Mississippi homicide suspect found incompetent in 2019 is still in jail, as state hospital forensic capacity lags
The article follows Raffell Franklin, accused in a 2017 shooting, who was found incompetent to stand trial in March 2019 and remained in the Jasper County jail years later awaiting transfer to Mississippi State Hospital. The sheriff said he could not release him into the community.
It adds system-level figures: in fiscal year 2021 the hospital completed 128 competency evaluations and its Forensic Services unit served 77 people, and the state was planning a $26.4 million renovation to bring forensic bed capacity to 83. It also cites earlier cases of defendants held for years, including a Clay County man jailed 11 years, and a 2016 Treatment Advocacy Center report calling jails the new asylums.
Source: Suspected killer incompetent to stand trial but remains in jail — Mississippi Today (Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting), by Julie Whitehead
← Back to the map