Simple Hatefulness

Posted on October 22, 2005 in Justice Stigma Violence

The coming weeks should be interesting as California officials decide how to handle the case of Lashuan Harris. I am sanguine that the DA will see sense here and go easy on Harris by, at very least, not seeking the death penalty.

A Florida prosecutor and jury were not so thoughtful when it came to a case of a man provoked to kill two men by a talking bull:

A jury recommended a death sentence Friday for a man who testified he fatally shot a retired police sergeant because he believed the University of Alabama “A” on the victim’s ball cap signified he was the Antichrist.

The same jury Thursday rejected a defense argument that Ryan Thomas Green, who has a history of mental illness, was insane when he killed James Hallman, 59, while he was taking a walk….

Green testified that he had set out to take his own life but that a talking bull, religious signs, colors and symbols influenced him to shoot Hallman and housepainter Christopher Phipps, who must use a wheelchair.

“God put me there in that moment,” Green told jurors. Hallman “thought he was the Antichrist, just like I believed I was the devil.”

What makes this case particularly provoking is the fact that following his arrest, Green’s trial was delayed for more than a year because he was mentally incompetent. The State, in its wisdom, waited for his meds to kick in and then tried him as if he’d been mentally competent at the time of the attacks.

In other words, Green committed the attacks while in a delusional state. Immediately afterward, Florida held off his trial because he remained in this state. When his meds took effect, they put him on trial, arbitrarily declaring that when he was sane he could be held accountable for actions which took place when he was insane.

“He hid the gun,” said the prosecutor. “This shows that he knew he’d done wrong.” I find this statement presumptive and perhaps delusional as well: The prosecutor thinks he can read a mentally incompetent’s mind?

When I am in an episode, I don’t understand half of what I did. A friend of mine handed me an hourglass when I went to visit her and told me that it was very important that I keep it safe for her. (I think she filched it from a word game.) She does not remember giving it to me.

Every one of us who suffers from bipolar disorder knows the silliness of our episodes. And we blank out. Could Green have defended himself even when medicated for actions he committed when he was in a delusional state. He might not even be able to recall what happened.

I can hear the prosecutor cross-examining him. “You don’t remember? I can’t believe that….” The last remarks are stricken from the record, but the jury has heard them.

Perhaps the fairest thing to have done would have been to take Green off his meds and then let the prosecutor attempt to cross-examine him.

The only reason for pressing this trial that I can see is simple hatefulness. The relatives wanted Green dead at any price, including civility and compassion. Florida fails when it comes to protecting the mentally ill. It failed Phipps and Hallman by not treating Green’s illness. It failed Ryan Thomas Green in ways that I do not know for certain, but the details probably resemble the case of Lashuan Harris. I hope that my own state does not let justice be driven by the merciless, uncomprehending desire for vengeance that drives the Green case.

Maybe there is hope for Green: the circumstances of his case could lead to an appeal leading to the Supreme Court.

That might be just what the court-bound killers need to learn that mental illness is a serious problem and the solution is decent care, not burying the mistakes of a dilapidated system.