Accused plans plea of insanity in murder.Byline: LARRY BACON The Register-Guard CORRECTION (ran 1/04/03): A headline on page 1D of Friday's newspaper, regarding the pending Coos County Coos County is the name of two counties in the United States:
COQUILLE co·quille n. A scallop-shaped dish or a scallop shell in which various seafood dishes are browned and served. [French, from Latin conch - An attorney for Raymond Allen Perkins, the Bandon teen-ager who faces aggravated ag·gra·vate tr.v. ag·gra·vat·ed, ag·gra·vat·ing, ag·gra·vates 1. To make worse or more troublesome. 2. To rouse to exasperation or anger; provoke. See Synonyms at annoy. murder charges in connection with the killing of a 52-year-old woman last April, said he intends to use an insanity defense A defense asserted by an accused in a criminal prosecution to avoid liability for the commission of a crime because, at the time of the crime, the person did not appreciate the nature or quality or wrongfulness of the acts. The insanity defense is used by criminal defendants. for Perkins, who is scheduled for trial June 9. "I don't see it as a huge surprise based on the evidence that came out at the waiver hearing," said Gregory Hazarabedian, Perkins' court-appointed attorney. Hazarabedian was referring to a Juvenile Court juvenile court Special court handling problems of delinquent, neglected, or abused children. Two types of cases are processed by a juvenile court: civil matters, often concerning care of an abandoned or impoverished child, and criminal matters, arising from antisocial hearing last September in which Judge Richard Barron Richard Barron (Lama Chökyi Nyima) is a Canadian-born translator who specializes in the writings of Longchenpa. He has served as an interpreter for many lamas from all from all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, including his first teacher, Kalu Rinpoche. determined that Perkins, now 15, will be tried as an adult rather than a juvenile even though he was 14 at the time of the crime. During the hearing, Hazarabedian argued that Perkins lacked the emotional maturity to understand the seriousness of what he did. Testimony from expert witnesses indicated that Perkins had an IQ in the mid-80s and the emotional maturity of a 10-year-old. The notice filed by Hazarabedian on Dec. 31 opens the door for a jury to reach a "guilty-except-for-insanity" verdict, which would result in Perkins likely spending most of his confinement at an Oregon State Hospital Oregon State Hospital (OSH) in Salem, Oregon, United States, is the primary state-run psychiatric hospital in the state of Oregon since Dammasch State Hospital closed in 1995. psychiatric ward rather than in prison. Under such a sentence, a state-appointed Psychiatric Security Review Board would determine how long confinement might be. The jury still has the option of rejecting the guilty-except-for-insanity defense and finding Perkins simply innocent or guilty. The youth is accused of raping and murdering Judith Elman, a Bandon psychologist, who was jogging on a beach near Perkins' home at the time of the attack. Perkins has pleaded innocent to six counts of aggravated murder (based on various theories as to how the crime was committed) as well as charges of first-degree rape and unlawful sexual penetration sexual penetration Sexology Sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, or any other intrusion, however slight, of any part of a person's body or of any object into the genital or anal openings of the victim's, defendant's, or any other person's . Oregon law allows a verdict of guilty-except-for-insanity if the defense can prove a defendant lacks the capacity to understand the "criminality" of his conduct because of mental disease or defect. Before an inmate's release, the board would review progress made in treatment and the danger that person poses to the community. An person convicted of aggravated murder who is released from the Oregon State Hospital would be under lifetime supervision and would have to meet numerous conditions imposed at the time of release, Hazarabedian said. If Perkins were found guilty but the jury rejected the insanity defense, he would receive an automatic sentence of life imprisonment Imprisonment See also Isolation. Alcatraz Island former federal maximum security penitentiary, near San Francisco; “escapeproof.” [Am. Hist.: Flexner, 218] Altmark, the German prison ship in World War II. [Br. Hist. with a minimum 30-year sentence. Because of his age, the law would not allow a death sentence for Perkins. Paul Frasier, Coos County's deputy district attorney, said the state will oppose a guilty-except-for-insanity verdict for Perkins. "When you file that notice, what you're trying to do is get the state hospital rather than prison for your client," Frasier said. Filing of the notice of intent to use the insanity defense does not preclude use of other defense strategies, Hazarabedian said, adding that while it's possible he would be seeking a guilty-except-for-insanity verdict, his defense strategy has not yet been firmed up. How he will proceed depends on how the court rules on pre-trial motions for suppression of certain evidence and comments made by Perkins to authorities, he said. Those motions will be argued in hearings set for Feb. 19 and 20. "We're keeping options open rather than eliminating them at this point," the attorney said. The insanity defense filing does give the prosecution the right to hire experts to perform another psychiatric evaluation psychiatric evaluation The assessment of a person's mental, social, psychologic functionality. See DSM-IV-table multiaxial assessment, Personality testing, Psychiatric history, Psychiatric interview. of Perkins, and Frasier said he will exercise that right. If Perkins were found guilty except for insanity, Frasier said the youth would likely remain at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility is a correctional facility in Woodburn, Oregon. MacLaren incarcerates males from ages 13 to 25 who have committed crimes ranging from drug possession to shop lifting to murder. until age 18 before being transferred to the Oregon State Hospital, which has no beds for juvenile offenders. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion