More BS from reporters writing about something they do not understand at all

"American Sniper" Trial Tests Limits of Sympathy for Vets by Maurice Chammah, The Marshall Project Feb. 6, 2015

The number of veterans committing crimes, including murder, is on the rise, and the Texas ruling limiting the insanity defense came just as more and more veterans began to return home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of them, including Routh and Kyle, turned to alcohol, which according to research by Western Oregon University criminal justice professor William Brown “combined with lethargic civilian attitudes of the problems veterans confront,” thus providing “the ingredients of a recipe designed to accelerate the probability of increased veteran incarceration.”

Guess the number of older veterans sent to jail instead of being given a fair chance never entered into this "reporter's" mind. But hey, why tell the whole story?

More BS from reporters writing about something they do not understand at all!

Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield were working to help veterans with PTSD. Chris Kyle became a legend. No one seems to remember Chad Littlefield.

The article about veterans becoming criminals is reprehensible. Much like leaving out Littlefield from all the news reports about the upcoming trial, reporters omit a hell of a lot more when they are reporting on veterans, especially PTSD.

The article mentions a condition tied to schizophrenia as if the public is supposed to tie this to veterans with PTSD.

What Causes Schizoaffective Disorder?
While the exact cause of schizoaffective disorder is not known, researchers believe that genetic, biochemical, and environmental factors are involved:

Genetics (heredity): A tendency to develop schizoaffective disorder may be passed on from parents to their children.

Brain chemistry: People with schizophrenia and mood disorders may have abnormalities in the functioning of brain circuits that regulate mood and thinking.

Environmental factors: Theories suggest that certain environmental factors -- such as a viral infection, poor social interactions or highly stressful situations -- may trigger schizoaffective disorder in people who have inherited a tendency to develop the disorder. However, the relationships between biological and environmental factors that may lead to schizoaffective disorder are not well understood.

Schizoaffective disorder is a serious mental illness that has features of two different conditions -- schizophrenia, and an affective (mood) disorder that may be diagnosed as either major depression or bipolar disorder.

Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that distorts the way a person thinks, acts, expresses emotions, perceives reality, and relates to others. Depression is an illness that is marked by feelings of sadness, worthlessness, or hopelessness, as well as problems concentrating and remembering details. Bipolar disorder is characterized by cycling mood changes, including severe highs (mania) and lows (depression).

The article doesn't mention that recent reports have come out saying that Routh was not in combat.

Veterans group alleges that former Marine accused of killing 'American Sniper' Chris Kyle NEVER saw combat and didn't have PTSD …as jury selection for his trial begins
The Warfighter Foundation is investigating whether Chris Kyle's killer could have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder
A Facebook post from the group claims that he 'NEVER saw combat or any aspect of traumatic events associated with a combat deployment'
Rather they suggest that Routh was 'an individual with psychological problems that were not associated with his service'
As yet the group has found no conclusive evidence to support their claims
The group is also investigating other possible motives for the 2013 killing of Kyle and fellow Navy SEAL Chad Littlefield
Routh's trial begins next week in Texas, and his attorney has said that the popularity of the movie 'American Sniper' will be an issue in jury selection
By OLIVER O'CONNELL FOR MAILONLINE 5 February 2015

Could he have PTSD anyway? Sure, other civilians have it. The only requirement is that someone survives a traumatic event. But as you can see above, there are illnesses that people are born with that contain the same symptoms as PTSD.

Veterans Courts are intended to put veterans on a different justice level simply because veterans are not like the rest of us. The courts know someone doesn't go from being willing to die to save lives to criminal without reason. It is their job to discover what the truth is as much as it is their job to get veterans into the help they need. They are given a chance. Not a get out of jail free card. If they do not live up to the help provided to them, they end up serving jail time.

One more thing left out of the article is a big one. There are over 22 million veterans in this country and a small percentage commit crimes. A higher percentage commit suicide. Thus, they are more likely to harm themselves than anyone else.

