Fresno Criminal Lawyer Blog

Its hard to imagine a more necessary element in the Fresno County judicial system than a court to help process cases for mentally ill offenders. Fresno's behavioral health court serves an important function in that the court deals with mentally ill criminal defendants who would often would not receive the services they need to fundamentally change their lives. It is all too common situation that Fresno criminal defense lawyers face- client's who are charged with criminal offenses, in large part, due to their mental infirmities. It is a tough situation. As a criminal attorney in Fresno, I often have clients who are not to the point that they mentally incompetent to stand trial, however, they have mental illnesses that contributed to the commission of the crime.

Instead of just shuffling people off to jail and the California Penal system, Fresno's behavioral health court aims at placing criminal defendants with mental health problems in drug programs and in other treatment programs to help them get a handle on the root cause of their issues. However, in this uncertain economic time, Fresno County hopes to slash costs by eliminating the court. This, however, will, in the long run, only result in increased costs for housing criminal defendants with mental illnesses in local jails and California prisons. The net effect will be that people who would not otherwise reoffend if they received the needed treatment, will come back time and time again on new charges. This will also result in more people becoming the victims of mentally ill offenders in the future.

According to a recent study conducted at the behest of California's high court, more than half of the offenders incarcerated are afflicted with some form of mental illness. Fresno's behavioral health court tackles this problem head on to give offenders the chance they need not to reoffend, but to re-establish their lives as productive citizens. This same report, generated at the behest of the California Supreme Court, states that mental health courts can help curb future offenses by mentally ill offenders. As outlined by the study, the reduction in future offenses may be as high as 45 percent.

As a Fresno criminal attorney, in my private practice I often deal with clients' who are suffering from mental illness. It is a shame that Fresno County is placing is being fiscally shortsighted. In the final analysis, the end of this court will only mean higher future costs for incarceration and prosecution of future crimes.

On Thursday, a Fresno County Superior Court Judge suspended proceedings in the murder case of a group home manager. The allegation in the case is that Jerry White, a resident of a group home located near Palm and Shields in Fresno, California, used a knife to murder the group home manager running the facility approximately three years ago. At this time, this murder was a highly publicized and shocking occurrence.

Mr. White has had several court hearings, and on Thursday, his lawyer requested that the court appoint two independent doctors to examine Mr. White to find out if he is able to stand trial. The court followed Mr. White's attorney's request and appointed the doctors who will visit Mr. White and conduct an examination to determine if he is competent to stand trial in this matter.

The rules governing competency can be found in Penal Code sections 1368 et seq. The court's appoint doctors to determine if a defendant understands the nature of the proceedings that are being conducted. Part of this examination is to make sure the defendant understands his role, the role of his attorney, the role of the prosecutor and judge, and the role of the jury. Even though a person may have mental disabilities, they can still be found to be mentally competent. Believe it or not, a person is even entitled to a jury trial on the issue of competency. So a person can have a jury trial just to determine if they understand what's going on in order to have the first trial.

It is important to understand that a defendant can only be confined a reasonable period of time to restore them to competency. The due process clause of the United States Constitution prohibits a longer period of confinement. (Jackson v. Indiana (1972) 406 U.S. 715.) In addition, California limits the maximum confinement to establish competency to three years or less. (Penal Code section 1370(c)(1). However, a person confined to a State mental hospital to restore competency does get credit for any amount of time they actually serve, even if they received outpatient treatment. (Penal Code § 1375.5.) An important point to remember, however, is that a defendant who is committed does not receive credit for good-time credits. (People v. Waterman (1986) 42 Cal.3d 565.)

If you have a relative or loved one who is facing charges and there is a question about his or her mental competency, the best thing you can do is hire a qualified and experienced Fresno Criminal Attorney to defend their case and make sure their rights are preserved.