From Truthout:
On Nov. 17, 2012, Tyler Haire was arrested in Vardaman, Mississippi, for attacking his father's girlfriend with a knife. Tyler, 16, had called 911 himself, and when they arrived, the local police found him seated quietly on a tree stump outside the home on County Road 433. The boy alternately said he could remember nothing and that they had the wrong man.
Tyler was taken to the county jail in Pittsboro, 12 miles away, where the sheriff, worried that the awkward and overweight boy might hurt himself or be targeted by other inmates, placed him in a cell used for solitary confinement.
Tyler had turned 17 by the time, five months later, a grand jury indicted him for aggravated assault, and his case went before a judge.
Tyler's defense lawyer, appointed by the court, informed the judge in a court filing that his attempts at speaking with the boy had made it apparent the 17-year-old did not have "sufficient mental capacity" to understand the charge he was facing. The lawyer wanted Tyler to undergo a psychiatric examination. He listed the many reasons why that was appropriate. Continue reading >>>
|
|
|
|