Camp Pendleton Afghanistan Veteran Marine Trial Ends

Former Camp Pendleton Marine gets 11 years in prison for DUI crash that killed 3 fellow servicemen
Orange County Register
Sean Emery
January 30, 2015

Arguing that Hale's drinking was an attempt to self-medicate in order to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder from his experiences in heavy combat in Sangin, Afghanistan,

Jared Hale, a former Camp Pendleton Marine sergeant convicted of a drunken-driving crash that killed three of his fellow Marines, listens as he is sentenced at the West Justice Center in Westminster on Friday.
KEVIN SULLIVAN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

A former Camp Pendleton Marine sergeant convicted of killing three other servicemen in a drunken-driving crash was sentenced Friday to more than a decade in prison, as an Orange County Superior Court judge denied his request for treatment rather than time behind bars.

Jared Hale, 27, told Judge Terri K. Flynn-Peister that for the rest of his life he will have to live with the loss of Sgt. Jeremiah Callahan, 23; Cpl. Christopher Arzola, 21; and Cpl. Jason Chleborad, 22, all of whom suffered fatal injuries in the 2012 crash in Dana Point.

"It's been a rough five years," Hale said, his voice unsteady with apparent emotion. "But there is just not much left of me, honestly."
read more here

Clemency Sought for Vietnam Veteran on Death Row with PTSD

Vietnam vet with PTSD on death row seeks clemency
USA TODAY
Gregg Zoroya
January 7, 2015

Lt. Andrew Brannan during the Vietnam War.(Photo: Handout image)

Family and lawyers of a Vietnam veteran facing execution in Georgia next Tuesday for murdering a deputy sheriff in 1998 are pleading that he be spared because his actions were linked to severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

In clemency papers filed Wednesday, lawyers for Andrew Brannan argue that "our knowledge of PTSD and the frightful toll that it can exact on veterans has grown exponentially as a result of ... wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

This level of understanding, particularly within the public, didn't exist when Brannan stood trial in 2000, they argue.

"It's not right to execute a decorated veteran for a crime that stemmed, without question, from the mental suffering that he incurred from serving his country,'' Brannan lawyer Tom Lundin said in a phone interview.

The killing of Laurens County Deputy Sheriff Kyle Dinkheller during a traffic stop for speeding was captured on a video camera mounted on the officer's patrol car.

The video shows a confrontation quickly escalating with Brannan shouting obscenities, dancing around, daring the officer to shoot and then retrieving a rifle from his pickup truck. A gunfight erupted and a wounded Dinkheller can be heard pleading with Brannan to stop as the veteran reloads and keeps shooting.

Dinkheller, who was 22 and a father-to-be, suffered nine gunshot wounds. Brannan was hit once in the stomach.
read more here

PTSD on trial and the story upside down

It is really odd how people can read the same article but come away with different points of view. Take this one about an Iraq veteran facing charges for shooting a police officer.

This is the headline Iraq war vet indicted for shooting Athens police officer But twisting the story around, pulling the bottom of the article to the top, it raises important points that could very well be missed if you stopped reading after the beginning.

Defense attorney Edward Tolley noted in one of the motions that Marcantonio was involved in numerous fire fights during his deployment in Iraq, and in 2006 he suffered a severe brain injury when an armored vehicle he was in was struck by an artillery shell. He suffers from PTSD, Tolley noted. Tolley said that if granted bond, Veteran Affairs has offered to accept Marcantonio with an ankle monitor while he is provided with in-patient mental health services. The attorney also argued that Marcantonio was honorably discharged from the Marines and had no prior criminal record. The lance corporal was awarded the Purple Heart and other medals and commendations for his service in Iraq.

Now read what the beginning of the article had.

James Michael Marcantonio, 28, is a decorated combat veteran of the Iraq war who suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome that possibly triggered the altercation in which the officer was shot, according to court filings by his defense attorney. On Nov. 25, grand jurors filed an indictment in Clarke County Superior Court charging the former U.S. Marine with aggravated assault against a police officer, aggravated battery, attempted removal of a firearm from a public official, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer. The injured officer was one of two who responded on Aug. 31 to Fairways at Jennings Mill apartments on a woman’s report that Marcantonio was banging on her door and trying to get inside, according to police.

