New Mental Health Court in Harris County

The Houston Chronicle reports that Harris County judges have voted to get in line with the growing number of mental health courts nationwide ("Harris Judges Vote for Felony Mental Health Court," January 8, 2009).

According to the Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project, "Mental health courts (MHCs) are specialized dockets that link defendants with mental illnesses to court-supervised, community-based treatment in lieu of traditional case processing." In The Essential Elements of a Mental Health Court, the authors note that "Mental health courts are a recent and rapidly expanding phenomenon. In the late 1990s only a few such courts were accepting cases. Since then, more than 150 others have been established, and dozens more are being planned." Other mental health courts in Texas have been established in Smith, Bexar, El Paso, Tarrant, and Dallas Counties.

Here's the full article:

Harris County's criminal district judges voted Wednesday to designate a full-time felony mental health court, which will likely focus on defendants diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe depression.

State District Judge Jan Krocker will preside over the court, the first of its kind in Harris County. A start date has not been determined. Funding is still needed, she said. She did not give an estimate, saying details must still be finalized.

About 30 percent of the defendants who come through Harris County's criminal courts have a mental illness, Krocker said. She expects many of those defendants also will need treatment for substance abuse.

"It is a tragedy both for society and the defendant when mentally ill offenders go through the system without treatment," Krocker said Wednesday. "The mental health court can rewrite some very sad stories so there are great endings."

Mental Health Association of Greater Houston President and CEO Betsy Schwartz lauded the move, noting that mental health courts have been in place for years in other parts of the country and have proved successful.

She said she hopes that the court will prevent some offenders from "recycling" through the system.

"Individuals with serious mental illness can be matched with case management and services in the mental health court and the judge will know them as a person, have a relationship with them," Schwartz said.

The new court might also help some veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder when they return to Houston from Iraq, Krocker said.

"We need to be prepared for the possibility that (some) may be mentally ill and homeless and may end up in the criminal justice system," Krocker said.

Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos, who recently took office, applauded the judges' decision. Lykos emphasized mental health treatment as a theme in her election campaign last year.

"I think this is a major initiative," Lykos said Wednesday. "The criminal justice system is the last institution available to deal with these individuals. It's the institution of last resort. This is a moral issue. It's a dollars and cents issue."

Krocker plans for mentally ill defendants to be assigned to her court immediately after they are charged with a criminal offense if they have previously been diagnosed with a mental illness in the criminal justice system through the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County.

Krocker also proposed that mentally ill defendants could be transferred to her court from another felony court if the judge, prosecutor and defense attorney involved in the case agree.

More than 7,700 defendants received psychotropic medications in Harris County in 2007, Krocker said. The Harris County Jail is the county's largest psychiatric hospital.

The court designation is one step in helping the mentally ill, Schwartz said, adding that other components must be in place.

"It can only be as good as the community support services that are available," Schwartz said.
***
Earlier posts on mental health courts are available here and here. More information is available from the Consensus Project.

Candidates for Harris County District Attorney Address Issue of Mental Illness

On November 4, voters in Harris County will elect a new district attorney. In an article that appeared in the Houston Chronicle ("Race for DA puts justice system on trial," October 12, 2008), candidates C.O. Bradford and Pat Lykos expressed interest in reform, with a particular emphasis on addressing the needs of inmates with mental illness. Here are excerpts:

"Harris County voters looking for a district attorney candidate with a 'tough on crime' theme are out of luck this fall.

The situation is a startling departure from the law-and-order tone set for the last 30 years by Republican former district attorneys John B. Holmes Jr. and Chuck Rosenthal.

But Rosenthal resigned in disgrace early this year, opening the door for Democratic candidate C.O. Bradford and Republican candidate Pat Lykos, former police officers who have never prosecuted a criminal case, to put the local justice system on trial instead.

Bradford, the former Houston police chief, and Lykos, a former felony court judge, make sure to mention, in a county known nationwide for its frequent use of the death penalty, that the worst criminal offenders should be prosecuted to the hilt. But, despite substantive differences between the contenders, they both put greater emphasis on reforming the system so that many minor offenders get drug or mental illness treatment rather than a cell in the already crowded jail.

