Our son has schizoaffective disorder with depressive episodes. He was arrested in L.A. for breaking windows, jailed, found competent and released pending a court date. Things did not go well.
In a courthouse hallway in Los Angeles in early May, I begged my son’s public defender to advocate for a mental health program where he could get the treatment he needed.
Now he was in court because of an outstanding 2020 bench warrant for felony vandalism. He’d broken windows in a commercial building because he saw “something evil” reflected there, causing approximately $40,000 in damages.When he was late to the hearing, the public defender said, “He must be having trouble parking.”
If only it had still been accurate. During his months of incarceration, his father or I had spoken with him daily, and we visited weekly. We sent care packages, letters and books. So did friends. He read a lot: “The Count of Monte CristoWhile inside, he refused meds and regaled us with impersonations of doctors who visited him. But housed and free of drugs, he grew interested in his family again.
The day after the April competency hearing, my son was supposed to answer for the broken windows. But the prosecutors weren’t ready. We were in the courtroom that day too. When his public defender argued for my son’s release, she explained that he’d be staying with a girlfriend in Inglewood.We weren’t sure how to respond. We knew from long experience we couldn’t run a rehab for him or be his jailers. But he’s our beloved son. Maybe this time we could figure it out.
He doesn’t want treatment. He’s lived a feral life on the streets. During the pandemic, he stayed in hotels as part of Project Room Key, and we’d take him for picnics. But, according to him, the water in the showers weakened his joints and it was back to the streets. Public defenders, prosecuting attorneys and judges in L.A. work together to order treatment instead of incarceration for defendants whose crimes arise from mental illness.
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