Legal Question in Criminal Law in Ohio

mentally ill son arrested for a felony

my son is 32 years old and is mentally ill. he was admitted to a hospital for treatment. while in the hospital the police was notice that he raped or attempted to rape another patient. He was arrested and taken tothe ohio justice center. I was later told by his case manager that a test on the individual was being conducted to see he had carry out the act. I am angry with the hospital because they should have been aware that my son had been on the hospital ward only three months ago and had sexual outing out behavior, yet they put in the general public with other patients. Now my son is at risk of going to prison with not what he needs. I am not justifying his behavior, I belief my son has not received appropiate care for his illness. My question, is it likely that my son will be charged with raped and sent to prision? he is assigned a public defender, however, his bond is set at 10,000 without the 10% interest. his public defender and seems not to be interested in the fact that he has mental problems and was in the hospital due to being off he medication. he has been in jail for one week and will go before the judge on Nov 1. What advice would you give me to help my son and keep him from going to prison.


Asked on 10/28/04, 11:52 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Richard Cline Office of the Ohio Public Defender

Re: mentally ill son arrested for a felony

Based only on what you wrote, it appears that your son may be one of the few people who can justify a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. I would suggest that you talk with the public defender assigned to the case. If he or she is unresponsive, then I would hire an experienced criminal defense attorney. NGRI is a very complex issue and requires a great deal of thought.

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Answered on 10/29/04, 11:25 am


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