities may have been worsened by head injuries, a neuropsychologist testified. Pamela Auble of Nashville also testified that Reid, of Richland Hills, Texas near Fort Worth, believes he is under constant surveillance by the CIA. She was one of the defense witnesses jurors heard from Monday during the second day of the penalty phase of Reid's double-murder trial. He was convicted last week of one count of especially aggravated robbery and two counts each of felony murder and premeditated murder in the Feb. 16, 1997, shooting deaths of Captain D's restaurant workers Steve Hampton, 25, and Sarah Jackson, 16. Jurors must now decide whether to sentence Reid to death or life in prison, with or without possibility of parole. The defense is trying to show Reid suffers from mental illness and should not be put to death. Reid, 41, still faces two more trials on charges he killed five workers at two restaurants in Nashville and Clarksville. "Mr. Reid has shown abnormality in his (behavior) since his early childhood, and I think those abnormalities were worsened by a number of head injuries," Auble testified. Further testimony revealed Reid was hit in the head with a brick at age 5 and cracked his skull in a mini-bike accident at age 13. Auble said brain fluid leaked from Reid's ears for three days after the mini-bike accident. Vanderbilt neurologist Robert Kessler showed jurors pictures of Reid's brain, which he said shows evidence of trauma. Xavier Amador, a clinical psychologist at Columbia University, described Reid as a "delusional schizophrenic" who is convinced the government has surveillance videotapes that prove he didn't murder the two Captain D's restaurant workers. Amador said Reid believes he is "a special test subject to be observed, to be followed and to be studied" by the government. He's convinced he has been watched for years and that the government will eventually come forward with the videotapes that show he is innocent, Amador said. He also said "there's something likeable and charming about (Reid). And that's that he's like a little boy in many ways. He desperately wants to be liked." Prosecution witness Dr. Helen Mayberg, a professor of psychiatry and neurology at the University of Toronto, disputed Kessler's findings. After reviewing the pictures of Reid's brain, Mayberg acknowledged he was born with brain damage. But she said Monday there was no sign the damage was exacerbated by the mini-bike accident and she saw no signs of schizophrenia. Attorney Brian Johnson, who prosecuted Reid in 1984 for robbing a Pasadena, Texas, steakhouse, testified about Reid's behavior during that trial's competency hearing. "Mr. Reid performed what I would describe as antics when the jury was present," Johnson said. He said Reid "fell over backwards in his chair," tore pieces of paper from a legal tablet and "shot them into the air with a rubber band." He also made a paper hat which he placed on his lawyer's head. Johnson said Reid, who was convicted and eventually paroled after serving seven years of a 20-year sentence, wrote him from prison and said "he wasn't crazy" and apologized for his courtroom behavior. Attorney Raymond Lackey testified Reid represented himself in a 1997 civil case regarding a traffic accident. Reid lost the case, but "he did as well as anyone I've ever been up against who represented himself," Lackey said. Janice Roark, who keeps records at Volunteer State Community College, said Reid enrolled in spring 1997 and got A's in remedial classes in reading, study skills and writing. He also scored high on a number of tests and was on a track to take college-level courses, she said. The defense rested its case Monday evening, and the prosecution was expected to finish its rebuttal today. ====== "According to previous defense testimony, Saloom had delusional beliefs that a CIA-led conspiracy was out to destroy him because he had discovered a classified program about mind-controlling light rays and beams." The Associated Press. These materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The Associated Press. June 23, 2002, Sunday, BC cycle SECTION: State and Regional LENGTH: 321 words DATELINE: LAFAYETTE, La. BODY: A Lafayette man found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity is not well enough to be released on one-day excursions out of a psychiatric hospital, a judge ruled. C.J. Saloom, 51, stabbed psychiatrist Henry Tyler to death with a steak knife in 1993 and believes the CIA is after him, according to testimony. Tyler, 40, was stabbed while he prepared to have Saloom committed to a mental hospital. On Friday night, Judge John Trahan said Saloom's condition has improved, but not enough to allow him to leave the East Feliciana Forensic Facility. Tyler's widow, Bobbie Tyler, said she was relieved at Trahan's ruling. Saloom "is very smart, no doubt, and manipulative," she said. Saloom's lawyer, Tommy Guilbeau, said he