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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/09/10/decarlos-brown-criminal-history/86065854007/

"His next court case came in January this year, when court records say Brown was at a hospital and someone called police about him. When they arrived, that's when records say Brown told them someone gave him a "manmade material" that was controlling him.

"Officers advised Brown that the issue was a medical issue and that there was nothing further they could do," a police report says. "Brown became upset with officers' answers and with officers still on scene, called 911 to speak with police."

Officers then arrested him on a charge of misuse of 911.

A judge later released him without bail. In July, a different judge agreed with a defense attorney's request to have Brown mentally evaluated for competency to understand the court proceedings he faced. It's unclear whether Brown was evaluated before Zarutska's killing on the light rail."

Lot of missing details here (had he wandered into the hospital to have this "manmade material" taken care of? Was he registered as a patient at any point? Or was he just viewed as a disruption for police to handle? No bail for the 911 misuse charge would be reasonable standing on its own, and I suppose that happened during one of those hearings where a judge is dealing with a huge mass of people with a wide range of charges.

"Brown’s mother told local television she sought an involuntary psychiatric commitment this year after he became violent at home. Doctors diagnosed him with schizophrenia.

But experts say involuntary commitments are often difficult to obtain. A court must find someone to be a danger to themself or others. Once someone is stabilized, they generally are free to leave."

This is a bit misleading. You can be placed on a hold without a hearing first (hospital has to notify the court), and that may well lead to discharge if someone is stabilized AND if the hospital is satisfied the danger has passed. Otherwise there is a hearing and a judge will typically order something like 14 days for evaluation, with a review after that time. Psych patients often end up boarding in hospitals for weeks or months if they need continued care and no placement is available.

FWIW where I live, several years ago they institute a protocol to have a psychiatric nurse screen anyone who is thought to present with mental health issues or whom they know is on psych meds. The idea is to make things more seamless between law enforcement and the mental health system. It had impressive results in terms of reducing both emergency psychiatric hospital visits and arrest/incarceration rates.

[/quote]

When his own mother said he shouldn't be on the streets - he shouldn't be on the streets.  
Judges need to consider the danger to the public these people pose.  Sick of the only focus  being on the mental health of the criminal.  [/quote]

That's just one piece of the problem. Misuse of 911 is hardly an offense that's going to keep you in jail for any length of time. As I posted to begin with, his initial release was probably in a mass hearing where they are trying to work through the docket efficiently. Prosecutor would have to have the time to fully review his history and investigate the details of the 911 event to begin with. And there wouldn't be much jail time for the offense, it would be time served and unsupervised probation. Next judge ordered mental health eval which appears not to have happened, but we don't know the mechanics ofhow that was supposed to occur. We don't know what steps the mom took to seek hospitalization or how whatever part of the system she approached responded.

A focus on mental health IS a focus on safety, but it has to be carried out.

You can't just blame the judges. [/quote]

What's missing is compassionate mental health institutionalization.

There is a class of people who are dangerous when left to their own devices but can be safe in a controlled environment. American prisons are uncivilized, especially mental illness wards. So we are left with absurd choice of "torture or kill a sick person" or "wait for the sick person to kill someone else or themselves".

https://www.newsweek.com/teresa-stokes-charlotte-judge-decarlos-brown-jr-2126808[/quote]

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