'Simply locking everybody up for everything isn't going to get us out of the process we are in now,' Bradford said. 'Our taxes are high, the jails are full and crime continues to go up. So let's exercise good stewardship of fiscal resources, reduce crime and understand that most people who commit offenses are salvageable, they can be rehabilitated, but they must be given realistic opportunities to reintegrate back into our society.

'That's not occurring and there are a number of reasons for that ... There are a lot of people who make a lot of money, billions of dollars, designing, building, constructing (prisons) and there's not a concern about whether you are guilty or innocent. They get paid to keep a warm body there. That's not justice.'

Lykos called this 'a critical period in our county. We have a tarnished law enforcement system. It is bad for justice, it is bad for public safety and it's bad for business. I pledge to you to restore public trust and confidence in the district attorney's office.'" ...

The article reports that "As chief, Bradford upgraded the domestic violence unit and established a crisis intervention team for encounters with mentally ill suspects. Coincidentally Lykos, who would be the county's first female DA, aimed many of her creative sentencing approaches at healing family strife and getting treatment for mentally ill inmates."

Read the full article.

Costs of Mental Health Care Overwhelm Harris County Jail

Today's Houston Chronicle features the following article about the revolving door of severely mentally ill homeless offenders in the Harris County Jail ("Finding escape behind bars," July 21, 2008). Many of these inmates have been arrested on dozens of occasions; many have substance abuse disorders in addition to mental disorders.

As the number of these chronic inmates continues to increase, the cost of both incarceration and treatment has soared to $87 million annually. While some organizations have launched new programs aimed at providing support for severely mentally ill homeless people immediately upon their release from jail, the demand for services still far outpaces the limited resources available.

Here's the article in full:

"At the Harris County Jail, deputies and health care workers have a name for them — frequent fliers.
They are mentally ill homeless people who return to jail so often, sometimes on minor charges, that they become familiar to the psychiatric staff.

During a recent survey, county officials found that more than 400 of the jail's 11,000 inmates were homeless and suffered from a major mental illness: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or a chronic depressive-psychotic disorder. They were among 1,900 inmates on psychotropic medications.

When the mentally ill homeless leave jail — and leave behind its mental health care staff — many stop taking medication and end up on the street again. Treatment resumes only when they commit a crime and return to jail or their dementia overwhelms them and they are brought to an emergency psychiatric center.

Treating the mentally ill as they cycle through jail and emergency psychiatric wards is expensive. A county budget analyst estimates that it costs $80,000 a year, per person.

At the jail, spending on mental health care has risen to $24 million annually, and the combined cost of incarcerating and treating the mentally ill is $87 million annually.

'The jails have become the psychiatric hospitals of the United States,' said Clarissa Stephens, an assistant director of the county's budget and management services office who has been studying the jail's mental health costs.

The Commissioners Court is so concerned about the rising costs that it has retained a consultant — psychiatrist Avrim Fishkind — to study whether providing outpatient services and supervised housing would reduce the numbers of mentally ill revolving through the jail.

'The costs of reincarcerating and court costs far outweigh what the costs would be if you housed, clothed and supervised the mentally ill,' Fishkind said.

A June survey of more than 11,000 inmates revealed:

•About one-quarter suffer from mental illness or once suffered from it.
•Of those on medication, 978 suffered from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or a severe depressive-psychotic disorder.
•Of the 978 with a major mental health disorder, 423 likely were homeless.
•Of the 423 homeless with a major mental health disorder, 97 percent had been arrested at least once before during their lifetimes; 43 percent had a prior arrest during the last 10 years.

On the day of the survey, the jail's mentally ill homeless inmates included:

•A 39-year-old woman booked 45 times since 2001.
•A man, 26, booked 30 times since 1999.
•A man, 52, booked 33 times since 1992.
•A man, 25, booked 20 times since 2001.

Some of the mentally ill — many of whom also are substance abusers — keep committing crimes and getting rearrested, in part, because few are properly supervised when they are released, said David Buck, a Baylor College of Medicine associate professor and president of Healthcare for the Homeless-Houston.

Houston isn't alone in facing this issue. After many mental hospitals were closed in the 1970s and 1980s, countless patients were released in cities that were ill-equipped to house those who needed such care.

'What happens here happens in many communities. We are criminalizing mental illness,' said Betsy Schwartz, president of Mental Health of America of Greater Houston, a nonprofit that promotes effective treatment for the mentally ill.