argue in an appeal that Friday's hearing showed Saloom is not a danger. Trahan said Saloom "seemed quite sincere" in a taped interview. However, the judge said he was concerned that Saloom could be one of eight people under the supervision of two guards and a therapist while on a one-day pass outside the hospital. Under state law, Saloom could eventually be released if it's determined that he's no longer a danger to himself or society. Judge Trahan heard testimony from Dr. James Blackburn of Lafayette, a psychiatrist, who doubted that Saloom is ready for a day pass. Blackburn said he interviewed Saloom and he does not believe he is remorseful for the slaying. Saloom suffers from schizophrenic delusions and an anti-social personality disorder, compounded by a history of substance abuse, including heroin addiction, Blackburn said. According to previous defense testimony, Saloom had delusional beliefs that a CIA-led conspiracy was out to destroy him because he had discovered a classified program about mind-controlling light rays and beams. Day passes would not help Saloom's schizophrenia and won't decrease his drug dependence, Blackburn testified. ==== Copyright 1996 Capital City Press The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) June 6, 1996 Thursday METRO EDITION SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1B LENGTH: 722 words HEADLINE: Trial focuses on Saloom's state of mind BYLINE: CALVIN LEAR, ACADIANA BUREAU DATELINE: LAFAYETTE BODY: LAFAYETTE - Did C.J. Saloom Jr. know right from wrong when he fatally stabbed physician Joseph Henry Tyler? That question was the focus of Saloom's murder trial that continued Wednesday. Saloom, 45, of 1813 W. St. Mary Blvd., has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity to second-degree murder. The trial may conclude today with 15th Judicial District Judge G. Bradford Ware serving as judge and jury because Saloom waived a jury trial. The defense finished its case for an insanity verdict Wednesday and the prosecution began calling rebuttal witnesses to say Saloom was sane. Testifying for the defense, psychiatrist James Blackburn of Lafayette said Saloom did not know right from wrong and therefore was legally insane when he stabbed Tyler on April 9, 1993, at the Acadiana Mental Health Center. Saloom stabbed Tyler in protest of a decision to forcibly commit him to the Huey P. Long Psychiatric Unit in Pineville, Blackburn said. Blackburn's testimony was followed by psychiatrist David J. Rees of Lafayette, who said Saloom knew what he was doing and meant to kill Tyler. Rees returns to the witness stand this morning. Blackburn said Saloom suffered from acute chronic paranoid schizophrenia. The mental disease was manifested in delusions about a CIA and family-led plot to destroy him by having light rays and beams shot at his brain from outer space, he said. The delusions became all-consuming, Blackburn said. Saloom knew when he was taken by deputy sheriffs to Acadiana Mental Health Center that he might be committed to a mental hospital, as had been the case numerous times before in his life, Blackburn explained. He said Saloom dreaded the thought of being committed because the medication he would be given would lower his mental ability to fight off the light rays. In his evaluation of Saloom, Blackburn said Saloom told him he killed Tyler because he believed "he would finally have his day in court. " That meant he would call CIA, FBI and other government officials to testify about the rays and beams, Blackburn said. Assistant Attorney General Julie Cullen told Blackburn that Saloom's actions and words indicated he knew what he was doing. For instance, Saloom told a doctor's aide before the stabbing that he would "kill someone" because he wasn't being listened to. After stabbing Tyler, the aide pinned Saloom to a wall, and shortly afterward Saloom reminded the aide of his earlier comment. Blackburn said Saloom acted solely to protect his delusions. The evidence was that Saloom ignored the injured doctor the moment the aide grabbed him, and instead said, "My papers are all scattered," Blackburn said. A folder containing information about the light rays conspiracy scattered on the floor during the struggle, he said. Rees said he diagnosed Saloom as having a "paranoid disorder," which was different than paranoid schizophrenia. People with paranoid disorder are out of touch with reality only when they are delusional, while schizophrenics have little or no sense of reality ever, he said. "I believe that C.J. knew that he wanted a weapon to avoid commitment, in addition to having delusions," Rees said. "I believe he knew it was totally wrong to kill Doctor Tyler. " Rees was Saloom's psychiatrist from 1977 to 1986. He recounted numerous efforts, all of which failed, to persuade Saloom to face a serious drug habit that included heroin and intravenously administered morphine. Saloom stayed in drug