This is Russell Weston, the paranoid schizophrenic who killed two US Capitol Police in July of 1998 in a bloody shootout in the marble corridors of the US Capitol.
After the rampage, a judge ordered Weston to a Ffederal psychiatric facility for treatment. The idea was to make him competent for trial. What Weston needed was a course of Risperdal or Haldol or Prolixin.
But when the consent forms were put before him, Weston refused to sign.
And when the gurney was on its way to forcibly medicate him, his lawyers stepped in.
For the last 20 months, Weston's lawyers have prevented so much as one drop of anti-psychotic drug from hitting their client's brain, bringing the case of United States of America v. Russell Eugene Weston Jr. to an Orwellian standoff.
Because Weston could face the death penalty if convicted, lawyers from the federal public defender's office argue that to medicate him for trial is to march him toward the execution chamber.
But this defense is exacting a cruel cost on Weston. Two court-appointed psychiatrists have testified that his mental condition has worsened. Because Weston has received no tratment and could be dangerous, he has been kept in seclusion for more than two years, an unheard of period of isolation in modern times.
In the coming days, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan is expected to rule for a second time whether Weston should be medicated.
At the last hearing in November, Weston sat at the defense table, unbarbered and bearded, like some winter wanderer who'd come in from a cardboard box at Indiana Avenue. His blue eyes roamed towards his lawyers, fit and silken, as they made the case to preserve his mental rot.
--Anne Hull
The Washington Post
Well. Here it is. When does it become right to give a person medication to make them sane to stand trial? On the other hand, when it does it become right to let a person slip further into a disease in name of "defense"?
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Star Trek Gamma Quadrant
Average Rated 6.83 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux
***
"Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!"
-Forum Member Who Shall Be Nameless. 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
I have to remember to use that one somewhere.
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I will shout until they know what I mean.
--
Neutral Milk Hotel
****
Read three (three!) chapters of "Dirk Tungsten in...The Disappearing Planet"! Then, go insane!
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My new year's resolution is the same as last year's: 1024x768.
However, I'm not so sure about the mental limbo course the lawyers are taking. It would seem to me that if the fellow thinks corn does all that, well then the case can be made that he is a nutter and was so at the time of the crime.
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"We're just going to have a lot of work. ... Redefining the role of the United States from enablers to keep the peace to enablers to keep the peace from peacekeepers is going to be an assignment."
~ George W. Bush, Deer-In-The-Headlights of the United States
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"Businesses used to be like Christianity; if you were faithful and obedient, you could obtain bliss in the afterlife of retirement. Now it's more of a reincarnation model. If the worker learns enough in his current job, he can progress to a higher level of employment elsewhere."
- Dogbert
At any rate, the defense looks to have a fairly decent case regarding usage or nonusage of the medication at the time of the crime as well.
At this point the defense isn't looking to get the guy off, rather they are looking to ameliorate the sentence as much a possible. But in the rather convoluted legal world, one more day of corn reversing time is another day they don't have a conviction to deal with.
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"We're just going to have a lot of work. ... Redefining the role of the United States from enablers to keep the peace to enablers to keep the peace from peacekeepers is going to be an assignment."
~ George W. Bush, Deer-In-The-Headlights of the United States
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"Businesses used to be like Christianity; if you were faithful and obedient, you could obtain bliss in the afterlife of retirement. Now it's more of a reincarnation model. If the worker learns enough in his current job, he can progress to a higher level of employment elsewhere."
- Dogbert
Personally, once I was medicated and back in my gord, I'd fire those lawyers for making me go through that for two extra years.
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Disclaimer:
"All references to vices and of the supernatural contained in this game are for entertainment purposes only. _Over_The_Edge_ does not promote satanisim, belief in magic, drug use, violence, sexual deviation, body piercing, cynical attitudes toward the government, freedom of expression, or any other action or belief not condoned by the authorities."
- `OverTheEdge'
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"One's ethics are determined by what we do when no one is looking" Nugget
Star Trek: Gamma Quadrant
Star Trek: Legacy
Read them, rate them, got money, film them....
I don't think he should die. Not if they can prove he was REALLY off his rocker when he did what he did, and not simply being your average run-of-the-mill wacko. I DO think that he's too dangerous to ever allow back in society, however. If he stops taking his medicine, the whole thing could happen over again.
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"My knowledge and experience far exceeds your own, by, oh, about a BILLION times!" -- Q
Dan White's lawyers (the twinkie fellows) argued diminished capacity and not full on insanity. Any number of variations on the theme have been used for defense since then.
quote:
Diminished capacity:1: an abnormal mental condition that renders a person unable to form the specific intent necessary for the commission of a crime (as first-degree murder) but that does not amount to insanity (called also diminished responsibility, partial insanity) (compare insanity irresistible impulse test m'naghten test substantial capacity test)
2 a: a defense based on a claim of diminished capacity
b: the doctrine that diminished capacity may negate an element of a crime
Note: If diminished capacity is shown, negating an element of the crime with which a defendant is charged, the defendant can only be convicted of a lesser offense that does not include the element.
from FindLaw
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"We're just going to have a lot of work. ... Redefining the role of the United States from enablers to keep the peace to enablers to keep the peace from peacekeepers is going to be an assignment."
