"In light of the testimony presented and the reports submitted by the three psychiatrists - including the Government's own expert, Dr. Rosenblatt - the Court has no viable alternative but to find that Stanford does not have the present mental capacity to effectively assist his attorneys in preparing his defense," writes Hittner.
Stanford wouldn't be released to a mental facility, as his lawyers had requested. Instead, U.S. District Judge David Hittner recommended that the Attorney General have Stanford moved to a federal facility with suitable medical capabilities to deal with his reported traumatic brain injury, addiction to an anti-anxiety medication and major depressive disorder.
"It is not lost on the court that Stanford's motion to be released to a local mental facility for treatment may be yet another attempt by Stanford to be released on bond," Hittner writes. "The Court's finding that Stanford is incompetent, however, does not alter the Court's finding that Stanford is a flight risk and that no combination of conditions of pretrial release can reasonably assure his appearance at trial."
Hittner recommends that "the Attorney General send Stanford to a medical facility within the Bureau of Prisons, such as the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina or to another suitable facility."
The judge also admonished both federal prosecutors and Stanford's lawyers "to diligently prepare this case to proceed to trial notwithstanding Stanford's absence."
A guy accused of a massive international con job is too depressed to face a trial? A bravura performance, for sure. Pay your defense team extra, my good man. Both they, and you, Sir Allen, have earned it.
Actually, one could argue that the defense lawyers screwed up. The case will continue, although it will not continue until he is found competent. Allen Stanford is, as one of the commentors on TPM said, "in a holding pattern", and likely to spend some time in a mental facility managed by the Bureau of Prisons.
ReplyDeleteWell, unless the Attorney General doesn't follow through with the judge's recommendation. Would *you* want to be known as the AG who went easy on a guy who bilked a whole bunch of rich people against the judge's recommendation, and the guy ran off somewhere to a place the US doesn't have a pesky extradition treaty?
Chances are, the "crazy like a fox" is just going to get stuck.