By the time you read that part, you knew that he was a dealing with PTSD and the VA offered to help.

PTSD on Trial: Oklahoma Iraq Veteran Marine

A woman was attacked and a veteran faces multiple charges. He didn't get the help he needed to heal so now PTSD goes on trial yet again.

Too many will find this story and think about what happened in this case, however, veterans are far more likely to harm themselves than someone else. There are over 22 million veterans in this country but while the vast majority of them do not make the news, the few committing crimes do. Guess no one really cares about veterans with PTSD healing and helping others, which happens most of the time.

In this case, no one seems to be saying he needs to be let off the hook. He does need to be treated the same way other people with mental illness do but time and time again, they go without treatment.

This is a sad indictment of a system where a young man joins the military to risk his life for others yet ends up being charged for crimes against someone else.

If you want to know who is responsible for all of this, there is a very long line beginning with the military failing them, the congress not doing their jobs, all the Presidents with the title of Commander-In-Chief and every citizen unwilling to take the time to care about any of this.

Family says former Marine facing serious criminal charges suffering in county jail
KOKM News Oklahoma
By: Phil Cross
Investigative Reporter
Posted: Nov 20, 2014

WEWOKA
The family of a former Marine says he is facing a tortuous stay in a county jail because the court won't allow him the treatment he needs to face the serious charges against him.

Brian Fletcher is facing more than a dozen felony charges in Seminole County. The case against him is proceeding in court, but his parents say their plea is not to get him out of trouble; instead they say he needs treatment in order to face the charges against him.

“That's all we're asking is get him treatment and then deal with this other stuff after he gets where he can live a normal life,” Cary Fletcher, Brian's father told Fox 25.

Cary said his son joined the Marines after his 21st birthday. It was something he had wanted to do since the terrorist attacks on 9/11. His first deployment sent him to one of the most dangerous battlefields of the Iraq war.

“He was in the ‘Triangle of Death,' they call it,” Fletcher said noting it was months before they heard any word their son was safe in Iraq, “When we finally heard from him he was very distraught from what he had to do.”

After his tour was over, Brian Fletcher returned to his home in Oklahoma, but his family says it was clear he wasn't the same. “You could see that he was broken, he wasn't the Brian that he used to be,” Karen Fletcher recalled.

Fletcher sought treatment for Post-Traumatic-Stress Disorder, but was unable to keep all the appointments because of his work. “He wanted to support his family,” Karen said, “When you're a Marine…they tell you don't complain.”

“It got to the point where they were having to bring him home from work because he was going into panic attacks, having blackout attacks,” Cary said.
read more here

PTSD on Trial: Prosecutors won't seek death penalty in Chris Kyle murder trial

Erath prosecutors won’t seek death penalty in SEAL sniper slaying
Star Telegram
BY DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR.
October 31, 2014

Erath County prosecutors will not ask for the death penalty for an Iraq war veteran accused of fatally shooting retired Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and a friend at a gun range in February 2013.

Erath County District Attorney Alan Nash filed paperwork Thursday saying that his office will seek a sentence of life without parole for Eddie Routh of Lancaster.

Routh’s capital murder trial has been set for Feb. 9 in 266th state District Court in Stephenville.

Defense attorneys have said that they will use an insanity defense for Routh, 27.

State District Judge Jason Cashon imposed a gag order in the case that prohibits prosecutors and defense attorneys from commenting.

Routh is accused of shooting Chris Kyle, 38, and Chad Littlefield, 35, both of Midlothian, on Feb. 2, 2013, at the shooting range at Rough Creek Lodge, an upscale resort outside Glen Rose in Erath County. The lodge is about 77 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

Area police reports documented Routh’s mental problems well before the killings at the gun range.
read more here

PTSD On Trial: Decorated Marine Iraq Veteran

Suspect who shot Athens cop is decorated Iraq war combat vet with PTSD
Online Athens
By JOE JOHNSON
October 30, 2014

A former U.S. Marine who shot and wounded an Athens-Clarke County police officer three months ago is a decorated combat veteran of the Iraq war whose post traumatic stress syndrome may have played a role in the altercation, according to a motion recently filed in Clarke County Superior Court.

