Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion. This trial was a travesty. They didn't know if it was adolescent rebellion. Regardless of other considerations involved in a particular case, the goal is to win. The program focuses on the controversial case of S. The high-profile case, the tactics Cheryl Coleman used to persuade the jury -- these are common in these cases, and come up again and again.
What are your thoughts on these statements and the place that justice truly has in the criminal justice system in general? Drug treatment for this condition is usually pretty effective in diminishing or eliminating the delusional ideas. They basically followed Cheryl's argument, and if you follow Cheryl's argument, he got convicted. That he was mentally ill was apparent to everyone. David Murdock: Doing the research with my co-producers, Miri Navasky and Karen O'Connor, we met the family. That was the moment where something might have been done. This film includes interviews with family members as well as presiding judge Larry Rosen, defense attorney Peter Lynch, and prosecutor Cheryl Coleman. Even though that's not the popular wisdom or the impression people have.
His mother referred him to the Albany County Medical Center, where an evaluation diagnosed him as having cocaine intoxication, suicidal ideation, and depression. One percent of all cases use the plea, and they usually don't prevail. TalkLeft does not give legal advice. I think it fits with his history of paranoid schizophrenia that he'd be suspicious when someone hands him a drug. Tortorici was arrested and charged with 14 counts of aggravated assault, kidnapping, and attempted murder.
Was he put on medication in this time period? Coleman spent over six months searching for a psychiatric expert, but for the first time in her career, she could not find an expert willing to testify that Tortorici was legally responsible for his actions at the time of the crime. He recently attempted suicide and almost succeeded. We were never contacted or called after the suicide attempt by the prison system to be notified of this attempt, or allowed access to give him support, and he had to inform us himself. Some of the medical records we've seen indicate he was still delusional, but he was sent back anyway. If he'd been found not guilty by reason of insanity, he would have been committed to a locked, secure mental facility where he would not have been a danger to people. He has shot substantial portions of his recent documentaries himself, including all of the Bolivia water war story for Frontline World, with digital video technology. Studies have shown that people spend longer periods of time in hospitals than they do in prisons.
His mental illness was apparent, but not how the courts should deal with him. When Ralph Tortorici first entered the system and was given a competency evaluation, how was it done and what was the outcome? Ralph refused medication during those weeks. And Ralph would have been in a place like that. Producer David Murdock was online Friday, Oct, 18 to discuss the adversarial criminal justice system and the personal, political, and societal fallout that occurs when the legal and psychiatric worlds collide. After nearly a year at the psychiatric facility, Ralph was returned, once again, to prison.
Using excerpts from the actual trial, as well as interviews with Tortorici's father and brother, the defense attorney, chief assistant district attorney, the prosecutor, psychiatric experts, and the presiding judge, this documentary examines the ethical dilemmas surrounding the insanity defense. Murdock for another insightful and thought provoking Frontline program. David Murdock: We did interview jurors. And the follow up and the follow through is not always the best. Defense attorneys have sort of stopped using it, because they're hard to win, and even when they're successful, the length of incarceration is indeterminate.
There wasn't a lot of debate, and there wasn't a lot of soul-searching among them. A paranoid schizophrenic convinced the government had planted tracking devices in his body, he was charged with assault, kidnapping, and attempted murder. This was something the family was very concerned about over the course of years. I think the difficult thing is that finding out what's actually going on is really hard -- there are security issues, and they can say we don't want you to visit, we don't want the press in here because it's a security issue. Was he held in the Albany County Jail during the competency evaluation or was he placed in a psychiatric institution for observation? In 1992, Ralph Tortorici's paranoid delusions were already evident. The jurors in some ways followed what Cheryl laid out. So when Cheryl says that as a prosecutor, you're just worried about winning, that's her job.
Because negotiations between Ralph and the police were going on over an announcement system -- Ralph was speaking on a microphone in the lecture room. Two things that the prosecutor, Cheryl Coleman, said that I wanted to get your opinion on. As a result of his delusions and increasing instability, Tortorici became addicted to drugs, including marijuana. . Notes: Title from resource description page viewed Jun.
One of the things we liked about this story and made it worthwhile going into was that if you can understand how Ralph Tortorici was convicted, you can understand how mentally ill people are convicted all across the country. Ive found direct corelations between emf gauss on walls and appliances and voices and pain. Ok heres a delusion to check out. I've said the mental health facilities in correctional departments are stretched, but still there's a difference between being in a locked hospital and being in a prison. There's a whole atmosphere out there where there's less tolerance in the general public, and politicians respond to that.
His mental illness came on in adolescence. And he was there for a short amount of time, then he was sent back and deemed competent. In the show, Robert talks about how he offered to take Ralph to the hospital to get his body x-rayed to prove he didn't have chips. David Murdock: I think it's safe to say that it's a problem for prisons across the country. He claimed that he was part of a government medical experiment and demanded to speak to the president, the governor and the Supreme Court. Included are links to trial testimony, documents, and both sides' closing arguments. During a three-hour standoff with police negotiators, Tortorici--a paranoid schizophrenic who believed the government had implanted tracking devices in his body--demanded to speak to the president, the governor, and the Supreme Court.