Evening star., 1953-01-20
Insanity Pleas
To Get Closer
Court Study
Judge Laws Refuses
To Drop Two Cases
Without Full Report
By Miriom Ottenberq


Closer study by judges before
agreeing to drop criminal
charges against prisoners claim
ing insanity was indicated today
after Chief Judge Bolitha j.
Laws refused to dismiss two
such cases without more in
formation.
The chief judge of U. S. Dis
trict Court for the District of
Columbia, in postponing action
yesterday on the two cases,
called attention to an article in
last Sundays Star.
The article outlined the rou-
tine by which accused persons
found mentally unfit to face
trial. committed to st. Eliza
beths Hospital for treatment
and later found of sound mind.
are escaping trial by having the
charges dismissed.
Difference Cited.
Judge Laws emphasized in
court that the legal test of
whether a man is mentally COM
petent to stand trial is different
from the test of whether he is
legally responsible for a crime
he may have committed.
The Government had moved
for the diSmiSSalS on the ground
that the prosecutor had been in
formed by DR.. Joseph Gilbert,
the District alienist, and his as
sistant, DR.. Omino Perretti, that
the men had been of unsound
mind at the time the crimes
were committed.
Judge Laws said he wanted
specific information on whether
the men could distinguish be-
tween right and wrong and could
embrace the right and resist the
wrong at the time of the crimes.
The two defendants whose
cases were postponed by Judge
Laws until January 26 were
James L. Reid, charged with
housebreaking, and Kenneth
Gunther, charged with rape.
Gunther had been in st. Eliza
beths Hospital about eight
months and Reid had been there
seven months when both were
pronounced ready to stand trial.
Judges Aware of Problem.
Several judges. in addition to
Judge Laws, expressed concern
about the procedure described by
The Star. They all made it clear
they had been aware of the prob
lem for some time.
THE law doesn't want to bring
to trial persons mentally unfit
to stand trial. That wouldn't be
humane" one Judge declared.
But we don't want the human
ity of the law to be abused"
The same judge, who did not
want to be quoted by name.
added:
How can all these defendants
recover so quickly? If they were
in the hospital for six or seven
years and then were declared of
sound mind that would be diff
ferent. But many of them are
coming out in three or four
months and as soon as they are
found to be Of sound mind, they
get off entirely by claiming in
sanity at the time the crime
was committed. It's just a mat
ter of going through the hopper"
More Care Urged.
Several of the judges said more
care should be exercised first in
declaring the man mentally in
competent to stand trial and
then secondly. in declaring him
recovered and fit for trial.
It was pointed out that the
original mental examination is
made by Drs. Gilbert and Per-
retti and the examination on
which the man is released for
trial is made at st. Elizabeths
Hospital.
Perhaps st. Elizabeths Hos
pital should make the original
determination of whether a man
Is fit to stand trial in question:
able cases." one judge suggested.
"If the responsibility was CEN
tered on one agency instead of
two the psychiatrist would be
more cautious in view of the
sequel"
Manipulate Law.
Another judge said men ac-
cused of crime should not be
allowed to "plag fast and loose
with the law"
He added that the basic prob
lem was the danger of these per-
sons being released to the COM
munity.
Even if the men are kept at
st. Elizabeths for some time
before being pronounced fit for
trial. he went on, their cases are
difficult to try because witnesses
have gone away in the interim
and those still available have
only a dim recollection of the
events surrounding the crime.
He stressed that justice is best
served by speedy trial an6 that
is lacking when months of