Posted on Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 9:45 a.m.
Hutaree member not competent to stand trial, federal judge says
By AnnArbor.com Staff
One of the nine members of the Hutaree militia group accused of plotting to kill police officers has been found unfit to stand trial and will receive inpatient mental health treatment, the Detroit News reports.
U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts ruled that 34-year-old Jacob Ward, originally from Ohio, cannot understand the charges against him because he suffers from a mental disease or defect.
Hutaree members were arrested in March 2010 during a series of raids by FBI agents, including a raid in the Ann Arbor area. The militia members are charged with planning to spark an uprising against the U.S. government by killing police officers.
To read the Detroit News story, click here.
Comments
Tru2Blu76
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 7:22 a.m.
There's a YouTube member posting supportive video for the Hutaree defendants: mostly it's just repetitious blabber about how the government is "crossing the line" versus "our rights & freedom." Funny - I feel pretty free and haven't yet experienced (in 66 years) any of this outrageous trampling of my rights by the feds. I couldn't resist giving feedback, saying that these militias are self-appointing themselves to be the "rescuers" of the OTHER 310 million of us. I concluded by stating my strong desire for all of these "heroes" to go away and cease their efforts to rescue me from our oppressive government. You can guess the reaction I got to that. The only new thing I learned was that all militia types apparently subscribe to the absolute conviction that Abraham Lincoln started all this government oppression: they call him "the Great Centralizer." Their main source of outrage is that Lincoln violated states rights when he "started the war" to keep all the states in the union. Hmm, I guess they don't think that bombarding federal troops with cannon fire is "starting" a war. I also seem to remember something about enslaving a million or so people being considered a major criminal act. Maybe it's just me. ;-) Whatever: all of these militia types (members and supporters) are clearly searching for some way to add significance to themselves and their lives. They delude themselves and think that they'll be "taken in" and supported by the general population. I for one won't be taking them in but will be shooting at them alongside our law enforcement and soldiers if they ever decide to act on their "beliefs."
tinkerbell
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 7:26 p.m.
Being a sociopath is not the same as being mentally ill
BhavanaJagat
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 4:40 p.m.
This story is important to understand the term or word 'health'. Government is spending billions of dollars to provide health care and operates very expensive programs like Medicaid to protect health of individuals who could be poor or may not afford the cost of health insurance premium. Unfortunately, all that spending cannot prevent this type of individuals with a mental illness or defect from obtaining gun licenses. We had several similar stories where the individual is discovered to have a mental health problem after an evaluation ordered by a Court. We have an individual in the State of Arizona who is now confined at a mental care institution after he had killed people with a gun he had purchased legally. The mental well-being is an essential component of man's well-being that is defined by the term health. To obtain a legally valid gun license, a man must have a certificate to show his or her mental well-being after a proper medical examination and the mental health status must be determined before placing a gun in the hands of any individual.
Tru2Blu76
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 7:32 a.m.
Eh, there are at least 100 million gun owners now - so what do you suppose the cost of testing them and all future buyers of guns is going to cost? Now consider: that ONE mentally ill person in Arizona is just that. So "catching" rare people like him is not cost effective. The news media sensationalizes these rare incidents and that gets people to thinking that just prohibiting the one-in-a-million nut jobs from getting guns is going to make the problem go away. It's not those rare individuals we have to worry about - in all cases those people could have been stopped but simply were NOT stopped by in-place authorities (including parents, families, teachers and friends). The militia men are not all mentally ill: they are self-made dupes of propaganda aimed at destroying the federal government.
Ricebrnr
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 12:56 a.m.
poor poor example. Both the Arizona tragedy with Loughner and the VA Tech massacre with Cho had people with histories of questionable mental health. They were both known to associates, class mates, University administration and Authorities. The failure here is not in licensing and gun rights of law abiding citizens. The failure is with every single one of those people who thought these killers were a danger but did not speak up. Every single one of them that didn't take the next step because someone else will do it. If you had to prove your mental competence before getting a drivers license, I'll wager your tune would be quite different.
a2baggagehandler
Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 9:44 p.m.
Could you please post that one photo of Jr. with all Hutaree articles? Please.
Animal Lover
Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 6:38 p.m.
If he's competent to own a gun and competent to plot killing police officers, he's competent to stand trial. Enough said!
John Turck IV
Tue, Jul 19, 2011 : 5:03 p.m.
Setting aside for the moment the obvious problem in making assumptions about his competency despite not having any medical evidence or any other information the judge was privy to, the question isn't whether he was competent at the time he bought a gun or even at the time he allegedly plotted to kill police officers. The question is whether he's competent to stand trial now.
jns131
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 2:10 p.m.
This case is similar to the one in Arizona. Remember? This one guy did a dirty deed, did in deed own a gun and yet let it loose on a number of people? Including that senator? He is not competent to stand trial either. Kind of scary to think of what the criteria is for mental illness. Good luck to the families.
Ricebrnr
Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 5:33 p.m.
nothing like a certain type of guilt to get a comment deleted. Doesn't change my original point. Did he come to this state due to his arrest OR was he found this way at the time of his arrest? Why wasn't his mental competence mentioned before say at his arrest or when he was allowed to be ROR? And I still see lots of assumptions of guilt in the above comments. Guilt which has yet to be proven at a much delayed trial.
Ricebrnr
Sun, Jul 17, 2011 : 2:58 a.m.
Not at all, you predicted whitewashing and got no suh thing.
bedrog
Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 6:17 p.m.
Its lovely to have at least a little predictability in this crazy , mixed up world....thanks.
Brad
Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 4:03 p.m.
Only one of the nine? I think they need to take another look ...
bedrog
Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 2:59 p.m.
not mentally competent + loads o'guns!!. can't wait to see a particular poster whitewash this.
bobr
Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 2:51 p.m.
The rest of the group that bought into this cause wouldn't be much closer to mental health.
David Briegel
Sat, Jul 16, 2011 : 2:25 p.m.
Wouldn't you have to "suffer from a mental disease or defect" to "plot to kill police officers" hoping "to spark an uprising"? Unfit indeed.