Excerpt from "Maximum Exposure - 42 Crimes from Probation"

Voices that command him

 

Police discovered that the defendant had listed his sex offender registration address as being a battered women/domestic violence shelter which does not allow men to reside at the facility.  Further investigation revealed that the defendant had never been seen by staff and the resident of the address, the defendant’s sister, denied that the defendant had ever lived there.  The defendant was contacted via his cell phone and advised to report to the police department to update his registration address.  The defendant reported to the police department and was taken into custody. 

 The defendant stated he was innocent of the offense.  The defendant stated, “I was staying with my sister at the shelter.  I moved because it was a woman’s shelter and I found out I wasn’t supposed to be there.  I didn’t update my address yet.  It had only been a couple of days since I had moved when the police called me.  It was a misunderstanding.”

The defendant reported he is currently in good physical and “shaky” mental health.  The defendant reported being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.  He provided a copy of a current prescription for an anti-psychotic medication.  The defendant had been seeing a psychiatrist 1-2 times per month until his release from prison.  Since that time, his treatment has been sporadic, but he has remained on his medication.  The defendant stated that he hears voices that command him to “watch other people and sometimes to get away from them.”  He stated that the voices do not tell him to hurt other people, unless he feels they are going to hurt him first.

The evaluation is as follows: appearing to be statutorily ineligible for probation absent unusual circumstances, this man is before the Court for sentencing after pleading no contest to failing to register as a sex offender.  He does not admit guilt in this matter.  During the pre-sentence interview, the defendant was cooperative, although this deputy feels the defendant was not entirely honest and forthcoming with all of the given answers, due to conflicts with information provided in the previous report.  This represents the defendant’s fourth felony conviction.  The defendant is struggling with mental illness that appears to be of increasing severity.  His past use of illegal drugs was self-admitted to assist the defendant in dealing with the voices he hears.  The defendant appears to be getting assistance for this condition through parole, which is necessary for him to stand a chance of successfully completing a grant of probation.  Without continuing to address this need, the defendant’s prognosis is poor.  The negotiated disposition of five years probation appears appropriate.

 

Mental illness drives his daily life with the voices in his head telling him what to do.  If he actually is taking his medication, I can only imagine what he’d be like if he wasn’t on them.  But he still knows right from wrong and that the address he tried to register under was a sham.  He was distrustful and suspicious during the interview, part of what I suspect drove him to do what he did.  That the voices told him that “they” are out to get you and I’m part of the ubiquitous “they” as being an agent of the government.  So if he registers as required, “they” will know where to find him…

P. O. Doe




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