Police said that on Aug. 31 James Michael Marcantonio shot the officer with his own holstered handgun during a struggle that began when the officer responded to a disturbance involving Marcantonio and a former girlfriend.

Defense attorney Edward Tolley argues in the motion that it was “evident” from an examination of the shooting by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that Marcantonio “did not (intend) to harm the officer; the gun discharged during a struggle and when it went off, the struggle ended.”

Athens-Clarke County police said Marcantonio grabbed the officer’s weapon and “manipulated” it in the holster when he fired a shot that wounded the officer in the area of his hip and thigh. He was arrested at the scene and charged with aggravated assault and aggravated battery on a police officer.
read more here

Reservist's Shaken Baby Death Puts PTSD on Trial

There are many quotes that could have been used on telling the story of what happened to a family after deployment including this one.

"Therefore, the number-one thing we can do to help vets is to prevent avoidance," said Phipps, who admitted that she's not offering a magic bullet. "They don't need to hear 'Get over it,'" she said. "We should be saying, 'Get through it.'" Kelly Phipps, Ph.D.

Jerry Davich wrote Blaming war for actions at home elicits different kind of anger October 11, 2104 with this quote.

I have no pity, compassion or explanation for monstrous abusers — let’s face it, they’re accused of killing babies. That’s not acceptable anywhere and most people would agree that people convicted of that should first rot in prison and then rot in hell.

I’d be surprised if Duron’s attorney doesn’t use the PTSD claim as his lead defense strategy in court. Then again, as one full-blown PTSD sufferer told me for this column, even combat-related PTSD does not remove the ability to distinguish right from wrong.

Felix Duron is accused of shaking his baby to death

There’s a telling line that jumps off the page in the probable cause affidavit against Felix Duron, regarding how he allegedly shook to death 2-year-old Bentley Mihal.

“Duron admitted he was in a state of extreme anger and resentment and shook B.M. (Bentley Mihal) like he would ‘shake a man,’ ” the Sept. 25 affidavit states.

What is missing, perhaps the most important fact of all is what else was happening when Duron was deployed.

Such violent anger couldn’t be seen in Duron in 2011, when the then 24-year-old U.S. Army Reserve soldier returned home from a year in Afghanistan. Along with 160 other soldiers, Duron smiled broadly while cradling his infant son for the first time.

This was three years after the DOD told the entire country they were training servicemen and women to be "resilient" with their Comprehensive Soldier Fitness on the heels of Battlemind.

14. Januar 2008
Battlemind: Preparing Soldiers for combat, home life
By Susan Huseman USAG STUTTGART
STUTTGART – Today, every Soldier headed to Iraq and Afghanistan receives Battlemind training, but few know the science behind it.

Dr. Amy Adler, a senior research psychologist with the U.S. Army Medical Research Unit-Europe, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, visited Patch Barracks to break down the program, which is a system of support and intervention.

Not every Soldier who deploys downrange is at risk for mental health problems. The main risk factor is the level of combat experienced, Adler explained to her audience, comprised predominantly of medical, mental health and family support professionals.

Army studies show the greater the combat exposure a Soldier encounters, the greater the risk for mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anger and relationship problems. When Soldiers first return home, they may not notice any problems; sometimes it takes a few months for problems to develop.

It turned out that most did not know what they needed to know about Combat and PTSD.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of the families surveyed were not told about the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Ninety-two percent (92%) of the Servicemembers surveyed were not tested nor had no knowledge of being tested for PTSD.

Sixty-five percent (65%) of the Servicemembers surveyed either suffer from PTSD or are unsure if they suffer from PTSD.

Forty-one percent (41%) are not getting treatment for PTSD

Battlemind came with a warning that it could cause problems back home.

'Battlemind' is the Soldier's inner strength to face fear and adversity with courage. Key components include: - Self confidence: taking calculated risks and handling challenges. - Mental toughness: overcoming obstacles or setbacks and maintaining positive thoughts during times of adversity and challenge.

Battlemind skills helped you survive in combat, but may cause you problems if not adapted when you get home.

