Mississippi man jailed nearly 11 years without trial after being found incompetent is approved for transfer to a state hospital
The Associated Press reported that Steven Jessie Harris, charged in the 2005 death of his father, had been held in the Clay County Jail for almost 11 years after being found incompetent to stand trial in 2008, and that a special chancery judge had approved his transfer to East Mississippi State Hospital or Mississippi State Hospital when a bed opened. His new lawyer said a bed could take weeks.
He credited a new district attorney with pressing the chancery court, which handles commitments, to act on a circuit court recommendation made years earlier. The county sheriff said the county had been paying for Harris's medication and that crowded state facilities leave sheriffs across the state asking what to do with people charged with crimes who are found incompetent.
Source: Man Held 11 Years Without Trial Will Go to Mental Facility — Mississippi Free Press (AP, originally Jackson Free Press), by Associated Press
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