Opinion ID: 3028340
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Conviction and Incarceration

Text: Joe Nara’s wife, DeLorean Churby, left him. Over the next few weeks, Nara grew despondent and visited the Fayette Community Mental Health Center on an outpatient “crisis” basis. Nara attempted suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping tablets and remained unconscious for two days in the hospital. He was then involuntarily committed to the Connellsville State General Hospital and treated with anti-depressants and an antipsychotic tranquilizer. After four days at Connellsville, Nara was released. Soon thereafter, Nara discovered love letters between Churby and Pennsylvania State Trooper Leonard Maharowski. Nara argued with his wife over the telephone, and she taunted him with details of her affair. Enraged, Nara drove to confront her at her mother’s trailer. When he arrived and knocked on the trailer’s door, Churby’s mother aimed a shotgun in his face and told him to leave. Infuriated, Nara went to his car and got his pistol. He returned to the house, shot the door’s lock and burst in. Again, Churby’s mother aimed the shotgun at him, and his wife repeatedly struck him with a telephone. Amid the struggle, Nara shot and killed both women. Nara fled to North Carolina. Within a day, however, he made several calls to the Pennsylvania State Police and to his father, and admitted he killed the Churbys. He turned himself in 3 and was returned to Pennsylvania to face two charges of firstdegree murder. He was then confined at the Fayette County prison. Nara’s family retained attorney Charles Gentile as counsel. His family grew fearful that he would harm himself in prison, and John Walton of the Fayette County Mental Health Center advised Gentile that Nara was in need of immediate evaluation and help. Gentile filed a petition under the Pennsylvania Mental Health Act, 50 PA. STAT. ANN. § 44074411, requesting that the Fayette County Court of Common Pleas transfer Nara to Mayview State Hospital for psychiatric evaluation and commitment because he was a risk of harm to himself or others. Gentile did not seek an evaluation to establish Nara’s competency to stand trial or to assess his sanity at the time of the killings. Fayette County Common Pleas Judge Richard Cicchetti granted Gentile’s motion and transferred Nara to Mayview. At Mayview, Duncan Campbell, M.D., decided that Nara should be observed, but did not place him on any routine medication. Later that day, staff psychologist James T. Nelson and an associate, David Bert, evaluated Nara more closely. They recommended suicide precautions and treatment for depression. Just four days later, staff psychologist Lilian Meyers, Ph.D., reported that Nara was neither mentally ill nor in need of treatment. She did not comment on Nara’s competency to stand trial or his sanity at the time of the killings. However, she noted the “seriousness” of the accusations against him and allegations that he planned to escape, and recommended Nara be transferred 4 back to the county prison. He was transferred back to the prison, where he remained untreated for the next four months. On June 20, 1984, Nara appeared before Fayette County Court of Common Pleas Judge William J. Franks and pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in the first degree. During an exhaustive 85-minute colloquy, Nara admitted he “really did intentionally kill” his wife, denied having been treated for any mental or emotional illnesses, and repeatedly affirmed his understanding of the proceedings. On July 13, 1984, Judge Franks sentenced Nara to two concurrent life sentences. Nara did not file a direct appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court. The court transferred Nara to the State Correctional Institution at Pittsburgh (SCIP). SCIP officials immediately placed Nara at the facility’s medical unit “for psychiatric reasons,” placed a leg restraint on him to reduce the risk of suicide, and treated him with anti-depressants and anti-psychotic medications. An attending physician noted Nara had “intense suicidal ideation of severe proportions,” and Nara told him he attempted to hang himself at the county prison following his arrest. Within three weeks, SCIP officials initiated involuntary commitment proceedings. On September 10, 1984 – eighty-two days after the plea colloquy – Nara was committed to Farview State Hospital as a suicide risk. Nara spent 90 days at Farview, and then returned to SCIP’s medical facility. On February 19, 1985, Nara again attempted suicide and was recommitted to Farview. He remained there for about a year and a half, and was then returned to prison. 5