Left to find her own way

Patricia George, 34, said her thinking always becomes clearer when she returns to jail and gets back on medication.

In the past 20 years, George, who says she is bipolar and schizophrenic, has been charged with 12 felonies and 31 misdemeanors, with most of the bookings in Harris County. In all, she has spent nine years in jail.

Like other mentally ill inmates, George has been expected to find her way — with no car and little money — to mental health providers, to line up counseling and to fill prescriptions for her medication in the weeks after her release.

In the meantime, medications she was taking in jail wear off, she said during an interview three days after her July 5 release from jail.

'Just walking down here (for the interview), I'm starting to hear voices,' said George, who finished a six-month sentence for prostitution.

Not filling prescriptions

Many of the mentally ill never fill their prescriptions or return to counseling, said Steven Schnee, director of Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County, a government agency that provides mental health care locally. They just return to their former lives, usually on the streets.
George, who often is homeless between jail stints, hopes she can avoid a return to jail this time. She has been working with Healthcare for the Homeless-Houston, which started a program that helps released mentally ill inmates find housing and reach appointments with mental health providers and counselors.

Michael Seale, director of the county jail's health services, said the mental health staff becomes frustrated because inmates stabilized in jail drift into psychosis when they get out.

'Whatever good work we've done may not have any value two or three weeks after they get out,' Seale said.

The jail — which has come under scrutiny recently for inmate deaths and was inspected by federal investigators earlier this month — spent about $10 million on mental health care in 2004. Two years ago, only 600 inmates were on psychotropic medications.

But staffing and funding then wasn't nearly adequate for the increasing numbers of mentally ill inmates.

Since mental health wards have been expanded, the jail now has beds for 244 mentally ill inmates, including 70 who are acutely ill.

The jail contracts with Harris County Psychiatric Center for 24 more beds.

The jail's mental health team delivers medications to an additional 1,650 inmates through outpatient treatment.

The team is big, employing 82 health care workers. That includes eight psychiatrists, 18 psychiatric registered nurses, 34 psychiatric technicians, seven licensed vocational nurses and 12 employees who screen incoming inmates.

Chief Deputy Mike Smith of the Sheriff's Office said the jail's mental health operation is comparable to the biggest non-jail mental health hospitals in the state.

Smith, as head of the jail, is among those credited with upgrading its mental health services. 'I've had people say I better watch what I say or I'll come across as a liberal,' he said. 'We shouldn't be treating our mentally ill in the jails. We should be treating them in the free world.'

Advocates say the number of mentally ill cycling through jails and psychiatric wards can be greatly reduced.

Many need to be placed in permanent supervised housing, Schwartz said.

Those who are less ill could be placed in apartments and monitored at least weekly by case managers.

But in Harris County, there are fewer than 1,500 rooms or apartments where the mentally ill can receive supervision or services, Schwartz said.

About 10,000 such units are needed.

'If these kind of housing opportunities existed, there would be far fewer mentally ill in jail,' she said."
***
An earlier post on the mental health care system (and its impact on criminal justice issues) in Harris County is available here.

More on Healthcare for the Homeless-Houston is available here.

Mental Health & Criminal Justice in Harris County

In Houston, Local 2 Investigative reporter Robert Arnold spent the past six months researching the mental health care system in Harris County. He filed an informative series of reports that explain some of the system's shortcomings (links to the entire series can be found below).

Here are some of his findings:

HCPC has 250 beds, but only enough money to operate 188 of those beds. Countywide, it's even worse. A study by the Mental Health Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County reports there are only 825 psychiatric beds for a county of more than four million.

A report from Mental Health America of Greater Houston shows more than 92,000 adults in Harris County have a serious mental illness and no insurance. MHA reports only about 18 percent received services.

MHA estimates it costs taxpayers between $25,000 and $35,000 per person for crisis care every year. A lack of bed space and no long-term follow-up care when they leave the hospital forces those with mental illness to cycle through the system over and over again. In fact, 20 percent of the patients seen at the County's Neuro-Psychiatric Center last year had been there between two and 11 times in one year.

Jail is an expensive way to treat the mentally ill. It costs $65 a day to house an inmate. It costs $132 a day to house an inmate in the mental health unit. And that doesn't include medication, transport and court costs.

