Search
Share & Follow Religion News Blog
Remember These Stories?
Man accused of threats to kill LDS leaders will stay in federal hospital
Without medication, Jay Richard Morrison likely will never stand trial on charges he threatened Mormon leaders. But without anti-psychotic drugs, the mentally ill Tremonton man also is unlikely to get out of custody soon – or, perhaps, ever.
As Morrison approaches his third anniversary behind bars, U.S. Magistrate David Nuffer has decided that the 60-year-old remains mentally incompetent to stand trial and that his release would create a substantial risk of bodily injury to others.
In a ruling issued Dec. 21, the magistrate ordered that Morrison be placed in a “suitable facility” for treatment and recommended that correctional officials leave him at his current location, the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo. His mental state will be periodically re-evaluated while he is in custody.
Nuffer based his decision on a report by mental health experts who said that Morrison is unlikely to be restored to competency to go to trial in the foreseeable future because of his “continued preoccupation with grandiose and persecutory delusions.”
A prison psychologist believes Morrison suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and notes in the report that therapy without medication has failed to improve his condition.
Morrison was arrested in February 2003 for allegedly threatening to kill LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley in at least two separate posts to an Internet chat room. In the first, he allegedly wrote, “I pray he [Hinckley] does not die before I get the privilege of killing him,” adding that he planned to decapitate the leader.
In the second posting, Morrison allegedly claimed he had the moral right to kill the entire First Presidency and Quorum of Twelve, which make up the top leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A doctor prescribed medication but Morrison stopped taking it in November 2003 after about four weeks, contending that the drug was giving him heart attacks. Test results were normal, but the defendant still refused to take the medicine.
Prosecutors successfully requested a court order to forcibly medicate Morrison, which was put on hold while he appealed. His lawyer, Benjamin Hamilton, argued that forcing his client to take the drug affects his right against self-incrimination, as well as his physical well-being.
In July, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver agreed, overturning the forced medication order. In its decision, the court also pointed out that Morrison already had spent more time awaiting trial than he probably would serve if convicted of making threatening communications.
Bookmark, Share, or Email This Page
Read Another Article
|
Related News Articles
Topic(s): 
Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates
Find Related Information
Find Related 
Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles
Search Religion News Blog