The defense of the mother who self-harmed and tried to stab her children last June in Arrieta has requested that the provisional prison measure imposed on her last August be lifted. Her husband and father of the children, who at the time of the events were 3 and 5 years old, is the first to champion this petition and is in favor of the accused returning home with them. That, he points out, is also what his children ask him, who ask him "when will she return"? "There are two children at home waiting for their mother," says Philipp, who explains that on the day of the events his wife suffered a "psychotic episode." That is why both he and his lawyer maintain that prison "is not the place" for her. "She is a sick person," Philipp emphasizes, stressing that now that they "know" the disease they can face it. As he explains, she is currently "much better."
That petition for her to leave Tahíche is based on the forensic report requested by the judge, which determined two weeks ago that the mother suffered a "total absence" of her "capacity for judgment" at the time of the events. For her lawyer, Sergio Rodríguez, that opinion "means the non-imputability" of this mother, so he asks for her freedom, if necessary, "under (psychiatric) control, surveillance or whatever the judge understands." In his opinion, there is a "contradiction" between the provisional prison measure dictated by the Court and the conclusion now provided by the forensic examination. In light of that opinion, the lawyer states that a "criminal sentence" will not be requested at trial, but "security measures" will. "There are millions of variants to not have her in prison," defends Rodríguez, who stresses that he has been "waiting 16 days" for a response from the Court to his request for freedom and asks that he be answered "now."
On June 23, this woman, who is a doctor by profession, inflicted serious injuries on herself with a knife and also injured her two children, although the children's injuries were not serious. After what happened, this mother remained for several days in the ICU and later was admitted to the psychiatry ward of Molina Orosa. On July 29, the investigating judge determined that she should be imposed provisional prison while she was being investigated for the alleged attempted murder of her children. After being discharged from psychiatry at the end of August, she was admitted to prison.
"She is not a criminal, she is a mother who has done something without being aware"
Now, the forensic report has determined that when she committed those acts she "presented a picture characterized by great confusion, emotional agitation and a significant cognitive dysfunction caused by the existence of a delirium that conditioned her acts." This, concludes that opinion, caused her "a complete loss in the understanding, in its nature and consequences, of the acts imputed to her, with total absence in her capacity for judgment at those moments."
"Is prison the ideal place for her to recover from that? No," her lawyer asks and answers. "We are not talking about a unstructured person," argues Rodríguez, who emphasizes that "there is no accusation from her husband, from the father of her children, on the contrary, there is constant help and a desire for her to be with them, that she has to incorporate and be with them again." "She is not a criminal, she is a mother who has done something without being aware," says her husband for his part.
This man explains that at first he did not know what was happening to his wife and relates that in recent months he has been "immersed in information" to "understand" her illness. After 8 months "learning" about it, he assures that he "understands" what she suffers from and wants his wife to return home, with him and with his children, to whom he has said that "mommy is in the hospital."
Since she was admitted to prison, the little ones go with their father to visit her, but only once a month, "when we can touch each other, without other prisoners, without bars," Philipp points out. He, who visits her "every Sunday," points out that the children frequently ask him "when will" their mother return. "She calls us five minutes a day, those five minutes are the joy of the family," narrates the husband, who emphasizes that the children wait daily "anxiously" for that moment to "hear the voice" of their mother. "Does anyone believe that this man is going to put his children at risk?" adds the lawyer, who believes that by keeping her in prison "an injustice" is being committed.
The Court must decide "where" she should be
The doctors who sign the forensic report are not in favor of giving the mother an "outpatient control." "They are saying that you cannot take her out on the street," explains the lawyer in this regard, who considers that "this is debatable." The report indicates that given the "severity of the mental disorder" and the "magnitude of the hetero and self-inflicted violence," the patient requires "mandatory monitoring by specialized medical personnel." Her disorder, the report continues, describes "high rates of relapses, with the characteristic of having a sudden onset of psychotic symptoms: change from a non-psychotic state to another clearly psychotic state within a period of less than two weeks, a situation that we understand exceeds the possibilities of outpatient control." "That treatment, how do you do it at this procedural moment? That is what the judge has to say, how to do it, a mechanism. But not in prison," argues the lawyer.
In the event that this mother returned home, "we are talking about executioner and victims together, which is complicated," admits Rodríguez, who clarifies that "what happens is that the executioner has already been shown to be not imputable at the time of the events." Thus, he reiterates that what he asks is that the Court say "now" "where" she should be, insisting on his criterion that the measure applied to her should not be prison.
This lawyer regrets the "excessive delays" that he claims have been occurring in the case since he took it over last September. He especially emphasizes that the report is dated March 1 and he presented his writing requesting the withdrawal of provisional prison the following day. Thus, he emphasizes that they have been "waiting 16 days." Precisely for that reason, both he and the husband went to the Courts of Arrecife this Wednesday. According to what he relates, last October they had already requested her freedom, considering that prison was not the "ideal place" for her, and then the Court took "35 days" to give its negative response. "Now I don't want that to happen to me," he says. "In between there are two children at home waiting for their mother, they want mommy to come back," adds Philipp for his part.
"It is possible to reintegrate her"
The husband remembers that his wife had been admitted with that "outbreak" the same afternoon of June 23. According to what he explains, shortly after a psychiatrist "sent her home" the tragic event took place. Looking back, this man questions that his wife was discharged that day, and also the treatment she has received since the events took place. His lawyer points out that when her entry into prison was decided, it was also established that she should have a "treatment," which he considers has not been received adequately. Thus, both denounce that, apart from the medication that was prescribed to her then, she has been seen by the psychiatrist only "twice in seven months." And the second, Philipp emphasizes, because he "pressured."
Thus, the husband of this mother emphasizes that the forensic report indicates that she must "have treatment, because if not the relapses are great, and that is why she cannot come home." "But they have not given her that treatment," he laments. Her lawyer reiterates that "it is possible to reintegrate this lady" and advances that if the Court denies her petition, he will appeal the decision. "If she remains in prison, I am not going to exhaust myself legally," he anticipates.
