domestic violence and mental illness

[Jarwad1023]

I'm not really sure how this works, looked through the forum a bit to see if there was a similar case, but didn't find anything. The defendant in question is my friend, we live in Florida, and he is currently incarcerated for Domestic violence and this will be his second conviction. He was out on bond, but violated a no contact order shortly after his release. My friend is diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and is basically homeless. His family doesn't seem to care about his well being and he doesn't have access to medicinal help which he desperately needs. He hears voices, hallucinates, the works.. I guess what I'm trying to ask is will the court take this into consideration? If not, is there a way for myself, a third party, to make this information known to the judge or maybe the public defender of his case? I really want to help my friend and was in the process of helping him with his mental illness before he basically lost control. I don't believe any of this would be happening if he were properly medicated.

 

[Just Blue]

I'm not really sure how this works, looked through the forum a bit to see if there was a similar case, but didn't find anything. The defendant in question is my friend, we live in Florida, and he is currently incarcerated for Domestic violence and this will be his second conviction. He was out on bond, but violated a no contact order shortly after his release. My friend is diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and is basically homeless. His family doesn't seem to care about his well being and he doesn't have access to medicinal help which he desperately needs. He hears voices, hallucinates, the works.. I guess what I'm trying to ask is will the court take this into consideration? If not, is there a way for myself, a third party, to make this information known to the judge or maybe the public defender of his case? I really want to help my friend and was in the process of helping him with his mental illness before he basically lost control. I don't believe any of this would be happening if he were properly medicated.

Speak to his attorney about testifying on his behalf. Are you the victim in this situation? If not...who was? What was he convicted for (I know it was DV but was it a felony DV or misdemeanor)? Is he going off medication voluntarily or because he doesn't have health care?

 

[TigerD]

This is a recurring problem for paranoid schizophrenics. When they are on their meds, they feel fine. Then they either can't afford them or think they don't need them anymore and slide back down. We really need to work on mental health care in the US. It is too frequently dealt with in the criminal court.

TD

 

[CdwJava]

This is a recurring problem for paranoid schizophrenics. When they are on their meds, they feel fine. Then they either can't afford them or think they don't need them anymore and slide back down. We really need to work on mental health care in the US. It is too frequently dealt with in the criminal court.

TD

One huge problem is that we are legally unable to compel people to either seek treatment, or to maintain treatment ... absent a court order which, sadly, can most often come about as the result of a criminal conviction. Contrary to common belief, the bar necessary to involuntarily detain someone for a mental health evaluation is not low. And, for those who are detained, all that is needed is that they commit to a plan of action or receive treatment, and they are on their way once more ... and the cycle will repeat.

 

[not2cleverRed]

I'm not really sure how this works, looked through the forum a bit to see if there was a similar case, but didn't find anything. The defendant in question is my friend, we live in Florida, and he is currently incarcerated for Domestic violence and this will be his second conviction. He was out on bond, but violated a no contact order shortly after his release. My friend is diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and is basically homeless. His family doesn't seem to care about his well being and he doesn't have access to medicinal help which he desperately needs. He hears voices, hallucinates, the works.. I guess what I'm trying to ask is will the court take this into consideration? If not, is there a way for myself, a third party, to make this information known to the judge or maybe the public defender of his case? I really want to help my friend and was in the process of helping him with his mental illness before he basically lost control. I don't believe any of this would be happening if he were properly medicated.

No. What you don't understand is that they have lived with this far longer than you, and know enough to be scared.

And they should be, as apparently he gets violent when he "loses control".

 

[Jarwad1023]

Speak to his attorney about testifying on his behalf. Are you the victim in this situation? If not...who was? What was he convicted for (I know it was DV but was it a felony DV or misdemeanor)? Is he going off medication voluntarily or because he doesn't have health care?

I'm not the victim in the situation, just a friend. It says felony DV with prior conviction. The previous conviction happened years ago. and the medication is lack of healthcare/resources.

 

[Jarwad1023]

No. What you don't understand is that they have lived with this far longer than you, and know enough to be scared.

And they should be, as apparently he gets violent when he "loses control".

I really don't care to explain to you the entire ordeal. Probably should have left the subjective bit out. Thanks anyways.

 

[TigerD]

I'm not the victim in the situation, just a friend. It says felony DV with prior conviction. The previous conviction happened years ago. and the medication is lack of healthcare/resources.

There is nothing easy about mental illness. The people that work with it are, as you see from my prior post and CdwJava's post, quite frustrated with the limitations and Constitutional issues surrounding the treatment and care or lack thereof. There just aren't any simple answers and the balancing of rights, responsibilities, and duty, makes it very difficult to effectively do anything.

As incapacitated as a person may be when they are off of their meds, once they are back on their meds, the person is fully competent and capable of making the decision to take medication or not.

TD

 

[not2cleverRed]

I really don't care to explain to you the entire ordeal. Probably should have left the subjective bit out. Thanks anyways.

Guess what: some of us here have seen how far wrong things can go. James Maguire-Clark for example

It is not easy to get a DV conviction, because family members, particularly parents, don't want to "hurt" a family member that way.

To answer your question: yes, the court will may take into account your friend's mental illness. That doesn't mean that his time away from society would (or should) be decreased, because he has shown that he is a danger to society. He could be involuntarily committed to a mental health facility, rather than sent to jail.

 

[Just Blue]

Guess what: some of us here have seen how far wrong things can go. James Maguire-Clark, for example.

It is not easy to get a DV conviction, because family members, particularly parents, don't want to "hurt" a family member that way.

To answer your question: yes, the court will may take into account your friend's mental illness. That doesn't mean that his time away from society would (or should) be decreased, because he has shown that he is a danger to society. He could be involuntarily committed to a mental health facility, rather than sent to jail.

I remember that case...horrible.

 

[Jarwad1023]

Guess what: some of us here have seen how far wrong things can go. James Maguire-Clark for example

It is not easy to get a DV conviction, because family members, particularly parents, don't want to "hurt" a family member that way.

To answer your question: yes, the court will may take into account your friend's mental illness. That doesn't mean that his time away from society would (or should) be decreased, because he has shown that he is a danger to society. He could be involuntarily committed to a mental health facility, rather than sent to jail.

I completely agree that he should pay some kind of price. I'm not saying schizophrenia excuses his actions or anything, simply that it does play a part in his decision making. I looked into the James Maguire case, that is horrible. I couldn't imagine doing that to my grandmother; mine raised me growing up.