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(Indictment can preserve trial option for mentally ill suspects)
(Police- More than 50 arrested in Ferguson protests)
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Prosecutors typically obtain grand jury indictments so they can take criminal suspects straight to trial. But when the Alameda County district attorney鈥檚 office recently took the step in a pair of high-profile murder cases, it did so precisely because the cases aren鈥檛 close to going to a jury.
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FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) 鈥?Pounding rain and tornado watches didn't deter hundreds of protesters Monday outside Ferguson police headquarters, where they stayed for almost four hours to mark how long 18-year-old 's body was left in a street after he was fatally shot by police.
Both One Goh, accused of the , and Daniel Dewitt,  that same year, are at Napa State Hospital, deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial due to schizophrenia. According to their attorneys, they have suffered from severe delusions.
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Organizers of the four-day Ferguson October protests dubbed the day "Moral Monday" and committed acts of civil disobedience across the St. Louis region. In addition to the initial march on Ferguson police headquarters, protesters blocked the entrance to a major employer, held a loud rally inside St. Louis City Hall, disrupted business at a Ferguson shopping center and three stores and tried to crash a private fundraiser for a St. Louis County executive candidate where U.S. Sen.  was scheduled to appear.
It鈥檚 possible that psychiatric care can restore the men to competency. But prosecutors said they had to indict the men as a step in pursuing a conservatorship designed to keep the men locked up while being treated, instead of running the risk that they will be released in the near future or placed at an unlocked facility like a halfway house.
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At the Monday night, protesters briefly draped a banner over a Jumbotron video board that read "Rams fans know on and off the field black lives matter."
Under state laws adopted in the 1960s in a shift away from mass institutionalization, a case against a criminal defendant found mentally incompetent to stand trial 鈥?meaning they can鈥檛 rationally assist in their own defense 鈥?is dismissed if the person isn鈥檛 restored to competency within three years.
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More than 50 people were arrested, including scholar and civil rights activist .
So prosecutors turn to what is known as a Murphy conservatorship, which requires securing a grand jury indictment. County civil attorneys can then go to probate court to seek the conservatorship for individuals who are deemed incompetent to stand trial and present a 鈥渟ubstantial danger鈥?to others due to mental illness.
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West was among 42 arrested for peace disturbance at the Ferguson police station. Some protesters used a bullhorn to read the names of people killed by police nationwide. Christian, Jewish and Muslim clergy members 鈥?some of whom were among the first arrested 鈥?led a prayer service before marching to the station two blocks away.
The move 鈥渟erves the purpose of preserving the case for prosecution if competency is ever regained and maintaining the individual in a placement which protects the public,鈥?said David Cook, an Alameda County deputy district attorney who acts as a point person on mental health issues.
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Protests have been common since Brown, who was unarmed and black, was killed by a white Ferguson police officer on Aug. 9. Tensions escalated last week when a white police officer in St. Louis shot and killed another black 18-year-old,  Jr., who police say shot at officers.
Those placed under Murphy conservatorships have the right to a yearly judicial review.
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"My faith compels me to be here," Bishop  of the of Missouri said outside Ferguson police headquarters. "I want to show solidarity, and call attention to the structural racism of St. Louis."
Some defendants never end up at trial. San Mateo County prosecutors indicted Marvin Patrick Sullivan, who had been accused in the 1998 fatal shooting of Millbrae police Officer David Chetcuti. In 2005, after years of treatment and three competency hearings, a judge ruled that Sullivan remained unfit for trial, citing his belief that he was an astronaut, an angel and the target of assassination by the CIA and the Italian Mafia.
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Protesters were met by about 40 officers in riot gear. Several clergy members approached individual officers and asked them to "repent" for Brown's killing and other acts of violence. Some officers engaged the protesters, while others ignored the efforts.
Daniel Horowitz, a , said such cases aren鈥檛 the norm. Most defendants are restored to competency unless they are 鈥減rofoundly ill鈥?and in the grip of delusions or hallucinations, Horowitz said.
