Oregon Supreme Court weighs criminal insanity issue for substance pleas

Corvallis Gazette-Times
Thursday, January 20, 2005

Oregon Supreme Court weighs criminal insanity issue for substance pleas
Offenders shouldn't be in state hospital, Portland attorney says

By CHARLES E. BEGGS

Associated Press writer

SALEM — Accused criminals shouldn't be able to raise insanity defenses when their disorders are only drug or alcohol dependence, the Oregon Supreme Court was told Wednesday.

Under state law, criminals found guilty "except for insanity" are sent to the State Hospital instead of jail or prison.

A key issue in two appeals to the court is whether substance addiction alone is a mental illness that justifies sending offenders to the hospital or keeping them there when another disorder, such as paranoia, has been treated.

A ruling that addiction alone doesn't justify hospital confinement could free a handful of the 480 patients who are in the Salem hospital for crimes, said Harris Matarazzo, a Portland lawyer handling one of the cases before the state's top court.

Most criminally insane offenders with alcohol or drug problems also suffer from mental illness, he said in an interview.

Matarazzo said offenders with only substance-abuse problems shouldn't be in the state hospital because it has no treatment programs for them. He also said such addicts shouldn't be able to make an insanity defense in the first place.

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