insane « CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

Criminal Law Blog by Defense Lawyer John Floyd and Mr. Billy Sinclair

July 14, 2009

THE DIFFICULTIES FACED IN INSANITY CASES

Filed under: Homicide Crimes Lawyer — Tags: ineffective representation, insane, insanity defense, mental illness, Murder, schizophrenia — johntfloyd @ 3:46 am

Lawyer Ineffective for Failure to Investigate, Request Medical Records Indicating Possible Insanity; (Be careful what you ask for…)

By: Houston Criminal Attorney John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

Spencer Ojeifo Imoudu was not a normal individual. In August 2005 the Bexar County resident stole a vehicle parked outside a pawn shop. The vehicle belonged to the owner of the pawn shop. He, and another witness, saw Imoudu get in the vehicle and drive off. The two men raced to the witness’s truck and sped away after Imoudu. During the high speed chase, Imoudu turned into oncoming traffic, crashing head on into an oncoming vehicle. The driver of the other vehicle was killed. Imoudu was arrested and charged with felony murder and manslaughter. He eventually pled guilty to the two charges in exchange for a 17-year sentence with an affirmative finding of a deadly weapon. 1/

Appellant was initially represented by a court-appointed attorney. This changed after Imoudu’s father visited him in the county jail where the father found his son not acting normally. The father spoke to a jail social worker who informed him that she had noticed his son’s mental health deteriorating. The social worker had attempted to contact Imoudu’s court-appointed attorney, but the attorney had not returned any of her calls. The social worker suggested that the father retain another attorney to represent his son. 2/

The father accepted the social worker’s suggestion. In March 2006 Imoudu’s father retained a new attorney and the court-appointed attorney was dismissed. The retained attorney visited Imoudu in jail and found him staring “into space” and striking “an odd pose with his fingers on his chin” and mumbling incoherently. The attorney’s co-counsel also met with Imoudu and left feeling there was “something wrong” with him. 3/

Quite naturally the new attorney filed for a competency examination after these two separate attorney/client meetings. The trial court appointed a psychiatrist to evaluate Imoudu and followed up by conducting a competency hearing. The court-appointed expert testified at the hearing that he believed Imoudu was competent to stand trial. Imoudu, who was taking anti-psychotic medication at the time, also testified at the hearing. After hearing his client testify, Imoudu’s attorney conceded that his client was competent to stand trial. A month later Imoudu at his attorney’s suggestion accepted a plea deal offered by the state and pled guilty in exchange for the 17-year sentence. 4/ (more…)

Comments (0)

February 11, 2009

ANDRE THOMAS: INSANE IN TEXAS

Filed under: Death Penalty Crimes Lawyer — Tags: capital punishment, death penalty, insane, insanity defense, Murder, plucked eye, schizophrenia — johntfloyd @ 5:38 am

Executing the Insane: Past Witch Hunt; Current Shame

By Houston Criminal Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair

Just after noon on December 9, 2008 a corrections officer assigned to Texas’ death row was making a normal security round in Building 10 when he observed what appeared to be blood on the face of condemned inmate Andre Thomas. The inmate told the officer he had pulled out his last good eye and eaten it. Prison doctors quickly determined the condemned inmate needed additional medical treatment. Security staff transported him to the East Texas Medical Center in Tyler. After Thomas received medical treatment, the Texas Department of Public Safety and Corrections transferred him to the Jester 4 Psychiatric Unit in Richmond where he remains as of this writing.

Andre Thomas is no doubt still insane today. He was also insane on March 27, 2004 when he slaughtered three people. In fact, he was insane long before March 27, 2004. Everyone in Grayson County seemed to know it. Leyha Marie Hughes’ father especially knew it, He repeatedly told the local police after his daughter’s murder that “Andre Thomas was crazy, unstable, everyone knew him and his entire family was crazy.” Even Thomas himself seem to know he was crazy. As the Grits-for-Breakfast blog reported on January 21, 2009, Thomas twice unsuccessfully sought psychiatric help from a Grayson County hospital before March 27, 2004—the day he killed Leyha Marie Hughes. In fact, the very day before he killed the little 13-month-old Leyha, a social worker named Sherrie St. Cyr and physician named William Bowen spoke to Thomas in the emergency room at the Texoma Medical Center. Both thought he was psychotic and should be admitted to a psychiatric facility. But, tragically, he was not.

Finally, on March 27, 2004, it happened. What Leyha’s father knew would happen at some time. Something snapped inside the disordered head of Andre Thomas. He walked to the home of his ex-wife, Laura Boren Thomas. Armed with a knife, he arrived at the residence at 7:22 a.m. He kicked in the front door. He found Laura, their four-year-old-son Andre, and baby Leyha home alone. What happened next was a “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” revisited. Andre repeatedly stabbed Laura, Andre, and Leyha before brutally mutilating them by removing their hearts from their lifeless bodies. Each victim was left with large, gaping wounds in their chest.

Thomas placed the three bloody hearts in his pockets and calmly walked out of the house. He must have felt pretty good. He had just finished “God’s work.” He believed the three people he had just slaughtered were “evil” and possessed by demons. God had recently told him that Laura had been acting like a “jezebel” and that little Andre was the “anti-Christ.” (more…)

Comments (5)