My brother has been deemed Non Restorable. California Mental health court.
He has been in jail for over a year.
He has been charged with stalking and violating a restraining order. Both charges brought by family members.
He has a hearing on Monday. Does anyone have any experience with someone deemed Non Restorable and any advice on how I can help?
What will the court be looking at? How can I support my brother.
It sounds like the court has essentially deemed that your brother is incompetent and can’t be kept in jail because of that. He needs a legal guardian to look out for his well-being and his affairs, financially, legally and health wise. I’m surprised the court did not simultaneously appoint him a guardian which as far as I know they can do unless it is different in each state. Also, if you were up for it, you could be his legal guardian. Being a guardian entitles you to intervene on behalf of your brother in all areas of his life and well-being. There are sometimes limited guardianships that can be used but when the person is deemed incompetent it is more of an all-inclusive situation and normally it would require annual check ins with the court to keep them apprised of his progress, his address, changes in health and if the guardianship needs to continue. If I were you, I would be at that hearing if possible and strongly suggest that a legal guardian be appointed to your brother or if you’re willing you can volunteer to be the one but I would start brainstorming possible paths for him for mental health or dual diagnosis treatment whatever applies (NAMI is a good resource). However, depending on the severity of your brother’s illness being a guardian can be a full-time job and takes a lot of effort for it to be successful. I say this based on my 15+ years of being the legal guardian for my adult sz son who lives with me. He is doing well now but it was a very long hard road. Still, I do not regret it. Best of luck on Monday. I wish you and your brother the best going forward. NAMI HelpLine | NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness
Things are not going well.
At the last hearing the judge decided on evidence and stated he was going to let the charges stand. My brother’s attorney asked he be under house arrest at my home the judge said NO.
My brother keeps talking during the hearings (not good)
He looks terrible.
The Prosecutor wants a Murphy Conservatorship.
A hearing is set for today. Thank you for your concern.
Honestly, it seems possible that the correct thing for your brother IS a Murphy Conservatorship. I looked it up and found the following:
“When it comes to mental health and the instability of a person’s sanity, conservatorships take shape in the form of a Murphy conservatorship. For persons who are deemed inept to attend a sanity hearing or mental health court trial, a Murphy Conservatorship will need to be established. The criteria for establishing Murphy Conservatorship for an individual will require showing: * The individual is not competent to stand trial and has outstanding felony charges involving causing great physical injury or death of another person * The individual is gravely disabled with a mental health disorder * The individual poses a threat to self and/or others”
Perhaps it can be fought as your brother actually didn’t cause great physical injury or death per your description of events. That’s what his attorney could look into, but a Murphy Conservatorship is like a guardianship but it is done in the public interest to make sure someone who threatened or accomplished harm to others or to himself is overseen. It is a shame that your brother doesn’t appear competent and won’t be quiet in front of the judge. You must accept what is occurring in the courts if you can’t change it as worrying about what you cannot change will only wear you down.
Thank you Ladyblue, the judge ordered the office of public conservatorship to look into a murphy conservatorship.
Sitting thru and listening to the cases before my brother was disheartening.
One case they did not know where the defendant was he did not sign a medical release and his attorney did not know where he was.
Another case the office of public conservator indicated he did not need a conservator since he was in jail?? The judge was baffled.
What is happening to the mentally ill in the court system is an embarrassment to our country.
I will continue to try to help my brother and pray he remains save (San Diego has a high jailhouse death rate)
Thank you for your supportive words.
Yes, I understand, many court cases are mostly disheartening. But at least you were there to show support. Please try not to worry, it is scary to consider, but per the article I just looked up, there were 141 deaths over 10 years out of a prison population of 100,000 in the San Diego jail. So there is at least a 97% chance or greater he will not pass away in prison. Here in the county where I live, I statistically have a 3% chance of dying in a car accident every year due to the amount of car accidents in Pinellas. So stay positive.
Did a medical professional testify he is non-restorable? How would anyone know? I thought the point of psychiatric drugs was to restore a person to some degree of functioning. Is he now, or was he ever compliant with taking antipsychotic meds?
The judge read from a report that he was non restorable. His attorney did not dispute it. My brother has been meds in the past as a provision of probation. He was given a shot. As soon as he was off probation he stopped the meds. I thought he was being provided meds as part of the jail based program. However based on his reaction in court he was not. The system is broken. They are punishing my brother for having an illness. Thank you for your concern.
I am so sorry, sometimes we try and try and still the ignorance wins. You are right, the system is broken.
I’m in the earlier part of the court process with my sister. It’s all so obscured and confusing regarding expectations, information, and timelines. She was living with my parents in our small Texas hometown. She has been in jail since January after shoving my 72 yo dad so hard he fell into the bathtub (he was luckily unhurt aside from scratches and bruising) but that was the event (of many) that merited her arrest. She was being held on a misdemeanor of family abuse, but it was raised to a felony for abuse of an elder a couple of months ago. I hate that we made this choice, but we’re at a loss of other options and this is the path that we hope forces her to get help, though I’m not confident in that outcome.
When she was arrested my mother was still alive, but she passed in June from cancer. We have tried to get my sister the message but have no idea if she was told, and if she was, could she even comprehend the news? But that’s a different heart-breaking tangent.
I drive up every time she is scheduled to appear in court (I live in a large city an hour and change away) but have yet to see her—the bailiff has told me she’s disruptive and tends to start fights with the other female prisoners, so they’ve been dealing with her outside of the courtroom. Her defense lawyer filed for a psych eval last Friday morning. It’s a blessing and a curse at how slow-moving this is. I say blessing only because it gave us space to deal with my mother’s condition and eventual passing and all of the emotion and grief tied to that. We are hoping she’s mandated to get help but we live in one of the worst states for MH. My dad can’t seem to come to terms with her living on the streets, but there’s no way she can go back to living with him if she’s still refusing meds, etc. She can’t live with me because I’m one of her biggest triggers and have been in altercations with her in the past.
Her lawyer has stopped picking up my calls and victim services has yet to return my call. The system is depressingly broken.
I am so sorry. I completely understand the pain and the frustration you have lived. I read the posts on this site and know every ounce of pain the writers have endured. My heart goes out to all the elderly parents that despite the lack of support and help continue to care for their loved ones.
My brother’s case has been turned over to the office of the public guardian. They will determine if he needs a conservator. I made the mistake of telling the social worker, my brother could take care of himself. He could buy food, I would provide shelter and he had clothing. The social worker reminded me than he did not meet the definition of gravel disabled. We agreed to forget what I had said. In order for my brother to be appointed a conservator he need to be identified as gravely disabled. He needs to have a conservator in order for him to be provided Medication that will help him silent the voices he hears. He has been in jail for 18 months now. This is the reality in how we help those with mental illness. I will never abandon him. I just wish I could do more to help. Thank you for sharing. I understand your pain.
I’m sorry for your experience too. It’s a painful thing to deal with. There is some comfort in knowing we’re not the only ones going through it, though a society that took responsibility for its most vulnerable and disabled citizens would be a way better comfort. Here’s to hanging in there 