HPD's Mental Health Unit transported more than 2,000 people for psychiatric treatment last year. Sixty of those calls involved people who had been picked up by police three or more times in one year. HPD also estimates 46 percent of its SWAT callouts last year dealt with someone who is mentally ill.

On a more positive note, a jail in-reach program designed by Healthcare for the Homeless-Houston appears to be having some success. This program addresses the critical flaws in the way that homeless, mentally ill inmates are released from jail. Instead of being released at midnight and left to wander the streets alone, those in the program are met outside the jail by an advocate at 8 a.m. The advocate immediately helps the person get prescriptions filled, signs them up for mental health services and tries to find them a home. This program has only been running for a year, but led to a 35 percent decrease in the re-arrest rate of the mentally ill, homeless inmates who participated. Expanding the program could save taxpayers $7 million a year in jail fees. But despite this success, the program is struggling to find the funds to keep going.

Harris County is also running a similar program with mentally ill probationers, called New Starts.
***
Links to the entire series:

http://www.click2houston.com/investigates/16352802/detail.html
http://www.click2houston.com/investigates/16353061/detail.html
http://www.click2houston.com/investigates/16364907/detail.html
http://www.click2houston.com/investigates/16365021/detail.html
http://www.click2houston.com/news/16377187/detail.html
http://www.click2houston.com/investigates/16395993/detail.html

Harris County Jury Rejects Death Penalty for Quintero

The Harris County jury that rejected Juan Quintero's insanity defense and found him guilty of capital murder in the death of Officer Rodney Johnson has sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Some jurors cited the mitigating evidence presented by Quintero's defense attorneys in explaining their decision to spare his life.

Here are excerpts from an article that appears today in the Houston Chronicle ("Quintero's life sentence shocks victim's family," May 21, 2008):

"One juror said Juan Leonardo Quintero's life still has value.

Another said a convicted cop killer, even one in the country illegally, deserves mercy.

Neither sentiment offered much consolation to family members of murdered Houston police officer Rodney Johnson, who were stunned Tuesday when a jury spared Quintero and sent him to prison for life with no chance of parole.

Asked by state District Judge Joan Campbell if he had anything to say before he was sentenced, the 34-year-old Quintero replied, 'I'm sorry.'

Johnson arrested the landscaper from Mexico during a Sept. 21, 2006, traffic stop. The 12-year police veteran didn't notice Quintero was hiding a gun, which, while handcuffed in the patrol car's back seat, he used to shoot Johnson seven times.

Quintero's lawyers had argued unsuccessfully that he was criminally insane and incapable of knowing his actions were wrong.

'I believe he has value,' said juror Letty Burkholder, of Houston. 'He's loved by many of his family and friends, and that was number one. I felt like he has potential.'

The decision shocked Johnson's family. His sister collapsed in the lobby of the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, his mother-in-law shouted in the street. Johnson's widow sobbed in disbelief.

'My husband's life meant nothing — that's what I felt,' said Joslyn Johnson, also an HPD officer.

'If any case ever warranted the death penalty, this certainly did," she said. "The city lost a hero. I lost my husband.'

In front of the courthouse, her mother blasted the jury's decision.

'We wanted the death penalty,' Lorraine Crawford said. 'He's not sorry. He would do it again.'

'Not a life without value'

The decision came in the second day of deliberations for the jury, which convicted Quintero of capital murder on May 8. His defense team praised jurors for careful consideration of 'all of the evidence.'

'This is not a life without value,' defense attorney Danalynn Recer said later. She also said a life sentence would help both families because it ends the case, rather than subjecting them to years of appeals.

She said Quintero's remorse, mental health and family relationships were mitigating factors with jurors, who discussed the case with her afterward.

Assistant District Attorney Denise Bradley called it a sad day for law officers.

Speaking outside the courthouse, Bradley said she was disappointed with the verdict but respected it.

'We take solace in the fact that Mr. Quintero will spend the rest of his life behind bars,' fellow prosecutor John Jordan said.

Most of the jurors chose not to comment. One of two who spoke to reporters agreed that Quintero deserves to live. She said there were sufficient mitigating circumstances to opt for life in prison.