treatment facilities only long enough to detoxify from the effects of drugs, and then he would break out of the facilities to look for more drugs, Rees said. It was a sign of an anti-social personality disorder, Rees said. He said he noticed by the early 1980s that Saloom showed signs of paranoia. Part of the problem, Rees surmised, was that Saloom's father would allow C.J. Saloom Jr. to "manipulate" him into allowing the younger Saloom to get out of hospitals and rehabilitation centers. Rees said that prevented C.J. Saloom Jr. from facing his problem. Rees said he decided to quit treating C.J. Saloom Jr. for two reasons: his father, physician Clarence Saloom Sr., refused to participate in joint treatment, and C.J. Saloom Jr. had become violent to Rees' hospital staff. ==== "He thinks the CIA comes to take him to do assassinations," Ryan said of her client. "At times he thinks there's some kind of machinery the Department of Corrections has implanted in him so he can talk to people." The Houston Chronicle September 25, 1999, Saturday 3 STAR EDITION SECTION: A; Pg. 1 LENGTH: 1412 words HEADLINE: Arizona seeks a 'hired gun' to treat killer; Inmate's mental illness pits law against medical ethics SOURCE: Staff BYLINE: KIM COBB BODY: The state of Arizona has been looking for a "hired gun" for more than six months - a physician or nurse willing to medicate a mentally ill prisoner aggressively enough to make him competent to face execution. Nobody at the Arizona State Hospital in Phoenix is willing to do it. They have agreed to medicate 42-year-old Claude Eric Maturana only enough to keep him from harming himself, forcing the state hospital's top executive to look for a contract worker to do what his own employees will not. If the hospital does not find someone to treat Maturana toward his ultimate death, the Arizona attorney general's office is prepared to file contempt of court charges against the institution, which may force a choice between medical ethics or the law. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that it's unconstitutional to execute someone so mentally ill that he is incompetent to understand the circumstances of his punishment. But legal and medical observers think the Arizona conundrum may be the case that forces the Supreme Court to directly address whether the state can forcibly medicate someone to make them competent. Maturana was sentenced to die in 1992 for the grisly murder of a 16-year-old boy two years before. Prosecutors said Maturana and an accomplice suspected young Glen Estes had stolen an auto part from Maturana. They drove their victim into the desert, shot him repeatedly and tried to decapitate him before leaving his body floating in a rancher's water tank. Maturana had been paroled from a Texas prison just five months before, having served time for burglary and aggravated assault. Maturana was not yet scheduled for execution but had run out of appeals early this year when his most recent attorney convinced a superior court judge that her client was schizophrenic and therefore incompetent to face execution. Attorney Carla Ryan, who based her argument on the evaluations of two court-appointed doctors, said her client spoke so much gibberish she couldn't communicate with him. "It's shocking to me that nobody ever raised this before I got on the case," Ryan said. The ruling temporarily bought Maturana some time, since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1986 that a condemned prisoner must be stable enough to understand that he is going to die for his crime. Maturana was ordered to the care of the Arizona State Hospital in February to be "restored to competence." But the state hospital's medical staff dug in their heels, claiming treatment that leads to execution is a violation of medical ethics. Hospital chief executive Jack Silver advertised twice in Arizona for someone to treat Maturana, but didn't get a single response. He said the state hospital also mailed out individual letters to more than 1,400 licensed psychiatrists and nurse practitioners in Arizona. Still, no one wanted the job. He has now expanded the search nationally. "An individual's opinion on capital punishment is the personal moral decision of the individual," states AMA ethical policy. "A physician, as a member of a profession dedicated to preserving life when there is hope of doing so, should not be a participant in a legally authorized execution." Under that umbrella, AMA ethical policy specifically forbids treating a prisoner to restore mental competency unless the prisoner's sentence has already been commuted to life. However, the Arizona Attorney General's office has threatened to file contempt of court charges against the state hospital physicians for failing to comply with the judge's orders. "Clearly, if it gets to that point," said Silver, "the question becomes: 'Do ethics supersede law or does law supersede ethics?' " Paul