~ George W. Bush, Deer-In-The-Headlights of the United States
"...giving his operation name as 'The Moon.' Because he said he had a report for the CIA director, he was brough inside the gates. An agent led Weston into a small conference room.
Very calmly, Weston launched into 50 minutes of mind-bending expository. A videotape recorded the entire session. Weston appears normal. Clean-cut. Straightening his tie. Clasping his hands in his lap. An agent sits across the table from him, diligently scribbling notes in a legal pad.
Weston: Okay, I was cloned at birth.
Agent: Okay, when were you born?
Weston: That is December 28, 1956. Okay, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy, okay, it started off with, first offi, John F. Kennedy was working for the government. They were working on the Ruby Surveillance System.
Agent: Rudy?
Weston: Ruby.
Agent: Ruby.
Weston: R-U-B-Y. The Ruby Surveillance System. Now, do you understand what I'm talking about, the Ruby Surveillance System?
Agent: No, you'll have to fill me in on that.
From there, Weston explains how a ruby is placed in a watch, and a small wheel inside the watch spins, producing a low megaghertz signal picked up by "satellite intel."
Weston: My father was traveling on the highway. He was hit by that interactive beam. His radio became interactive. He was told to recover a prototype watch that had been stolen from the United States government. And that was around 1952, was when that was.
Agent: Okay.
Weston: A woman who had been working for the defense department stole the watch and was trying to make a getaway with it. She was hitchhiking, and a truck driver picked her up, raped her and murdered her.
Agent: Mm-hmmm.
Weston: And just threw the watch and a pocketbook out in a field. But since the watch was running, the United States government always knew where that watch was.
Weston speaks with authority. The agent appears to be getting everything down
Weston: Bill Clinton is mad because John F. Kennedy has swiped his girlfriend, confiscated his interactive television system, and cut off his cocaine supply.
When the interview ended, Weston stood up to shake hands with the agent. Weston wasn't detained or arrested because he hadn't threatened the president, an official would later say.
Weston told the agent to give his best to the CIA Director, and then he walked into the world."
The Washington Post
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Star Trek Gamma Quadrant
Average Rated 6.83 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux
***
"Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!"
-Forum Member Who Shall Be Nameless. 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
Really, they should have taken him into custody there and then, because a person who lives in a fantasy world is unpredictable. You never know when he's going to lash out violently against someone who isn't inclined to listen to or agree with his fantasy.
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"My knowledge and experience far exceeds your own, by, oh, about a BILLION times!" -- Q
Now, 3 months after that visit, he threatened a lab worker that he believed "had injected him with a needle contaminated with feces and Rohypnol." He got himself a ticket to Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs, where he tried to punch a nurse in the face. He was in-voluntarily medicated, but reports showed that in the weeks after he was improving ...
Russell continues to do well. Is pleasant and cooperative with both staff and peers. Takes meds willingly. Personal hygiene good.
Remains able to discuss his delusioanl system without becoming angry. Voices no threats toward anyone. Specifically denying thoughts of harming anyone when asked. His delusional system, however, remains intact
He was discharged after seven weeks, but when he showed up for a follow-up appointment, he had gone off the meds. "When he learned follow-up treatment wasn't court-ordered, he never returned."
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Star Trek Gamma Quadrant
Average Rated 6.83 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux
***
"Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!"
-Forum Member Who Shall Be Nameless. 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
[This message has been edited by JeffKardde (edited January 24, 2001).]
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My new year's resolution is the same as last year's: 1024x768.
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"One's ethics are determined by what we do when no one is looking" Nugget
Star Trek: Gamma Quadrant
Star Trek: Legacy
Read them, rate them, got money, film them....
Um...I don't think that's legal. CIA has no legal ability to do any sort of action or interdictment of ANY sort within the national borders; that's strict the FBI's purview...& we all know how well THEY get along.
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"You just push off....and the falling sort of happens on its own." ---Dave Titus
"When you have complete confidence you are immortal," Boss wonders, "what's going to happen when you're brought back to sanity and realize what you've done?"
Maybe the cocoon of madness is more humane. "Cruelty, in this case, is an abstract," Boss says.
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Star Trek Gamma Quadrant
Average Rated 6.83 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux
***
"Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!"
-Forum Member Who Shall Be Nameless. 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
Yes, lawyers possess duties to their clients, but this is bordering on the insane... Pun intended.
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Everything in life I ever needed to know I learned from The Simpsons.
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Star Trek Gamma Quadrant
Average Rated 6.83 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux
***
"Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!"
-Forum Member Who Shall Be Nameless. 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
A federal judge ruled yesterday that prison officials can forcibly administer antipsychotic medication to Russell Eugene Weston Jr. in hopes of making him competent to stand trial for the killings of two Capitol Police officers in July 1998.
In a 58-page decision, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said he is convinced that medication is "essential to control and treat Weston's dangerousness to others," citing testimony from psychiatrists who examined Weston, as well as officials from the federal prison psychiatric facility in Butner, N.C., where Weston is held. Sullivan also said medication is necessary to make Weston mentally fit to stand trial.
