‘Absurd’ laws allow some mentally ill suspects to go free

She shot her boyfriend to death as he sat on the toilet.

At least that is what prosecutors in Pierce County
declared when they charged a now 44-year-old Buckley woman
with first-degree, premeditated murder in 2009.

Robert Irby had been shot once in the chest and three
times in the head.

His girlfriend of 19 years allegedly confessed to the
crime, but has never been brought to trial. She is among a
small percentage of criminal defendants whose mental
capacity prevents prosecutors from bringing her to
justice, yet keeps doctors from committing her against her
will.

“From a public safety perspective, from a common sense
perspective, that does not seem right,” said Pierce County
Prosecutor Mark Lindquist.

His office has re-filed charges against the woman twice,
and twice she has been found incompetent to stand trial.
But doctors at Western State Hospital say she is neither a
threat to herself nor others, and have recommended her for
release, much to the dismay of the victim’s family.

“She can’t be let out,” said Irby’s sister, Judith Talik.
“You can’t turn a person loose who has confessed to
killing somebody.”

Lindquist calls it “an absurd result.”

“It seems to me that if someone is not competent to stand
trial, they’re very likely not safe to be in the
community,” he said. “It is something that needs to be
looked into and it should be fixed.”

Doctors at Western State, the largest psychiatric facility
west of the Mississippi River, say that while the
threshold for competency is determined by one’s ability to
understand and assist in their own defense, the threshold
for civil commitment is much different.

“Being incompetent doesn’t automatically mean that
somebody meets the grounds for civil detainment and vice
versa,” said Dr. Marylouise Jones, clinical operations
director at Western State Hospital. “They are really two
different statutes.”

A person can be committed against their will for one of
two reasons: They suffer from a “grave disability,” which
prevents them from caring for their personal health and
safety needs, or they present a danger to themselves or
others due to a mental disease, Jones said.

Dr. Brian Waiblinger, medical director at Western State
Hospital, said they cannot commit someone who suffers from
a mental illness simply because they have been accused of
a crime.

“You have to understand that this person has not been
convicted,” Waiblinger said. “It’s probably very difficult
for the public, but ultimately it maintains the civil
liberties of someone in a democratic society. It’s the
consequence of living in a democracy. It’s a consequence
of the statute.”

And Waiblinger said current statutes are in place to
prevent undue detainment.

“The net result is that you get these somewhat strange
situations every once in a while,” he said. “They are not
frequent, but they do happen.”

In fact in Pierce County, where prosecutors charge roughly
6,000 felonies a year, there are only 10 such cases each
year on average. A vast majority of defendants who are
declared incompetent to stand trial will have their
competency restored during 14, or 90-day periods in the
care of Western State. That defendant will then return to
face criminal charges in a court of law.

But Prosecutor Mark Lindquist calls the cases “alarming
aberrations,” and says their infrequency is of no comfort
to victims and their families.

“I think it’s horrible,” said Judith Talik, who can’t
imagine that the woman suspected of killing her brother
could be set free without reparation. “If you can’t put
her in jail, then keep her in the hospital.”

“Obviously this doesn’t work.”

Lindquist said his only option is to continue to re-file
charges against the woman, and similar defendants, as long
as there is a possibility that they will be found
competent.