Reporter-News Archives

Thursday, July 9, 1998

Robbery charge dismissed because man diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia didn't take medication

By JOEL HARDI

Staff Writer

A robbery charge against a 21-year-old Abilene man was dismissed Tuesday after jurors found him incompetent to stand trial and unlikely to regain competency in the foreseeable future.

Chris Jackson, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in May 1997, apparently had not taken his medication when he allegedly punched, kicked and robbed a woman of $25 while shouting "white girl in my 'hood," prosecutor Tamara Osborne said.

Jackson's sister, speaking from Houston, said her brother has not been given his medicine or proper medical attention during his four-month stay in the Taylor County Jail.

Jackson will remain in jail until the court determines the length of his committal to a mental hospital and whether that committal will be civil or criminal.

Defense attorney Earnest Scott presented the findings of two physicians, both of whom concluded Jackson was paranoid, delusional and a danger to himself and others. Osborne did not contest those findings.

Dr. Duane Miller, charged by the state to examine Jackson, wrote he admitted assaulting the woman in a June 4 consultation.

"He stated that he had been smoking weed and his perception at the time was that he heard a scratching sound like a carburetor and somehow was concerned about this sound," Miller wrote. "He gave this as rationale for the assault."

Miller concluded Jackson was not sane at the time of the alleged offense and was not mentally competent to stand trial. He and Jackson's family physician, Dr. Joseph Crumbliss, wrote Jackson should be hospitalized in a mental institution and given proper treatment.

Jackson's sister, Ruby Jackson, complained her brother was not receiving proper care in the county jail.

"I'm troubled with the fact they let him sit there without getting him the medical attention he needs," she said. "We know what happens when he's off his medication."

Osborne said Jackson refused his medicine and caused problems while in jail. Sheriff Jack Dieken declined to comment on specific issues of Jackson's stay, saying only that "he was medically taken care of."

Dieken said a mentally ill inmate who is deemed a risk to himself or others is placed in isolation and observed every 15 minutes.

He said Jackson was offered counseling through Abilene Regional Mental Health-Mental Retardation Center but refused it.

Ruby Jackson said her brother is mentally ill and needs special attention and added he is reluctant to take his medicine when his condition is already stable.

Capt. Kathy Lewis at the county jail said guards have no special procedures for dealing with people behaving erratically or experiencing hallucinations. She expressed surprise when told Jackson would remain in jail until his committal hearing, which Osborne estimated would take place in six to eight weeks.

"He belongs in a mental institution, and they're going to leave him here for six more weeks?" Lewis said.

Osborne did not challenge the defense's contention that Jackson was incompetent to stand trial. To be found incompetent, the law requires a defendant be unable to comprehend the proceedings against him or to consult with his attorney with a reasonable degree of rational understanding.

Although the charge was dismissed, Jackson will now be committed to a mental institution for as much as 18 months, Osborne said.

"It is an out for them to go on a different path, and we're looking to do everything we can do on that other path," she said, adding the state will now push for a criminal, rather than civil, committal.

Jackson received probation for a theft conviction in 1995.

Osborne said it is somewhat uncommon for charges to be dismissed because a defendant is found mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Joel Hardi can be reached at 676-6738.