MOUNT VERNON – Randolph County judges Richard Brown and Eugene Gross improperly ordered involuntary medication of Chester Mental Health patients, Fifth District appellate judges ruled on Sept. 14.
Brown granted authority in 13 minutes and Gross granted it in 17 minutes.
They disregarded testimony of the patients about what they found helpful.
Patient Harlin volunteered to take three of 16 prescriptions on his list.
Patient Leo resisted 14 prescriptions and requested one for cannabis.
Fifth District Presiding Justice Mark Boie delivered the opinions with justices Judy Cates and John Barberis concurring.
They aimed much of their heat at counsel for the patients, though they didn’t name counsel or state whether one lawyer represented both patients.
They found counsel failed to raise objections at hearings and examined the state’s witness for about a minute each time.
State’s Attorney Jeremy Walker and chief Illinois appellate prosecutor Patrick Delfino represented the state on appeal.
Walker currently campaigns to replace Brown who plans to retire in December.
Patient Leo arrived at Chester on April 22, 2019, after a Cook County judge found him unfit to stand trial on charges of trespass and battery.
Psychiatrist Terrence Casey petitioned for medication by force on April 25, indicating Leo was unstable, psychotic, and agitated.
He stated Leo banged his head, urinated on a floor, and was physically aggressive toward peers and staff.
He stated Leo didn’t comply with staff directions.
He stated Leo had no insight into his aggression and was an imminent risk of danger to him and others.
He stated benefit outweighed risk and less restrictive services had been tried.
He attached a signed statement that Leo was provided with drug sheets but someone other than Leo signed it.
Brown held a hearing on May 1, and Casey testified that he diagnosed Leo with bipolar disorder, personality disorder, “also cannabis use and borderline.”
“There was no further testimony about how Dr. Casey arrived at the diagnosis, its definition, or the symptomology of the diagnosis,” Boie wrote.
Casey testified he prescribed medication and Leo took it by emergency force.
He said Leo had been less aggressive since starting on it.
"Dr. Casey testified that Leo was suffering as a result of his mental illness, although Dr. Casey did not elaborate as to how Leo was suffering," Boie wrote.
Leo testified that since 2016 he tried every type of medication and they all gave him horrible side effects and they increased suicidal tendencies.
“He testified that taking medication was against his belief and that he believed that cannabis was the tree of life in the book of Genesis,” Boie wrote.
He said he hadn’t engaged in therapy or gone to recreation in the gym.
He asked for continuance to see if there was any evidence that he struck staff because he denied doing that.
“Neither Leo’s attorney nor the trial court responded to Leo’s request for a continuance," Boie wrote.
Leo’s counsel had no other witness and Brown didn’t ask for argument.
He ordered involuntary administration up to 90 days.
Casey petitioned for authority over Harlin on Feb. 20, 2019, and Gross held a hearing on Feb. 27.
Casey diagnosed bipolar disorder and alcohol and cannabis dependence.
“There was no further testimony about how Dr. Casey arrived at the diagnosis, its definition, or its symptomology,” Boie wrote.
Casey said Harlin’s ability to function deteriorated and he threatened to skin a nurse alive.
He said Harlin went on a hunger strike in January and lost 20 pounds.
He said Harlin was hostile, unpredictable, and easily agitated.
He said Harlin suffered but didn’t describe how he came to that conclusion.
He said Harlin agreed to take Luvox.
“Dr. Casey did not testify regarding the benefits and side effects of any of the individual medications in the petition," Boie wrote.
Harlin testified he stopped taking medication because they took him to a seclusion room and subjected him to cameras.
He said he’d take clonazepam and keep lorazepam as needed.
Gross granted authority on the spot.
Boie used the same words in both opinions at certain points, such as declaring counsel ineffective and finding blatant errors.
He found Leo and Harlin had a right not to be medicated on an involuntary basis until the state proved they lacked capacity to make reasoned decisions.
He found the state couldn’t prove they lacked that capacity without demonstrating that they received all the information required for each medication.
“We see no reason to differentiate between the information required for the trial court to consider and the information required for a patient to consider the risks and benefits of proposed treatment," he wrote.
He found that by failing to object to the state’s failure of proof on this issue alone, counsel failed to protect their fundamental due process right.
In Leo’s case Boie found a drug that treated hay fever, allergy, and cold, though Leo didn’t suffer from those.
Another drug treated schizophrenia though Leo wasn’t diagnosed with it.
Boie found no documents indicating to Leo how each drug would benefit him.
He found no indication whether the state would medicate Leo orally or by injection.
In Harlin’s case he found it possible that an individual with a lengthy history of engagement with treatment would have valuable insight regarding treatment.
“It was not possible to ascertain from the information provided to Harlin in writing what medications would be administered at the same time,” he wrote.
The orders expired in 2019 and the appeals turned moot, but Fifth District judges took a position due to potential for repetition.
Veronique Baker and Ann Krasuski of Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy, a state agency, represented Leo and Harlin on appeal.