Weston Can Be Treated For Trial, Judge Decides
By Bill Miller
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 7, 2001; Page A01 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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"Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!"
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