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"My heart feels that this has been going on too long," Ferguson officer told the clergy. "We all stand in fault because we didn't address this."
He noted that prosecutors prefer to bring defendants with competency issues to trial and prove they are guilty of the crime. Even if they are ultimately found not guilty by reason of insanity 鈥?meaning they can be released someday if their sanity is restored 鈥?prosecutors feel they did their due diligence, Horowitz said.
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Outside Emerson Electric headquarters in Ferguson, six people were arrested for failing to disperse after blocking a street, spokesman  said. Emerson is one of the region's largest employers.
鈥淭hey like having a conviction, a finding of guilt, and then having the psychological treatment started,鈥?Horowitz said. 鈥淭hey feel they鈥檝e done their job. The case has been adjudicated, the victim鈥檚 family can rest. They鈥檙e more comfortable with that. It鈥檚 very hard to get out of Napa State Hospital.鈥?
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At St. Louis City Hall, about 100 protesters blew whistles that echoed off the marble walls. Protest leader  presented a list of four demands to , chief of staff for Mayor . Slay was not in the office Monday.
Goh, 45, is , a small Christian college where he had taken classes before dropping out. His attorney has said he sees faces in mirrors and experiences delusions regarding 鈥渢he battle between God and Satan and his role in that battle.鈥?
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The demands called for an end to participation in a program providing military equipment to police, body cameras for all officers, a civilian review board for police and mandatory independent investigations whenever police kill someone.
Dewitt, 25, had been 鈥?only to be quickly stabilized and released in most cases 鈥?before police said he killed Peter Cukor, 67, outside his Berkeley hills home in February 2012. Dewitt, who allegedly hit Cukor with a ceramic pot, believed at the time that he was searching for his imaginary fiancee, 鈥淶oey.鈥?
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Rainford said St. Louis is not part of the militarization program; he promised the other demands will be taken seriously.
According to a transcript of grand jury testimony, Dewitt spoke to Berkeley police after his arrest in the voice of 鈥淶oey鈥?as well as a CIA agent.
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"We are already working on all of these things," he said.
鈥淗e talked to us. Actually, let me rephrase that. The CIA person talked to us through Dewitt,鈥?Detective David Marble testified. 鈥淔or instance, 'I鈥檓 John. I鈥檓 with the CIA. Daniel didn鈥檛 do this.鈥?Something like that. So he was talking as if it was somebody else.鈥?
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Williams said that wasn't good enough, and pledged further disruptions in days to come. One protester was arrested for property damage.
The grand jury returned an indictment against Dewitt charging him with murder as well as one count of assaulting an officer for allegedly breaking the jaw of Alameda County sheriff鈥檚 Deputy George Krause in 2012. Krause had been preparing to take Dewitt to Napa State Hospital after he was ruled incompetent to stand trial.
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Hundreds of people marched to  in the pre-dawn hours. A small group held a brief demonstration inside the upscale Plaza Frontenac shopping center in St. Louis County. Another group was turned away by police and security at a Ferguson Wal-Mart, but the store closed out of concern about the protest.
Candy DeWitt said in an interview that her son鈥檚 case is an example of why more needs to be done to impose mental health treatment on individuals who refuse it, before a crime occurs. She supports Laura鈥檚 Law, which allows court-ordered, involuntary outpatient treatment of people with a record of mental health hospitalizations and violence.
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County police spokesman Brian Schellman said Monday night that several protesters were arrested there but could not provide a precise total. He added that an unspecified number of additional arrests were made at the Webster Groves fundraiser for County Councilman , a Democrat who has come under criticism for his political links to St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney .
鈥淲e鈥檙e missing something that happens ahead of time so people don鈥檛 cycle in and out of a hospital, so they don鈥檛 end up on Murphy conservatorships at a great cost to the county and at great cost to family members,鈥?she said. 鈥淲e simply can鈥檛 ignore anymore that what we have is not working. And locking them up or putting them in Murphy conservatorships for the rest of their life does no good to anybody.鈥?