'I still feel we came to the right decision,' said Tiffany Moore, a 38-year-old marketing director from Houston. 'We could never bring Rodney back. I feel very sad for the family, losing a loved one.'

She said she wept while Rodney Johnson's sister, Susan Johnson, read a victim impact statement after the verdict.

'You are a murderer, plain and simple,' Johnson told Quintero while staring at him. She also belittled the defense team, accusing them of manipulating the system, especially with the insanity defense.

She later collapsed on the floor in tears as the family left the courthouse.

The officer's brother, David Johnson, wanted to see Quintero sentenced to death.

'He shot him four times in the back, three times in the head,' Johnson said. 'I can't believe that.
What's mitigation?'..."
***
Additional coverage by the Houston Chronicle is available here. Earlier posts on the case are available here, here, and here.

Quintero Found Guilty

A Harris County jury has found Juan Leonardo Quintero guilty of capital murder in the death of Houston Police Officer Rodney Johnson ("Quintero convicted of capital murder in death of HPD officer," May 8, 2008). The case now moves to the sentencing phase, where jurors will decided whether to sentence Quintero to life in prison without the possibility of parole or to give him the death penalty.

Here's an excerpt from the article that appeared in yesterday's Chronicle:

"Quintero's defense team has worked to show he is not guilty of capital murder by reason of insanity.

Two psychologists and a neuropsychologist said a childhood fall caused brain damage that caused Quintero to perceive Johnson as a threat and take unreasonable action.

'Officer Johnson was a hero. He was a family man,' Recer said. 'We have an explanation. It's just not the quick, easy, bumper-sticker explanation the prosecution wants you to believe.'

Recer said she worked to figure out what was wrong with Quintero and what he was thinking.

'Because he sure wasn't thinking like any of us,' she said.

She said Quintero's 'bad brain' has an overactive threat-detection system, usually assuaged by drinking about 24 beers a day. But on that day, Quintero had about six beers.

Quintero acknowledged in a videotaped statement that, although his hands were cuffed behind his back, he shot Johnson while locked in the backseat of the patrol car."

Defense Argues Quintero Is Insane

Here's an update from the Houston Chronicle on the capital murder trial of Juan Quintero ("Experts clash over Quintero's sanity," May 6, 2008):

"Attorneys locked horns Tuesday in a battle of experts in the death penalty trial of Juan Leonardo Quintero, arguing whether the 34-year-old was insane when he shot Houston police officer Rodney Johnson in 2006.

Testimony of neuropsychologist Ruben Gur capped the defense case, saying that his tests reveal Quintero's brain is irregular and that irregularity may have contributed to psychological problems.

Prosecutors put on two doctors from a Houston medical imaging company who said they didn't see anything unusual about Quintero's brain.

The two sides clashed over whether Gur's work identifying brain problems was scientifically accurate. Prosecutors tried to show that Gur, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, used methods that are still experimental.

Gur, and other witnesses for the defense, said Quintero has brain damage from a childhood fall.

Earlier Tuesday, Quintero's lawyer was held in contempt for withholding documents prosecutors said they were entitled to under the rules of evidence.

During an early morning hearing outside the presence of the jury, state District Judge Joan Campbell ordered that Danalynn Recer appear after the trial concludes to explain why she should not be held in contempt.

Campbell is expected to decide what punishment, if any, Recer should receive after the trial concludes.

The judge and Recer declined to comment, as did prosecutor Lyn McClellan.

David Lane, an attorney assisting Recer, said she forgot a doctor's report at her office, delaying the court about 10 minutes while it was faxed.

The documents involved the work of a doctor who testified Tuesday, bolstering assertions by a psychologist who told jurors Monday that Quintero was insane during the few minutes when he shot Johnson.

Prosecutors considered the report important for them to use during cross-examination of the doctor, D.L. Creson.

The defense team is trying to show that Quintero is not guilty of capital murder by reason of insanity.
Antonio Puente said Monday he believes the defendant meets the legal definition of 'insane.'

Quintero has acknowledged in a videotaped statement to police that he shot Johnson after being arrested in September 2006.

Quintero's attorneys have said he suffered brain damage in a childhood fall and that he shot Johnson because he perceived that the officer was a threat.

Johnson was shot seven times as he filled out paperwork in the front seat of his patrol car. Quintero was handcuffed and locked in the back seat.