In other words, unlike Davich's attitude, the fault belongs to the military. What they claimed they were doing is being proven all over the country as more and more of these men and women change from being willing to die for the sake of someone else, into someone accused of harming someone else.

They don't get the help they need while in the military and they don't get what they need when they come home.

Duron needs to stand trial for what he is accused of doing. When does the DOD stand trial for what they failed to do? When does Congress stand trial for what they failed to pay attention to repeatedly? When do military families get the information they needed and were promised by the DOD?

A veteran harming someone else is rare considering there were over 2 million serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. A veteran taking their own life happens more often.

Combat to Criminal? How they got to that point is the question

Ever think about how in control soldiers have to be to be in the military in the first place? Think about it. All the training they have to do topped off with following orders telling them what to do, when to eat, when to wake up and when to go to sleep. They spend years of being in control.

We are always told the military is addressing their need to heal, but over and over again, we discover far too many times the military used the wrong address.

Suicides have gone up since the military started to "do something" about them. Suicides back home have gone up as well with more and more veterans facing off with law enforcement, usually when they have reached the point where suicide seems to be the only option they can see.

Communities wonder what justice really is but it wouldn't have to come to that point had they wondered first how they ended up that way after all they did for us.

These folks are not your average citizen. They were willing to die for someone else. So why do some go from that, surviving combat, years of honorable service, to being treated like a criminal?

What is not being done? What is being done needs to be changed, but when do they do it? When will they ever reach the point where the "one too many suicide" really happens and they actually do something about it instead of repeating what already failed them?

Criminal or victim?
Communities weigh how to deal with battle-scarred soldiers who do wrong after coming home
Washington Post
Greg Jaffe
September 20, 2014

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Staff Sgt. Robert D. Carlson raised the gun to his head. In the parking lot of their duplex, his wife was calling the police.

"Please help," she cried. "He punched me in the face."

His intention, Carlson would say later, was to kill himself. Instead, alone on the second floor of their house, he lowered the gun from his head, pointed it toward a window and squeezed the trigger again and again, nine times in all.

Some of the rounds went into the roof of a garage, just below the window. Two rounds hit apartment buildings across the street. One round flew into the headlamp of a responding police SUV.

That was July 2012. Now, two years later, after being found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to eight years in prison, Carlson wonders about the fairness of such a punishment. "I know I did wrong," he said recently from the detention facility at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. But is jail time appropriate for someone who, before he fired those shots, spent 16 months in Iraq, followed by 12 months in Iraq, followed by another 12 months in Afghanistan?

Forty months total at war: He had survived a blast from a suicide car bomb. He had killed an Iraqi insurgent as the man's children watched in horror. He had traded places one day with a fellow soldier who then was killed by a sniper's bullet, standing in the very place where Carlson would have been if he hadn't switched. Did his years in combat mean he was deserving of compassion?

Compassion or conviction - that's the choice more and more communities across the country are facing as the effects of 12 years of war are increasingly seeping into the American legal system.
read more here

PTSD On Trial: Husband Guilty of Setting Wife on Fire

Thurston County man to serve time for setting wife on fire
The Olympian
BY AMELIA DICKSON
Staff writer
September 9, 2014

A Thurston County man was sentenced Tuesday to six years and seven months in prison after he pleaded guilty to pouring lighter fluid on his wife’s legs and igniting it in 2011.

In March of 2012, Duane M. Rader was found guilty of first-degree arson, felony harassment, unlawful imprisonment and fourth-degree assault and sentenced to 10 years in prison, with the court acquitting him of first-degree attempted murder charges.

But the sentence was overturned by the Washington State Court of Appeals in January of this year because the court improperly calculated his offender score during the original trial.

At a court appearance Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to the same charges — first-degree arson, felony harassment, unlawful imprisonment and fourth-degree assault — in addition to three charges of violating a no-contact order.

The main charges stem from a Feb. 13, 2011, assault that left Rader’s wife with second degree burns on her legs. She initially told Thurston County Sheriff’s deputies that she was trying to refill her lighter and accidentally lit her legs on fire, according to charging documents. The deputies didn’t arrest Rader at the time because they weren’t sure what had happened.