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Ferguson October began Friday with protesters marching to the St. Louis County prosecutor's office and renewing calls for charges against , the officer who shot Brown. A grand jury is reviewing the case, and the  is conducting a civil rights investigation.
Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail:  Twitter: @henryklee<p>Related Articles:</p><ul><li>[url=http://www.buycelinebags.com]Celine Handbags Outlet[/url]</li><li>[url=http://www.buycelinebags.com/celine-new-arrivals-35]Celine Bags New Arrivals[/url]</li><li>[url=http://www.buycelinebags.com/celine-trapeze-bags-36]Celine Trapeze Bags[/url]</li></ul>
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Revision as of 02:43, 30 October 2014

@@@ FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) 鈥?Pounding rain and tornado watches didn't deter hundreds of protesters Monday outside Ferguson police headquarters, where they stayed for almost four hours to mark how long 18-year-old 's body was left in a street after he was fatally shot by police. Organizers of the four-day Ferguson October protests dubbed the day "Moral Monday" and committed acts of civil disobedience across the St. Louis region. In addition to the initial march on Ferguson police headquarters, protesters blocked the entrance to a major employer, held a loud rally inside St. Louis City Hall, disrupted business at a Ferguson shopping center and three stores and tried to crash a private fundraiser for a St. Louis County executive candidate where U.S. Sen. was scheduled to appear. At the Monday night, protesters briefly draped a banner over a Jumbotron video board that read "Rams fans know on and off the field black lives matter." More than 50 people were arrested, including scholar and civil rights activist . West was among 42 arrested for peace disturbance at the Ferguson police station. Some protesters used a bullhorn to read the names of people killed by police nationwide. Christian, Jewish and Muslim clergy members 鈥?some of whom were among the first arrested 鈥?led a prayer service before marching to the station two blocks away. Protests have been common since Brown, who was unarmed and black, was killed by a white Ferguson police officer on Aug. 9. Tensions escalated last week when a white police officer in St. Louis shot and killed another black 18-year-old, Jr., who police say shot at officers. "My faith compels me to be here," Bishop of the of Missouri said outside Ferguson police headquarters. "I want to show solidarity, and call attention to the structural racism of St. Louis." Protesters were met by about 40 officers in riot gear. Several clergy members approached individual officers and asked them to "repent" for Brown's killing and other acts of violence. Some officers engaged the protesters, while others ignored the efforts. "My heart feels that this has been going on too long," Ferguson officer told the clergy. "We all stand in fault because we didn't address this." Outside Emerson Electric headquarters in Ferguson, six people were arrested for failing to disperse after blocking a street, spokesman said. Emerson is one of the region's largest employers. At St. Louis City Hall, about 100 protesters blew whistles that echoed off the marble walls. Protest leader presented a list of four demands to , chief of staff for Mayor . Slay was not in the office Monday. The demands called for an end to participation in a program providing military equipment to police, body cameras for all officers, a civilian review board for police and mandatory independent investigations whenever police kill someone. Rainford said St. Louis is not part of the militarization program; he promised the other demands will be taken seriously. "We are already working on all of these things," he said. Williams said that wasn't good enough, and pledged further disruptions in days to come. One protester was arrested for property damage. Hundreds of people marched to in the pre-dawn hours. A small group held a brief demonstration inside the upscale Plaza Frontenac shopping center in St. Louis County. Another group was turned away by police and security at a Ferguson Wal-Mart, but the store closed out of concern about the protest. County police spokesman Brian Schellman said Monday night that several protesters were arrested there but could not provide a precise total. He added that an unspecified number of additional arrests were made at the Webster Groves fundraiser for County Councilman , a Democrat who has come under criticism for his political links to St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney . Ferguson October began Friday with protesters marching to the St. Louis County prosecutor's office and renewing calls for charges against , the officer who shot Brown. A grand jury is reviewing the case, and the is conducting a civil rights investigation. ___

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