One week before the murder he was arrested for a violent behavior at one of the hospitals. With just a slap on the hand, he was released into the community to go on to kill Kathryn Faughey just the next week. David Tarloff has been evaluated and committed more then a dozen times in his life time. Over the years he has been put on many of drugs to treat schizophrenic and bipolar such as lithium, Depakota, Haldol, Seroquel and Zyprexa and along with that, shock treatments have been given. After months of being in state hospitals and psychiatric reports, it has been determined that David Tarloff is unfit to stand trial. After being found fit to stand trial in one county in Queens, New York another county in Manhtatten says he is not fit to stand trial. Tarloff is now back at Rikers Island, where his attorney says he is not taking his medication all the time and has been suicidal in the last couple of months. The psychopath is unable to feel sorry for others in unfortunate situations or put himself in another’s place, whether or not they have been harmed by him. “They are all very egocentric individuals with no empathy for others, and they are incapable of feeling remorse or guilt” (The Psychopath:Rebecca Horton,…
Robert L. Dear Jr., the man responsible for the shooting at a Planned Parenthood center in Colorado Springs last year, has just been declared unfit to stand trial. According to Judge Gilbert A. Martinez, the suspect is “mentally incompetent” and announced that Dear must be sent to a mental hospital to restore his competency.…
US the Supreme Court established guidelines that satisfy due process in regards to one’s competency to stand trial. The Supreme Court determined that the court must find the defendant able to rationally, and functionally understand the charges and proceedings against them, and have a present ability to assist their attorney in their defense. It is not merely enough for one to be oriented as to person, place, and time. This standard goes on to define both the cognitive and interpersonal aspects of competency to stand trial . The cognitive element is the ability to know and understand the charges and legal process being taken. The interpersonal element is in regards to the ability of the client to assist their attorney. Moreover, the Dusky standard confirms that under Higgins v. McGrath (1951), a defendant who suffers from a severe mental mental disorder may still be competent to stand trial if the defendant can understand and assist their attorney. Furthermore, because of these new guidelines, Dusky was retried and received a guilty verdict however, his sentencing was reduced by more than half. He was sentenced to 20 years with eligibility for parole in 5 years in comparison to serving the original sentence of 45…
Prior to the certification hearing, the juvenile judge ordered R.D.B. to have a complete psychiatric and psychologist evaluation to determine if he was sophisticated and mature enough to stand trial as an adult. The psychiatrist concluded that R.D.B. was mature and sophisticated enough to understand the legal proceedings and able to assist his attorney with his defense. Also, the psychiatrist determined that R.D.B. had no mental illness or other defects which would…
During this conversation, Judge Rosen made note that Ralph responded to each question appropriately and asked questions back to the judge. We have to understand that we are not looking at what his mental state of mind was at the time of the incident, rather his mental state of mind at the time of the trial. Therefore, when Ralph was found to be competent to stand trial it was believed that he understood the nature of the charges against him and could, if he chose to do so, aid in his defense. KU CJ100 *Emily A. Singleton-Burruano* 3 I am not disagreeing with the fact that Mr. Tortorici was mentally ill, this is clearly evident. However, he committed a crime and it was time to face the punishment for that crime. I feel that he was treated fairly in the trial but I would have liked to see a court ordered follow up psychiatric treatment plan in place for Tortorici. In my opinion, regardless of the crime that is committed or the mental state of the offender at the time of the incident, the offender should be punished according to the crime they have…
In SELL v. UNITED STATES, the question was whether the constitution allows forcibly medicating a mentally ill defendant so that he/she can be competent for trial for serious crimes that are non-violent. The constitution does allow this but under certain circumstances. Sell was found to be mentally incompetent to stand trial after examination by a magistrate the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners. Sell decided to challenge the decision made by the Medical center to force the medication on him. Because he was a danger to himself and others, the magistrate gave the go ahead on forcing him to take the medication. This would most likely the best way to bring him back to competency to stand trial…
