Louise Turpin at a court appearance in Riverside Superior Court.Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images
In California, a defendant with a diagnosed mental disorder – except for antisocial personality disorder, pedophilia, borderline personality disorder as well as those charged with murder, rape and other sex crimes- is eligible to have their case put on hold to undergo mental health treatment.
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If they successfully complete a mental health diversion program they can have all the charges against them dropped.
Under state law, Turpin would have been eligible for the program.
However, Schwartz denied the request, stating that Turpin “posed an unreasonable risk to the public,” the Riverside County District Attorney’s office said in a statement.
Turpin, 50, and her husband, David, 56, were charged last January with multiple counts of torture, false imprisonment and cruelty to a dependent adult. Both have pleaded not guilty.
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Prosecutors argued that all the children except for the youngest child, a toddler, were abused and most of them were held captive and tortured in their suburban home. The childrenranged in age from 2 to 29.
Speaking to the 911 operator after escaping her family’s home, she said, “We live in filth.”
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The teen also told the 911 operator that her parents were abusive and “two of my sisters are chained up.”
One of theadult female children was 35 lbs. underweightand suffered from “severe protein caloric malnutrition, numbness and weakness in extremities,” as well as “severe skeletal abnormalities,” investigator Wade Walsvick testified during the hearing.
Like her other siblings, the adult woman suffered from “low cognition and cachexia, a muscle-wasting syndrome,” Walsvick said. The woman also had “severe skeletal abnormalities.”
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During Friday’s hearing, Moore argued that Turpin was not a danger to the community so should be allowed to seek treatment.
Prosecutors opposed the request and argued that the defense did not prove that the alleged crimes she perpetrated against her children were committed as a result of the disorder, the Press-Enterprise reports.
In a press release sent out after the hearing, the district attorney’s office said that “mental health treatment is an important component of our justice system” but “these types of crimes, which include our most vulnerable victims and pose a significant threat to public safety, should not be granted pre-plea diversion that could result in the court’s dismissal of all charges.”
Turpin’s attorney Jeff Moore could not be reached for comment.
A trial readiness conference is scheduled for Nov. 30.
source: people.com