Investigators have said Johnson searched Quintero, but overlooked the gun he had tucked in his waistband, after arresting him for not having a driver's license."

Update on Juan Quintero Case

The death penalty trial of Juan Leonardo Quintero began in Harris County on Monday, April 28, 2008. According to the Houston Chronicle ("DA rejects plea for illegal immigrant who shot officer," April 27, 2008), Quintero had offered to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life without the possible of parole for the 2006 shooting of Houston police officer Rodney Johnson. The offer was rejected by prosecutors:

"Prosecutors on Saturday said the Harris County District Attorneys office has given the defense an opportunity to submit all mitigating evidence and, after reviewing that evidence, prosecutors will continue to seek the death penalty.

'We trust the judgment of 12 citizens to determine the appropriate punishment for the man who executed Officer Johnson,' said Assistant District Attorney Denise Bradley. ..."

In coverage of the first day of testimony, the Chronicle reports that "Defense attorneys agreed that Quintero shot Johnson but said brain damage caused the Mexican citizen to perceive a threat that wasn't there. Quintero pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in state District Judge Joan Campbell's court.

Johnson had stopped Quintero for speeding and arrested him for not having a driver's license. As Johnson worked on a report in the front seat of his patrol car, Quintero, who was handcuffed and locked in the back seat, pulled a pistol from his waistband that was overlooked in a search. He shot Johnson four times, police said. ...

In her statements, defense attorney Danalynn Recer said a childhood head injury caused Quintero anxiety attacks and staring spells for most of his life. She said Quintero began drinking alcohol when he was 8 and used alcohol to medicate himself.

She said Quintero had been drinking when he was stopped and arrested." ("Outpouring of emotions marks start of testimony," April 29, 2008)
***
Insanity defenses are rarely successful, as they must demonstrate that the defendant did not know the difference between right and wrong at the time of the crime. So far, there has been little compelling evidence to support an insanity defense in the Quintero case.

An earlier post on the case is available here.

Harris County Jail Maxed Out

The Houston Chronicle reports that the Harris County Jail now holds 1,000 people beyond its capacity ("Harris County Jail filled beyond capacity," April 1, 2008). People with mental illness account for a large percentage of those currently incarcerated, as do the chronically homeless. According to NAMI-Houston, the Harris County Jail is the largest de facto "mental health facility" in Texas.

Here's the article in full:

"The Harris County Jail held about 10,400 inmates — 1,000 beyond its capacity — Tuesday, the same day the Texas Commission on Jail Standards carried out its annual inspection of the lockup.

The figures appear in line with the conclusions of a national advocacy group that issued a report Tuesday decrying the growing number of inmates in U.S. jails and the effect it has on communities.

According to a Justice Policy Institute study, the number of people in American jails nearly has doubled since 1990 as the facilities detain more drug offenders, mentally ill and criminals sentenced to prisons.

The same trends have contributed to crowding in the Harris County Jail, leading it to be cited several times by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.

The Justice Policy Institute report focused on the nation's most populous counties and covered the decade from 1996 to 2006. According to the report, Harris County, the third-largest, incarcerated the fourth-highest number of inmates, 9,400, in 2006. That represented a 23 percent increase over 1996, when the county jail population was more than 7,700. That increase was the 12th biggest among the nation's most populous counties, the report said.

The total capacity of the Harris County Jail, divided among four facilities, is 9,372, the sheriff's department Web site states.

From 2004 through 2006 the Texas Commission on Jail Standards found the county out of compliance with a state-mandated staffing ratio of one guard for every 48 prisoners. The commission decided the jail was in compliance last May after county officials spent millions to beef up staff by expanding overtime and hiring more guards.

Mentally ill inmates

The county also contracted to send 600 inmates to a Louisiana prison last year at a cost of more than $9 million a year to stay in compliance.

The results of Tuesday's state inspection were unknown.

Of particular concern to county officials is the number of mentally ill inmates in the jail, a number than has dramatically increased during the last two decades.

'There probably is no other place in Texas that holds so many,' Dick Raycraft, county budget and management services director, said of the jail.

About 15 percent to 20 percent of the county inmates are prescribed psychotropic medication to treat mental health conditions, said Chief Deputy Mike Smith, who oversees jail operations.