"The Court has found by at least clear and convincing evidence that antipsychotic medication is medically appropriate," Sullivan wrote. "Further, considering less intrusive alternatives, antipsychotic medication is essential to prevent Weston from harming others and restore his competency to stand trial."
The case ventures into mostly uncharted legal territory and could have broader implications. The Supreme Court has not definitively addressed what conditions must be met before a mentally ill defendant may be forced to take medication solely for the purpose of being made competent for trial. The Supreme Court has upheld forced medication for certain convicted prisoners, but people awaiting trial generally have been found to have stronger liberty interests.
Sullivan's ruling does not mean that prison officials can immediately administer medication to Weston, however. Defense attorneys can appeal and seek a court order that would keep Weston off medication until further legal issues are decided. That could mean a delay of at least several months before drugs are administered. Sullivan ordered that nothing be done until at least March 19, to give the attorneys time to appeal.
Doctors have said they would most likely choose to begin Weston's treatment with injections of Haldol. Even if Weston gets the medication, doctors have testified that there is no guarantee he would get better. They cited studies showing that most people make progress.
Weston, 44, a Montana man who has a long history of paranoid schizophrenia, is accused of storming past a checkpoint at the Capitol with a revolver and fatally shooting Capitol Police Officers Jacob J. Chestnut and John M. Gibson on the afternoon of July 24, 1998. He was wounded during an exchange of gunfire and has been in custody since. Although numerous psychiatrists have concluded that he suffers from mental illness, he has yet to receive medication because of the protracted legal standoff.
Defense attorneys argued against medicating Weston, saying it is unethical to make Weston better so that he can stand trial and face a possible death sentence. Prosecutors countered that medication is a medically appropriate way to make Weston competent to stand trial and less dangerous to himself and others.
Without the medication, there is little likelihood that Weston will become competent to stand trial. With it, doctors testified, Weston's delusions could decrease, giving way to an ability to concentrate on the proceedings against him and aid his lawyers.
Federal public defender A.J. Kramer, who heads Weston's defense, said Sullivan's ruling will be appealed. He declined further comment. U.S. Attorney Wilma A. Lewis issued a statement saying prosecutors were "gratified and encouraged" by Sullivan's decision.
Sullivan first cleared the way for Weston to receive medication in a September 1999 ruling, but that decision was reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The appellate judges said Sullivan had to consider a host of other legal issues before making such a move, including whether medication would so drastically alter Weston's demeanor that it would interfere with his ability to get a fair trial.
Sullivan attempted to address those issues during a four-day hearing last July that featured medical testimony from both sides. Then he brought in his own expert. That psychiatrist, David G. Daniel, recommended strongly that Weston receive medication.
Daniel said Weston's condition has deteriorated during his time in custody, and the current arrangement -- which keeps Weston under constant watch and in seclusion -- is harming him because the isolation reinforces his mistrust and delusions.
Sullivan noted that yesterday, writing, "Seclusion is simply the warehousing of Weston in a psychotic state."
In finding that Weston remains dangerous, Sullivan noted that several professionals from Butner testified about instances of hostile behavior. Although Weston has not harmed anyone at Butner, Sullivan said medication is needed to prevent future violence.
The judge said prosecutors have a strong public interest in bringing Weston to trial because of the seriousness of the charges against him.
Responding to the defense's concerns about the ethics of medicating Weston in a potential death penalty case, Sullivan said he "rejects the assumption that once medicated Weston will be executed." He said he could take steps to protect Weston's rights at trial, such as informing jurors that Weston was under mind-altering medication, permitting experts to testify about what Weston would be like unmedicated or considering a request that Weston be taken off medication during the proceedings.
In addition, Sullivan wrote, defense attorneys could present videotapes, made after the shootings, showing extensive inter- views of Weston. Family members could testify about his behavior, too, he said, if attorneys pursue an insanity defense.
Weston has told doctors he left his parents' home in Valmeyer, Ill., and came to Washington to save the world from cannibals. He maintained that he shot the officers because they were in the way of his efforts to retrieve a ruby red satellite system from the Capitol that was able to reverse time and fight disease.
Although Sullivan's ruling is not binding beyond the Weston case, it provides guidance in other jurisdictions. Attorneys have followed the Weston case in Alexandria, where Gregory D. Murphy has been charged with capital murder in last April's knife attack on 8-year-old Kevin Shifflett. Prosecutors have argued that Murphy, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, should be forced to take medication to make him competent for trial. Murphy's attorneys have not said whether they will oppose those efforts.
Staff writer Patricia Davis contributed to this report.
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Star Trek Gamma Quadrant
Average Rated 6.27 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with four eps posted)
***
"Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!"
-Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
****
"The candidate who slimed John McCain in the primaries and smeared Al Gore in the general election is now the president who pledges to elevate the nation's tone and bring civility to our discorse. Kind of like Michael Corleone brought peace to the mob by killing the heads of the other four families."
--Paul Begala, Is Our Children Learning?