McMurdie, the attorney general's criminal appeals section chief, says it bothers him that Maturana's is being discussed as a possible test case. "Yes, it does, because I think he's faking it," McMurdie said. "I think there should be a better case to challenge . . . the whole debate over forced medication. But this doesn't seem to be the case, because I think he's faking it. Prosecutors believe Maturana saves his "crazy" behavior for the psychologists, but stops acting when conversing with corrections officers. "He's totally oriented to time, place, and reality," McMurdie said. Ryan said records she submitted in Superior Court indicate Maturana has had symptoms of mental illness for years. "There is not one medical expert who disagrees" that Maturana is incompetent, Ryan said. McMurdie tried unsuccessfully to force a rehearing on the question of Maturana's competency, based on the affidavits of two young corrections officers "who have no mental health training at all," Ryan said. Both corrections officers were prepared to testify they'd had a "normal" conversation with Maturana, she said, but the symptoms of schizophrenia can come and go. Medical experts say people suffering from schizophrenia sometimes experience delusions and hallucinations, alteration of the senses, and an inability to sort incoming sensations and respond to them appropriately. The delusions can cause people to believe they are being plotted against, and about three-fourths of all people with schizophrenia will hear voices. "He thinks the CIA comes to take him to do assassinations," Ryan said of her client. "At times he thinks there's some kind of machinery the Department of Corrections has implanted in him so he can talk to people." Maturana's first attorney had questions about Maturana's mental status at the time of his trial and arranged for court-ordered psychiatric testing. Based on that evaluation, the presiding judge found Maturana competent to stand trial. But the pretrial competency report prepared by Tucson psychologist Todd Flynn in 1991 notes that in spite of Maturana's claims even then to hallucinations, hearing voices, and apparent suicide attempts, the supervising physician was not ready to believe him. "I wish I could believe (the) patient's claim of hallucinations, but his thought processes are so fluent and clear . . . that it is hard for me to believe it," wrote a physician who observed Maturana in the Pima County Jail. Maturana's mental state at the time the crime was committed is not being challenged. But in 1986, the Supreme Court used the case of a convicted Florida killer to rule that a mentally incompetent inmate cannot be executed, establishing guidelines the states must follow in evaluating sanity. Alvin Bernard Ford was sentenced to death in 1975 for killing a Fort Lauderdale police officer during an armed robbery. His attorneys said the stay on death row caused him to lose his mind - he claimed to talk to space aliens. Ford was ultimately ruled competent, after the state of Florida followed the guidelines for hearing that issue set out by the Supreme Court. He died in 1991, still on Florida's death row, of complications from respiratory problems. The high court's ruling in the Ford case does not require a prisoner to be completely free of mental illness to be eligible for execution. "But you have to be aware you committed a crime, you have to be aware you've been sentenced to death and you have to be aware that when the sentence is imposed you're going to die," explained state hospital administrator Silver. "That's a fairly low standard." Silver is sympathetic to his staff's objections and says he fully understands the dilemma for a medical professional, but thinks there may be a window through which someone can treat Maturana to a level of legal competency "One of the determinations they're going to have to make is whether or not they think he has a mental illness and whether he's suffering (as a result of) that mental illness," Silver said. The American Medical Association has ruled that a physician has a duty to treat an incompetent prisoner if he "is undergoing extreme suffering as a result of psychosis or any other illness." "There are experts in determining whether or not people suffer from mental illness, what would be effective, and whether or not that individual is in pain or discomfort," Silver said. "I think there can be disagreements, differences of opinions between psychiatrists as well." But Silver said he is not "fishing" for a medical practitioner who is willing to say Maturana is suffering. "I have a responsibility as the director of the hospital to uphold the law, and the law says we have a responsibility to provide treatment for this individual," Silver said. ++++++ MARtin F. ABErnathy -- [[EMAIL PROTECTED]] -- Providence, RI <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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