Eric Falardeau, 29, seems to have found an advantage in being subintelligent. Falardeau is accused of beating to death William Beal of Salem, Massachusetts outside of a tavern. Now, Lawrence Superior Court Judge Howard Whitehead has ruled that he lacks the intelligence to stand trial for the 2000 murder and therefore will be released.
What is particularly disturbing is that Falardeau has a long police record. He also has an IQ that puts him on the borderline of being mentally retarded. This creates a problem. Since he is not mentally ill, he cannot be hospitalized for mental illness. Moreover, he has already spent over 1000 days in jail.
The record is curious. Falardeau was smart enough to graduate Lawrence High School in 1997 and rank 208 out of 300 students. Does that mean there are 92 people capable of murder without trial in Lawrence?
Falardeau was drinking before getting into the fight with Beal, 39, who was the father of four.
Falardeau has a history of violence including an alleged assault on a jail guard in 2004 and another assault onpolice and EMTs when they were at his house on a medical call in 2006. Those charges were also dropped.
Under the current status, Falardeau could literally rob banks, kill people, and engage in every possible debauchery without fear of trial. Indeed, he may be getting calls from the mob as the perfect hit man, a real teflon don.
The problem for the court is that the experts were reportedly clear that they believe that he is border line retarded and unable to appreciate or understand his trial.
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I think the legal world has just experienced a new defense strategy called The Forrest Gump Defense. Forget nolo contendere—or even an Alford plea—this is the real deal slippery “plea.”
If he lacks the intelligence to stand trial, he lacks the intelligence to wander the world. Especially after killing an other. He may be too dumb to appreciate a trial, but I think he can appreciate getting out of jail for free.
Furthermore, Bush could be using this as a precedent.
I would think that State Representatives and Senators got paid for plugging holes in the law that allow something like this to happen. I know that kind of micro-legislation can end up having unintended, negative consequences but this kind of situation is ridiculous. It seems kind of contrary to the fundamental reason for subordinating yourself to a government; ‘I pay taxes and the State doesn’t let murders run loose without remedy’, good idea in theory but it needs to be more than a theory.
So we’re going to have someone who is capable of commiting such crimes let back into the public because he’s only “retarded” and not ill?? He’s got a bad track record, but apparently murder is not bad enough to lock someone up.
Look at that sick grin on his face. He’ll get what’s coming to him….eventually
Seamus,
http://jonathanturley.org/2009/03/03/im-gonna-sit-right-down-and-write-myself-a-lawsuit-new-zealand-mall-to-use-manilow-tunes-to-punish-loitering-teens/#comment-42302
wow.
This is truly disturbing. If someone has a history of crime and violence, but judged incompetent to stand trial, then he should automatically be locked up in a mental institution.
Minor correction: if he graduated 208th of 300, then there would be 92 people with a poorer academic record. Of course, secondary school performance is based on many things other than IQ.