Mental health and the court system

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – According to MentalHealth.gov, only 3 to 5 percent of violent acts are committed by people with serious mental illness.

But when those crimes are committed law enforcement steps in.

“If they’re charged with a felony, and there is a reasonable belief that someone has a mental illness, it affects their ability to consult with us; we file a motion for a mental evaluation with the court. Typically, the court will simply go ahead and sign an order based on our belief that our client isn’t capable of speaking with us or conferring with us to assess the defense or prepare their defense,” said Donna Smith.

That evaluation takes time.

“In the past, we had one forensic psychiatrist in the state; He had covered eighty-two counties. It took years to get people to mental evaluations. And in the meantime, they were incarcerated because nobody knows if they’re a danger to themselves or others. Recently, with the state hiring some more forensic psychiatrist, their docket is moving faster, they’re getting to the evaluations within a matter of months now,” said Smith.

Smith said after the defendant has that evaluation, they are declared either competent or incompetent to stand trial.

If they are incompetent, then they are committed to the state mental hospital to restore them to competency but sometimes that never happens.

“If at the end of three to four mental evaluations defendant is still considered incompetent to stand trial, the circuit court is then going to order the DA to dismiss the charges and bring that defendant into Chancery court to be committed the commitments for 90 days. It’s not much help,” said Smith.

But Smith said charges don’t always have to be the first step for law enforcement.

“I actually like to see mental evaluations before they charge someone, and there is a provision in the law for that. If they get those mental evals, and they realize someone is mentally ill, that they should be placed in a community’s mental health facility,” said Smith.

Smith said a person already diagnosed with mental illness normally goes through the same procedure as someone who doesn’t have a prior diagnosis.