'They are a more problematic inmate,' he said. 'They require more services. They can be a threat to themselves and a threat to others.'

New facility voted down

The number of homeless in the county jail also is increasing, Smith said. 'We are probably becoming the biggest homeless shelter in the state,' he said.

Voters in the county last year defeated a bond that would have paid to build a $245 million, 2,500-bed jail in the downtown jail complex.

It would have included a vast area for health care and mental health care, officials said. It also would have included a larger, improved intake center where incoming detainees would be evaluated and placed in appropriate settings if they were found to be mentally ill.

In June, the Commissioners Court will consider whether to ask voters to approve a bond for a smaller jail than the one rejected last November, Raycraft said.

Detention costs in the county continue to rise. Two years ago, the county spent $154 million on detention, Raycraft said.

This year, it will spend $192 million, a 24 percent increase. The costs will continue to rise if the county builds more jails and hires the guards needed to operate them."

Likely Insanity Defense in Upcoming Death Penalty Trial

According to the Houston Chronicle ("Insanity plea likely in officer's shooting death," March 6, 2008), Juan Quintero, the man facing a capital murder charge in the 2006 shooting death of Houston police officer Rodney Johnson, might plead not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI). The district attorney's office is seeking the death penalty for Quintero, a Mexican citizen who was deported from the United States by federal authorities, following his 1998 conviction for the state offense of indecency with a child and the imposition of a probationary sentence; Quintero illegally returned to the country in 1999. Robert Lane Camp, the owner of Camp Landscaping, Deer Park, has been charged by criminal complaint with encouraging Quintero to unlawfully enter the United States and with harboring him.

More from the Chronicle:

"Assistant District Attorney Denise Bradley said she received notice that attorneys for Juan Leonardo Quintero plan to call a mental health professional to testify about Quintero's state of mind at a pre-trial hearing later this month. The trial is set to begin in April, at which time Quintero will be arraigned by the judge and enter a plea.

Bradley said the district attorney's office is seeking the death penalty in the case, which unfolded after officer Rodney Johnson stopped a truck owned by a landscaping company for a traffic violation. He arrested Quintero after the man could not provide a driver's license.

As Johnson wrote up his report in the front seat of his police car, investigators said, Quintero pulled a pistol overlooked in a body search and shot Johnson four times in the head from the back seat.

In a pre-trial hearing Thursday, prosecutors said Quintero fired eight shots, at least one of which was directed at a tow truck driver who had been dispatched to the scene to tow Quintero's truck.

State District Judge Joan Campbell ruled Thursday that a ballistics expert would be allowed to testify for the prosecution, and a psychologist, who is an expert in acute stress disorder, can testify for the defense.

The psychologist, Kris Mohandie, is expected to testify about the state of mind of the officers who first arrived on the scene and inconsistencies in their reports about what happened, not Quintero's state of mind.

A second mental health professional is expected to be called for another pre-trial hearing next week.
Quintero's lawyer, Danalynn Recer, declined to comment after the hearing.

A possible insanity defense came as no surprise to members of the Houston Police Officer's Union, said Mark Clark, the union's executive director.

"We don't agree with it, but we understand it," Clark said. "The defense lawyer is going to pull out all the stops because of what is at stake here."

He said he has full faith and confidence that Quintero will be sentenced to die for the murder of a peace officer, an offense eligible for the death penalty."
***
According to Section 8.01 of the Texas Penal Code, “insanity is an affirmative defense to prosecution that, at the time of the conduct charged, the actor, as a result of severe mental disease or defect, did not know that his conduct was wrong. The term ‘mental disease or defect’ does not include an abnormality manifested by repeated criminal or otherwise antisocial conduct.” Although it does not specify, the “wrong” referred to in the statute means legally wrong.

Insanity must be proved by a preponderance of the evidence. Less than one percent of all defendants raise the insanity defense; of these, even fewer defendants are found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity. (Psychiatric Times, April, 2002) In approximately 80 percent of the cases where a defendant has been found “not guilty by reason of insanity,” the prosecution and defense have agreed on the appropriateness of the plea before trial.

Texas juries are not informed of the consequences to the defendant if they return a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

For more information on the insanity defense, go to www.healthyminds.org/insanitydefense.cfm.