Rader served in the Army for 15 years and completed three overseas tours. The experience left him with post-traumatic stress disorder, and he “self-medicated” with alcohol, O’Connor said.

But Hirsch argued that post-traumatic stress disorder isn’t an excuse for committing violent crimes.

“Although that was an awful experience for you, I don’t believe that PTSD causes domestic violence,” Hirsch said.
read more here

Alaska moves bill to give judge room on PTSD and TBI cases

House committee moves bill to let judges consider PTSD, brain injury in sentencing combat vets
Associated Press
By MIKE COPPOCK
First Posted: March 20, 2014

JUNEAU, Alaska — The House Special Committee on Military and Veterans' Affairs moved a bill Thursday allowing judges to consider post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries as a mitigating factor during sentencings of combat veterans.

House Bill 313, sponsored by Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, would allow a state judge to take PTSD and traumatic brain injuries into account as a possibility of a reduced sentence. Sentencing reductions would be on condition of counseling.

The bill mirrors the statute concerning fetal alcohol syndrome and cannot be used as a mitigating factor for crimes involving serious injury, sexual assault or unlawful death.

"Many of our military personnel seem fine when they come back, but there are scars that are hidden," said Rep. Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River.

Gara said the reason for limiting PTSD to combat-related veterans was a fear that if the category was widened, there may be a wide range of individuals claiming to have PTSD, but do not.
read more here

PTSD On Trial: Marine Sniper in Florida

Former Marine's ex-girlfriend bolsters his defense in deputy shooting
My FOX Tampa
Posted: Mar 20, 2014

TAMPA (FOX 13)
There's new evidence that could bolster the case of a former Marine who is accused of shooting a Hillsborough deputy in 2011.

Matthew Buendia says he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and now his ex-girlfriend is coming to his defense.

Buendia is accused of shooting Hillsborough deputy Lyonelle De Veaux when she responded to a call on a domestic dispute.
read more here

PTSD on Trial" Marine sniper for shooting a Deputy

On the same subject these are some of the cases where PTSD was on trial

2007
Fort Drum Soldier awaits psychiatric treatment in jail
2008
Iraq War Veteran Pleads Not Guilty in Hart County Court
A former Army Ranger who'd been involved in the rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch from Iraqi insurgents, Reed struggled to adjust to civilian life after three years of combat.
22-year-old Marine who served three tours of duty in Iraq faces a charge of capital murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of a former live-in girlfriend.
You can find ever more PTSD On Trial cases here.

Ohio Supreme Court considers veteran's sentence

Ohio Supreme Court considers veteran's sentence
Toledo Blade
BY JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF
March 12, 2014

COLUMBUS — An Iraq War veteran convicted of shooting at Oregon police officers deserves “one fair shot” to have his post-traumatic stress disorder considered in his sentence, his attorney told the Ohio Supreme Court today.

But some justices questioned whether the 27-year sentence he received would be any different if they sent the case back to Lucas County Common Pleas Court for resentencing even under an amended law now requiring such a diagnosis to be considered.

The court did not immediately rule.

Jeffrey Belew served three years with the Marines, including one year in Iraq in 2008.
read more here

PTSD on Trial, Marine Iraq veteran sent to get help

Iraq flashbacks led veteran to pull gun on wife in 'Daddy, don't shoot Mommy' case, lawyer says
Lehigh Valley Live
By Sarah Cassi
March 05, 2014

A Lower Milford Township veteran accused of pointing a gun at his wife and threatening to kill her in front of their son -- leading the child to say, "Daddy, don't shoot Mommy" -- was suffering from flashbacks of his tour in Iraq, his defense attorney said today.

Jay Raymond Landis Jr. served with the U.S. Marine Corps and has post-traumatic stress disorder, attorney John Waldron said.

Landis was drinking and had flashbacks of his tour, Waldron said, the night Landis is accused of threatening to kill Jody Lee Mauzey. Mauzey was in their son's room at the time and the child woke up and said, "Daddy, don't shoot Mommy," records say. Mauzey ran barefoot through the snow to a neighbor's house where she called police, records say.

