Yes we do.   Our investigators get as much information as they can about the mentally ill defendant and we assign the mental health attorney to represent him or her regardless of whether they are in jail or in the community.   We just don’t have the application signed by the defendant if his mental ill prevents it.  If he or she is subsequently determined to be competent and wants to proceed pro se then we seek leave to withdraw. I am not understanding the part about the court “going along with it”. First, the judges don’t make decisions for my office about who we represent and second, they are jumping for joy that they no longer need to deal with the mentally ill defendants as pro se. Lol.

Mdj’s, common pleas judges, prosecutors, prison employees etc all call us and alert us to seriously mentally ill defendants without counsel.

 I couldn’t be happier with how our procedure works and the benefits to this high needs population.  More specific questions can be answered by our mental health attorney Eden Hartman.   Ehartman@eriecountypa.gov.  814 451 6510 is our office number
________________________________________
From: chiefdefenders@pdap.simplelists.com [chiefdefenders@pdap.simplelists.com] on behalf of Autumn Johnson [autumnljohnson80@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2022 4:05 PM
To: ChiefDefenders@pdap.simplelists.com
Subject: PD Appointment Applications

Good afternoon,

Currently we have an abundance of inmates in our county jail who are suffering from severe mental illness issues.  My investigators report to me often that they were unable to get a meaningful interview with an inmate because of their condition.  They are unable to make an informed request for our services and unable to sign the verification/application.

I've taken the position that we should pick them up anyway so we can get things started on competency.  I just can't justify refusing them because of their mental status. Our county jail mental health "telepsych" does little to no 304 petitions requiring our office to file a lot of competency petitions.

My question is, do any of you have experience with this and how have you proceeded? Our Court is willing to go along with this but have asked me to create a PD application/motion that specifies their inability to request us because of mental health.  Do any of you see any issues with this?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Autumn L. Johnson
Public Defender
Mercer County, Pennsylvania
724-662-3800 ext 2528

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