The Impact of Mental Health on Criminal Cases in Alabama
Mental health issues can substantially impact a criminal case in Mobile and all of Alabama.
Your mental state affects your entire being, your personality, and your ability to handle stress, make sound decisions, and relate to others. A psychiatric disorder may make it more likely that a person commits a crime, especially if they are disconnected from reality during a stressful period.
Mental health issues can affect people of all ages.
But how does having a mental health issue impact your sentencing? Are the mentally ill more likely to get away with their crime or less likely?
As an experienced and compassionate criminal defense attorney for 20 years in the Mobile, Alabama area, Jason Darley must consider his client’s mental state when preparing a defense, whether a DUI, domestic dispute, drug possession, breaking and entering, or white-collar crime.
Mental Health and Criminal Cases
Mental health issues are receiving more attention these days. Mass shootings, homelessness, and acting out in general all put the focus on the mental state of those involved in these acts.
Bipolar disorder, delusions, borderline personality disorder, and depression alter an individual’s perception of his world and may create a mental state where acting out is more likely. Without adequate treatment, someone suffering from a mental health problem may be more likely to become violent.
An offender may be put in county jail for low-level and less serious crimes and receive no treatment. After serving their time, they are off the streets for a while and then released back into the community.
A sentencing judge can increase or amend a sentence when the offender is suffering a mental illness.
A Mental Health Defense
When an individual claims they are not guilty by reason of insanity or a mental illness, they must establish that at the time of the crime, they could not appreciate the nature of their acts or the difference between right and wrong. This claim can result in an individual having their defense rejected or being sentenced to a mental health facility.
Your criminal defense attorney may suggest you undergo a thorough mental health forensic evaluation. If the individual is not deemed competent to stand trial, he will not be tried until he can.
Crime and Competency
A criminal defense attorney must determine his client’s basic understanding of the criminal defense system and the charges he faces so he can participate in his defense. It is a constitutional right of every person charged to be competent to understand what he has done, what charges he faces, and to be able to help craft his defense.
Otherwise, the court may decide the case should be delayed until he receives adequate medical help if that is possible.
Should a defendant be unable to understand due to his mental illness or a low I.Q., he may be ordered to a mental facility to be committed until he is no longer a danger to himself or others.
Mental Health Court
Alabama’s Mental Health courts were created as an alternative to incarcerating low-level criminal defendants, some of whom are suffering from mental illness.
A collaboration between law enforcement, mental health counselors, prosecution, and defense attorneys, the court requires compliance with ongoing treatment.
Those charged with misdemeanors with a maximum sentence of 12 months in jail are eligible. The individual must agree to counseling, taking medications prescribed, and drug tests to ensure no illegal drugs are being used. They must also remain under a nightly curfew.
Improving public safety is the goal, as well as providing a lower incarceration cost.
Your Alabama Criminal Defendant Attorney
If required, criminal defense attorney Jason Darley has the experience to work with you on a mental health defense. He will advise you on your chances of having a successful mental health defense in front of a jury or a judge.
The courts will consider a mental health issue that falls short of an insanity defense to reach a fair resolution of your criminal case. Attorney Darley may be able to advise you on how to avoid incarceration if you qualify for an alternative mental health program.
Attorney Darley is happy to speak with you during a complimentary consultation on your criminal case. Call his Mobile, Alabama office at (251) 441-7772 to discuss how Darley Law can provide you with the most effective and aggressive legal defense of your criminal matter.