My brother who is a paranoid Schizophrenic has been jailed for a year for 1) Stalking (which he did not do) and 2) violating a restraining order. He is assigned to the mental health court and disputed his incompetency finding. He has not been sentenced and has no bail.
NAMI ( SD Ca) was of little to no help. Any suggestions on what if anything I can do. Why is it legal to jail someone for that log without a sentencing? Are there any Mental health advocates ( attorneys ) that can help?
The only thing I can think is to get a lawyer. Have you tried Legal Aid Society of San Diego
It says on their web site:
Legal Aid Society of San Diego is committed to assisting low-income and vulnerable
individuals and families. We offer legal representation, information, and advice on a
variety of subjects, and will help you find the resources you need.
I know that jail is not the solution, but do you have a plan for where he would live when he comes out? Does he have insight? Is he willing to see a psychiatrist and take meds?
Thank you. I will try calling legal aid. I hope they can help.
Does he have insight? No
Is he willing to see a psychiatrist and take meds? NO
My mom left him a life estate in her home. He does have a place to stay, but my niece got a restraining order and had him restrained from the house. I will ask legal aid if this was legal.
Your response was much appreciated.
caregiver1
April 4 |
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The only thing I can think is to get a lawyer. Have you tried Legal Aid Society of San Diego
It says on their web site:
Legal Aid Society of San Diego is committed to assisting low-income and vulnerable
individuals and families. We offer legal representation, information, and advice on a
variety of subjects, and will help you find the resources you need.
I know that jail is not the solution, but do you have a plan for where he would live when he comes out? Does he have insight? Is he willing to see a psychiatrist and take meds?
May i ask is he a danger to others? Why was he given this restraining order?
He does not like his older brother. They are both Paranoid Schizophrenic. Both have a Life estate in the same house. His voices told him his older brother was trying to poison him. So he locked the older brother out of the house. I offered to have the older brother live with me, but family members told the older brother to stay in the house. I have a dysfunctional family. I am now the only one willing to help the younger brother if possible.
Oy vey. So does this mean the restraining order was for your older brother to the younger one, or from your niece? I’m afraid this might make me sound like a nincompoop, but if I understood you correctly, the restraining order is against your younger brother and the niece is the one who helped him file it?
Strictly speaking, it isn’t illegal. Denying someone entry to their own property, even shared, is a crime. This is likely the reason the restraining order was granted, especially if the person claims that younger brother A is poisoning older brother B, without any evidence that this was happening and with a less violent/disheveled appearance at court, is part of why they granted to restraining order. It can either expire or you can see if it was granted in error, but judges who practically give these things out like candy, usually always err on the side of caution, i.e anyone that can cause harm to the other (claiming party needing protection) will usually always be granted. Having it overturned or moving the brother in, is your prerogative, but I cannot see that the other family members (the ones who basically want him to live by himself) really have a direct say in things unless you also live together. Without the holder of the restraining order living there, it leaves your incarcerated brother with a place to stay at least. Legal counsel might attempt to negotiate on your younger brothers behalf, but the older one has better standing in the eyes of the law.
As to the stalking and delay in sentencing, of what I gleaned from CA legal code in regards to stalking, they have stronger bylaws than most states when it comes to determining a case. The stalking must be reported and submitted to a PD with some sort of either physical proof, video surveillance, or with a physical description of the person involved at least 3 separate times for them to take it to court. Piecing together what the claimant makes in charges against your brother in terms of dates and times, to a timeline that you can prove he wasn’t there or couldn’t have been there is probably the strategy his counsel will go with.
The problem is if he is non-verbal, it’s damn near impossible for defense to even begin looking for evidence to corroborate he hasn’t done what the prosecutor claims. He may have also waived his counsel and whether or not they put in a filing of no confidence, (on the part of your brother to represent himself) is entirely on his pro-bono team. If he was mostly lucid at the time of his first meeting with them (it’s always recorded either via phone or camera) , there isn’t much they (his legal team) can do without some sort of order for another assessment. Covid hasn’t helped the state of the courts, and fighting the case with a less than communicative or cooperative brother is bound to throw wrenches in the strategy for his defense and his opposition. The wheels of justice turn slowly, I’m afraid.
