As a competence, legislators question solutions Dishes

Raymond Moore, who was charged with the death of Daniel Whitmore due to murder, was not competent in August 2023, in which since then by hearings, extended deadlines and the lawyers of Moores were slowed after a second opinion about the assessment of a doctor.

“I just want him to be responsible for what he did,” said Shellie Whitmore. “He murdered my father. He stabbed it 25 times. This is disgustingly exaggerated and my father was 75 years old – what did he like with Mr. Moore to justify this? Nothing. He only went along this pond. “

Statistically speaking, it is less than a throw that Whitmore receives the accountability she is looking for. New Hampshire Due to the low restoration of the competence for criminal accused, which is almost half of the national average, the attention of the families and legislators of the victims has attracted. Decisions on competence are based on ratings of mental health and the question of whether the accused can understand the legal system and participate in their defense.

The national average rate for the restoration is 81%. In contrast, New Hampshire had only 44% of those who were ordered to make the compensation for compensation that were able to return to court in 2019, which, according to a legislative report, were the latest data.

Since in New Hampshire there is no agency to restore the restoration, the office of forensic examiners does not keep these statistics in mind, according to a spokesman.

Whitmore fears that one day the 43 -year -old Moore, who had a violent past, could be released one day without appearing in court to change his request or to face a jury.

“The entire case could only live when deciding the judge,” she said. “You have a 50-50 shot.”

In Hillsborough County alone, at least four murder cases (including Moore's) are pending, which are pending in different phases of the competence ratings. Other cases contain less charges for offense and accused that are exposed to conditions such as dementia.

A defendant who has not become competent has to be improved for a year, and it is expected to return to court to face the indictment against them. In New Hampshire, however, there is no formal system for treatment. Those who are not prosecuted due to incompetence are often freed after 90 days. However, if they are classified as dangerous, they can commit the state psychiatric hospital, but then released after the treatment.

The state can also initiate additional involuntary obligations, which, according to the General Prosecutor, is often carried out by civil and estate proceedings.

The recovery of incompetent, who are incompetent, is weighed up by the legislator, whereby the house recently passed a legislative template to hire a two -year pilot program for the hiring forensic connecting officers who “support the accused in reducing obstacles for access and maintaining treatment and services”, e.g. The draft law will now go to the Senate on the way.

The MP Mark Pearson, R-Hampstead, who cited the legislative template after she had been addressed by civil servants from the national alliance for mental illnesses, is not surprised that the state lives behind the process without formal restoration process.

Many defendants who deal in New Hampshire get better themselves, take part in the advice or start taking the medication required, he said.

Your restoration “has nothing to do with a deliberate program,” said Pearson. “It's all by the wayside, which is why our numbers are so low.”

The increase in the restoration rate is good for those who are concerned about the rights of the victims because it closes the relatives. But it can be good for those who are also accused of crimes, said Pearson.

“Sometimes a person is referred back to this or this facility while she is in this one -year hover and spends a long time when they were found to be guilty,” he said.

The pilot's Forensic Liaison program would be modeled in other states after success. One change is the supervision of the office of forensic examiner under the Department of Health and Human Services instead of the Department of Corrections.

Cases with competence take time, and the right to a quick attempt is brought into the queue.

Stephanie Beard, 34, was charged that the 71-year-old John Glennon in his apartment in downtown Manchester stabbed in May 2022 was restored by Judge Amy Messer last October, but the case was only brought to trial in early 2026.

In this case, both law enforcement and the defense agreed that this beard was not competent to be in court, but potentially restored in the treatment.

Messers weighed reports from two forensic psychologists when deciding on the future of Bart's case. Beard had treated the state prison in the safe psychiatric unity of the state.

A doctor found that Bart “reports that she hears a male voice”, the voice does not identify according to the knife.

“The concentration on the symptoms and not on the diagnosis (the doctor) came to the conclusion that the accused was stabilized, and it can work without the psychiatric symptoms that influence them,” wrote Messer.

Competence issues are usually raised by defense lawyers, said Robin Melone, a lawyer of the Concord defenders who do not work any active cases of competence.

Criminal accused against deposit are encouraged to look for mental health services in the community alone, but it sees for those who are kept in prison during the time, such as Moore and Beard.

Prison “is a correctional facility,” said Melon. “They do not have the skills, resources or the mandate to treat people with serious mental illnesses in order to bring them to a place of restoration.

“I think restoration is more than medication. Medicines may be a piece, but it can't just be medication. “

The first competence findings can be a challenge and slow down the process even more, especially in the case of residues in the office of the forensic examiner and the accused, the not to be planned.

In Moore's case, according to court files, five competence listings were canceled over the course of 10 months. Moore refused to work with the initial evaluation, which judge William Delker ordered, which led to the office of forensic examiner missing the 45-day period for an assessment of the imprisoned persons according to court documents.

In a handwritten note to the court, Moore called for a new lawyer who continued to slow down the proceedings. He claimed that his public defenders Brian Civale and Robert Swales had “found me incompetent so that they could make me look crazy.”

In another case, Carrie Drake, who stabbed the 75 -year -old Vernon Hayford in Manchester in March last year, refused to carry out the instructions from judge David Anderson. She faces an alternative number of ruthless second -degree murder and is held in the Valley Street prison.

In June, Anderson ordered officials in prison to transport Drake by “everything that is necessary for an evaluation” in order to extend the valuation period by 90 days on July 23.

During a recent hearing in this case against Drake, Anderson cleared the courtroom to discuss the status of the case despite the appeal of a reporter from the union leaders. Most records in the case remain sealed.

A hearing is now planned for April 11th and the “lawyer of the accused must disclose their neuropsychological experts by March 1, 2025” “”

Pearson said that the pilot program for competence restoration starts small and hopes that the results will improve with similar programs as in other countries.

“We want to demonstrate New Hampshire that this works, it helps and it saves money so that this can be part of what we are doing nationwide in a year or two.

Melon said resources do not have to make sure that someone is able to return to court. The state needs more mental health systems with distraction programs for lower crimes such as shoplifting, she said.

“We shouldn't just restore people for law enforcement,” she said. “We have to restore people to make them good. Then you will not be a returnee. “

Shellie Whitmore, who lost her father through murder, agreed that changes had to be made to restore the competence.

She said her father would still be alive if Moore had not been released twice after she had been arrested a few months before her father's death for violent crimes in Manchester and Nashua. The earlier charges in Manchester included the first degree attacks because he had supposedly threatened to kill another man and swing a folding knife.

She fears that it could happen again if Moore is not held accountable.

“It could be released,” said Whitmore.

During a hearing last month, the prosecutor Brian Greklek -McKeon Richter Delker announced that the hearing in April would be contested due to the restoration of Moore against Moore and that a third doctor is available for a “tie -breaker” set if necessary. The hearing is expected to take three or four hours.

“I don't think you will carry out a third rating. I think the judge will only decide, ”said Whitmore. “This is so scary to me.”

In the meantime, she can only wait for the hearing.

“It will be very difficult, but it comes and I prepared to hug it and hope for the best,” she said.