Evening star., 1953-01-18
Many Escaping
Trial byAbuse
Of 0fLunacyA
Court Moves to Curb
Procedure Used to
Free Defendants
By Miriom Ottenbero

BY Miriom Gutenberg
Men charged with robbery,
housebreaking and rape are
walking out of District Jail as
free men without going to trial.
They do it by using a law de-
signed to protect the mentally
i'll.
Court circles say it is not the
law itself but its misuse that is
enabling these men to escape
trial.
Defendants used to go to rial,
plead not guilty on the ground
they were insane at the time
the crime was committed and
fight it out in court.
Today. they don't wait for the
trial. Defense attorneys claim
their clients are mentally unfit
to stand trial. If the accused is
found of unsound mind by the
psychiatrists appointed by the
courts to examine him and the
court itself agrees that he can-
not face trial, he is hospitalized
until the court is informed Of
his recovery.
Most Cases Dropped.
Then, the accused is supposed
to go to trial. But most of the
assistant United States attor-
neys here are dropping the cases
at that point. Only a few come
to trial.
In the first half of 1852, a
Star survey shows % prisoners
were found mentally incompe-
tent to stand trial. Of the %.
only two have ever gone to trial
and both we're found not guilty
one solely on the ground Of
insanity at the time of the crime.
Eight of the others, pro-
nounced ready to stand trial,
were freed when the charges
against them were dropped. The
charges ranged from dope ped
ding to armed robbery.
Routine Freely Admitted.
A defense attorney who has
been particularly active in get
ting his clients out of trial by
way of the mental illness route
freely admitted this routine:
At the formal hearing, solely
to determine the defendants
mental fitness to stand trial, the
defense attorney comes up with
question. Would the Govern
ment psychiatrist say the de-
fendant's mental illness has
been of some years duration?
Usually, the prosecutor doesn't
object to the question and if he
does. the judge overrules the OBJ
lection and let's the teStifying
psychiatriSt answer. The judge
takes the position that the mans
mental history is relevant to his
mental condition at this time.
The record shows that the
psychlatristS are frequently tes-
tlfying-from what the Defend
ant tells them and their study
of his condition-that the mans
mental disorder predates the
crime
Psychiatrists on Record.
When the time comes later for
the man to go to trial. the Gov
ernment's own psychiatriSts are
on record as saying the Defend
ant was of unsound mind at the
time the crime was committed.
The defense attorney hastens
to point out that testimony to
the prosecutor preparing for
trial. The defense attorney also
volunteers that the psychiatrists
are willing to make the same
statement if the case goes to
trial.
The prosecutor may check
with the psychiatrists and con-
: firm that report. Then he drops
the case. His reasoning: If the
Government psychiatrists are
going to testify that the man
was of unSound man at the time
the crime was committed, the
jury will acquit him.
The defense attorney who con-
firmed this routine also ex-
planned that defense counsel al
ways try to get the vital ques-
ton into the record at the time
of the hearing on mental fitness
to stand trial for fear that when
St. Elizabeths Hospital finds the
man is Of sound mind, the psy-
chiatrists who made the earlier
examination might alter their
opinion.
Dropping of Cases Opposed.
Legal authorities said the cases
should not be dropped for this
reason
The legal test of responsibility
for a crime is completely diff
ferent from the legal test of
whether man is mentally fit to
stand trial. Further. a man
could be suffering from a mental
disorder at the time of the crime
and still be held legally respon-
Continued on Page AS, Col. 2.)