Please seek out the San Diego legal council recommended above. 211 often has resources for low income or the mentally ill, in either legal counsel or further health assessments that may speed up the process of figuring out what is going on with your brother.
I am so sorry you are going through this. 
Thank you for the response. You are not a nincompoop. I just am not very clear in my communications.
My Niece has power of attorney for my older brother. She filed the restraining order for my older brother against my younger brother. She does not want my older brother to live with me. So she had my younger brother arrested {violation of restraining order and stalking)
My younger brother does not take meds but is verbal. He was chasing my nephew out of the neighborhood. He was not stalking him. Due to his illness my younger brother believed my older brother was poisoning him and my nephew was stealing from him.
I will see if legal aid can offer any assistance. The laws are not kind to those who suffer from mental illness.
Thank you for your kind words.
Is he capable to stand trial? If not they may be waiting for a psychiatric evaluation? If he is in psychosis they cannot proccess him. If he does not has a home, they may be holding him.
I reached out to legal aid and was contacted by an attorney who gave me a number to call to check on his status. It turns out he was given a new attorney and is now in a program in jail on forced medication. I just learned he fell out of bed and was transported to the hospital. In the hospital they discovered he has multiple Myeloma. He is refusing treatment. I was told since he is refusing treatment there is nothing they can do. Is this correct? Has anyone had any experience with someone refusing medical care?
Yes, in most cases, if he is refusing treatment there is nothing anyone can do. Even a guardian would have to convince a judge to make a determination against the person’s wishes. Cancer treatments are difficult, for the most part they do prolong life at a great personal cost, it’s not rare for people to decide to not have their cancer treated.
I am sorry @Lilsis but your brother is in a tough situation for sure. I am sorry to say that he will most likely stay in jail unless/until he is found competent to stand trial. He may even not want to stand trial. I had a personal friend who attempted to commit suicide and failed (over a lost love) that was left mentally impaired afterward. His sister tried to care for him, even providing a place for him to live. He was arrested downtown for attempted burglary, but that was NOT what he thought he was doing. It was, however, what law he violated. In jail, for years, he refused medical and mental treatment and food and eventually died in jail. His competency exams always found him incompetent. His sister and I tried to get him to accept help. No one could force the medical treatment or food on him, although the jail staff did attempt to use drugs to improve his mental state. He was kept in the hospital wing, where he was “happy” to be.
If your brother could pass a competency exam and go before the judge, he could possibly be released. Is your brother asking for help or release?
@hope is right, not all persons with cancer do the treatments. There is nothing fun about cancer treatment for those in great mental health, as I know from personal experience. Those with poor mental health need a lot of help from someone overseeing them to get through it.
Thank you Hope and OldLadyblue. Yes my brother hates jail and wants to be released. I was hoping I could visit him in the hospital to convince him to start treatment and his attorney would see if she could drop the charges. I was told I could not visit him. His attorney is now asking me for his medical DX. It seems the jail Liaison is not able to get his medical dx. She needs proof of his condition. I am not sure how I can go about getting that. My brother is convinced he is not sick and will most likely sign a release. I am dumb founded this is not in his medical/jail record for his attorney to access. Not sure what to do. Anyone have any suggestions?
Just guessing here, maybe the attorney will have to get the judge to order a mental health evaluation?
Medical records in the US require a release from the person. Sorry to be so brief, I am between errands here.
I am shocked that you are being told you cannot visit him. Our jail has visitation, even when the person is in the hospital. All visits are solely by video screen though, i.e. all the visitors are checked into the jail then sat in a room full of walls of video screens and telephones. Then within the jail the each inmate is separately brought to a video screen in their area, including in the hospital. There are 5000 inmates in our jail when it is full, and only 50 or so visitors each hour so it has to be tightly scheduled.
I went to court and told the judge my daughter needed medical mental health help. The judge then ordered a medical evaluation by the jail mental health doctor, and when she was released from the jail she was sent by ambulance to the closest available psych ward/hospital in the community. The jail had none of her prior records, and neither did I, as my daughter would not sign the forms to release her past records.