What are the legal standards of incompetence when it comes to a trial? How mentally ill does an individual have to be to be given the ‘by reason of insanity' verdict? Frontline's documentary special, A Crime of Insanity, explores the diverging opinions of what truly constitutes a defendant's mental illness, as well as their competency of withstanding a trial. Ralph Tortorici, a mentally unstable 26-year-old, walked onto State University of New York campus along with a high-powered rifle concealed under his clothes. Tortorici seized a class seminar hostage, exclaiming that he had a computer chip implanted within his head and penis, and demanded that he speak with the President. Shortly after, the police and SWAT…
From the beginning of our journey through the Reptile we are constantly asking ourselves one question: “Why should Bubba Care about my Case?” The reason we ask that question stems from the “Why we Lose at Trial” stool. This stool tells us that reason we lose at trial is because of compassion fatigue, tort reform, and negative attribution. The jury comes to the courtroom tainted with these afflictions, without us making a single argument or admitting a single piece of evidence. These afflictions stem from their everyday experiences, expectations of society, and their hopes for the future.…
The seventh step is postverdict motions. This is where the defense can file motions in behalf of the defendant. The defense can argue that the jurors could not have possible found the defendant guilty from the evidence…
These source texts address the enduring issue concerning states rights being in conflict with federal power by relating Flordia's unwillingness to provide this case's defendant with an attorney and the federal government's power to force Flordia to abide by the 6th Amendment. These issues clearly reflect how prescient our founding fathers were in generating a set of founding principles enabling posterity to grapple with new and evolving situation that could not have been foreseen in the context of the times when our founding documents were written. Luckily, the 6th Amendment is closely aligned with this defendant's right to legal council, providing a useful direction in resolving the tension between the old and new issues. The fact that the state of Flordia should provide Mr. Gideon with a lawer is obvious because the 6th Amendment guarantees a person the right to consult a lawyer in his or her defense and if a lawyer is not appointed, such an act clearly violates the Constitution. Accordingly, these reasons and opposing viewpoints will be discussed next.…
The caretaker should be considered insane because he mentally shows his reaction for the death of the victim he killed, “ I then smiled gaily,to find the deed so far done”(93), this evidence states how he felt pleasure for the death of the victim but, also “ I smiled,-for what had i to fear?”(93), also states his affection involving mind not having any fear of his murder. Usually the opposing side would say that his thoughts only proved how he was…
One of the main and biggest issues with the standing appeals system is the time and resources it drains. The appeals system sees an unprecedented amount of nearly never-ending cases and does not have the judges, administrators, and lawyers to keep up with the constant hearings, paper-work, and proceedings that must take place. Almost 34% of all appeals are for offenders who claim total innocence (DeathPenalty.org) but the other 66% are either repeat with crimes and want an easy off, or are looking to plea out. Not only is this insufficient but a waste of valuable time that could be focused towards the reinstatement of rehabilitation programs and educational services that could help the amount of appeals lessen. Not only is this an issue in…
Singleton’s lawyer was outraged by the state’s decision. He believed that Singleton shouldn’t receive the death penalty because he was not truly sane. Even though his outward symptoms were generally non-noticeable, his attorney argued that without the proper medication, he was still suffering a mental disorder. The prosecutor argued that because Singleton’s symptoms were not showing, he was sane.…
The criminal justice issue that I plan to study is the Stand Your Ground Law. This paper will analyze the history of the Stand Your Ground Law and the NRA’s (National Rifle Association) involvement in getting this law passed in Florida as well as in other states. I will give statistics of how race plays a huge role in this law. The “Black Lives Matter” movement will also be discussed. Recommendations will be given to commissioner Bratton on what to do if these laws were to be passed in New York City.…
They key issues that state attorney Angela Corey will attempt to tackle herself after a grand jury declined to look into the case involving Trayvon Marin and George Zimmerman are race, justice and when it is reasonable to act in self-defense (PBS.org). Daniel Webster also attempts to tackle these issues during an interview with PBS journalist, Gwen Ifill.…