I was never told she was being released to a hospital. I went to pick her up at the jail and she never came out the door to the waiting area for me to get her. I sat there for almost 2 hours waiting for her release. It turns out she was taken out the main part of the jail into a waiting ambulance. No one could tell me that (the sheriffs) although I kept going to the desk and asking where she was, since the online computer website of “Who’s in Jail” said she was released. Finally, one of the officers felt sorry for me, took me aside and whispered she was taken away by ambulance from within the jail. But he broke the HIPPA law to tell me that, no officer was supposed to tell me or anyone.
Wow… Something needs to be done about this. I recently found out my brother is no longer in the hospital. I had asked the doctor to notify me when he was released but I guess she did not have the time?
So I checked Who’s in Jail and he is no longer is listed.
I asked his attorney and she said he may have been transferred to another facility. a place that had beds. I am ok with this but would have liked to have been told, so I can be a support to him.
His attorney wants me to try to get his diagnosis/prognosis. I am not sure how I can do this because of HIPPA. I am not sure why she does not have it to represent him.
I am shocked this is how we treat the mentally ill and their families. I am also feeling defeated. Laws set out to protect people are hurting my brother. I am thinking of getting my congress person involved but it is hard to do all this and work a full time job and take care of my own mental health. (sorry for the pity party, just need to catch my second wind.
The round about way to keep this within HIPPA and the law, is to ask the care provider to send his new bed information and details TO THE LAWYER. Technically, while they cannot share that information with you without a medical release (combo HIPPA and Attorney Client Privilege I assume. I’m better versed in the former than the latter.) it is at least a start.
With a medical ROI (Release of Information) provided to your brother via the lawyer, you will get some of his basic info. Specifically if nothing else, put the hospital and the social workers on post to get the lawyer the information they need. They can serve as your initial contact if for some reason they haven’t had a social worker reach out to you yet. (Most of the time, they {social worker} won’t breech HIPPA, but they will involve you with care as much as they can when it comes to planning discharge and getting other information that the patient/sick family member can’t/won’t tell them.) You’ve probably got this handled by now. Just a thought though if you haven’t tried it.
Each state may be different but in the case of my son he was sent to hospital to be made competent to stand trial. My son refused treatment like for three weeks. Then the hospital staff went to a board and judge to ask permission to force treatment since he is supposed to go to trial. Permission was granted. They talked to my son; treatment voluntary or it will be forced. He decided to take treatment. It was never physically forced. After that, like three evaluations since he finally was declared competent for trail. He recieved probation time. So yes they can force treatment if there is an order from court to gain competency to stand trail.
I am so sorry @Lilsis that you don’t know where your brother is. As @hopeisahead said, he may have been transferred for treatment, and it will be extra hard to get information since you don’t have a HIPPA release signed by your brother as @Wederington034985 mentions. How old is your brother? Just curious.
Mostly my concern is for you, you for sure need to care for yourself and try to reduce your stress load. It may be that you have to come to terms with the fact that there isn’t much you can do until your brother actually reaches out to you. It is also his responsibility for himself to ask for help if he wants it or is able to even feel a need for help. When my daughter got lost in the jail/hospital system, she was actually fine, and didn’t want to reach out to me. She sent me home without allowing me to visit from the hospital several times. Your brother may be fine. I hope so. The wheels of justice are very slow but most inmates and patients receive adequate low levels of care and are safe from direct harm.
Thank you Oldladyblue your words provide comfort. My brother has a hearing tomorrow. His Attorney asked if I would be there, of course I said yes. I don’t know what to expect. The hearing states it is an Order to produce.
My concern is they may want me to be a conservator?
My brother will not listen to anyone ( it’s the disease). My brother is 65 and has lived with this disease since he was 22. The death of my parents disrupted his life. I am hoping for the best and thank this site for the support and information.
I hope it goes well tomorrow in court. And I hope you get to ask the attorney any questions you might have. You will have to go with your heart on how you react to any requests. Only what you feel is right or wrong will be right or wrong for whatever questions they ask. Be true to your own knowledge and feelings. If you are asked to care for your brother, but you feel you cannot, then state the truth. No one can judge you for how you feel, and certainly no one on this site will judge any decisions you make.
Let us know what happens. We care. We have all been through our own sorts of hell caring for someone with this awful disease. And even then, our loved ones suffer most.