Today, Landis, of the 1000 block of Standard Lane in the township, gave up his right to a preliminary hearing before District Judge Jacob Hammond in Central Court on charges of making terroristic threats, false imprisonment, simple assault, reckless endangerment and harassment.

Waldron and Assistant District Attorney Steven Luksa agreed that Landis, who is in Lehigh County Prison in lieu of $500,000 bail, should be released on unsecured bail to a Veterans Affairs inpatient rehabilitation program for drug and alcohol in Wilkes-Barre. The judge made it a condition of bail.

If he completes that program, Landis would be sent to a post-traumatic stress disorder program in Coatesville, Pa., Luksa said. As part of the PTSD program, Landis would transition to moving home with his wife and son, Luksa said. If Landis does not complete the programs, he would go back to jail, Luksa said.
read more here

PTSD on Trial Kentucky National Guardsman pushed over edge

Latonia standoff suspect says bills, PTSD and police response contributed to break
WCPO News
Brian Mains and Kendall Herold

COVINGTON, Ky. – A military veteran says a $10,000 bill he received led to a 20-hour standoff with police in December.

"It was just a final straw... a click," Michael Vaughan said on Tuesday.

Vaughan barricaded himself in his house and shot at Covington police officers throughout the night of Dec. 21 and morning of Dec. 22. Police went to his house in response to a call that Vaughan posted disturbing messages on his Facebook page.

His children were in his Michigan Avenue home for most of the incident and were only let go hours before police say Vaughan surrendered to them after setting his house on fire and getting shot in one final volley of gunfire.

Vaughan sits in the Kenton County Detention Center, awaiting trial on a charge of attempted murder of a police officer.

On Tuesday, Vaughan said the bill that came from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service was a result of “bad advice” he received while seeking treatment Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"I received bad information from the Kentucky National Guard so I didn't get the help I need," he said.
read more here

Former Marine accused of murder had PTSD treatment mishandled by VA

Attorney: Former Marine accused of murder had PTSD treatment mishandled by VA
Pasadena Star-News
By Sarah Favot
POSTED: 02/17/14

PASADENA
An attorney for a former Marine facing murder charges said Monday a Veterans Affairs hospital inadequately treated the veteran for post-traumatic stress disorder and failed to follow state law that could have prevented his client from possessing firearms at the time of the murder.

Marine Corps veteran Ricardo Javier Tapia, 32, pleaded not guilty last month to one count of murder and one count of attempted murder in the Dec. 20 shooting death in a Reseda apartment building of Giam Hoang, 73, and critical wounding of Hoang’s wife, Hoan Thi Nguyen, 61.

After three tours of Iraq and a traumatic brain injury, Paparian said Tapia sees and hears the insurgents in Fallujah coming after him.

Los Angeles Police Department police officers placed Tapia under a 72-hour involuntary psychiatric watch 19 days before the murder because he was a “danger to others,” due to a mental disorder, according to documents provided by Paparian.
read more here

Iraq veteran getting help after pointing unloaded rifle

Ex-Navy man who pointed rifle at policeman sentenced to probation, ordered to continue treatment
CBS 8 News
Posted: February 11, 2014

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A retired Navy petty officer who was shot by a San Diego policeman after raising a military assault rifle in his direction was sentenced Tuesday to probation and ordered to continue counseling and treatment for mental health issues, including a form of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

Esteban Nandin, 25, pleaded guilty last July to a felony charge of brandishing a firearm in the presence of a peace officer. Judge Timothy Walsh suspended a yearlong jail term as long as Nandin successfully completes three years of probation.

A motion to reduce the felony conviction to a misdemeanor was denied.

Defense attorney Jeremiah Sullivan told reporters that Nandin spent quite a bit of time serving as a guard at one of Iraq's most dangerous prisons.

Sullivan said Nandin heard noises and wanted to secure his apartment building -- flashing back to his time in Iraq -- when the gun-pointing incident in San Diego happened on Oct. 14, 2012.

"He has no recollection of the actual event. But having gone through this process over the past year, he is someone who has a strong moral compass and he feels terrible that he would actually endanger the public or endanger an officer, for that matter," Sullivan said.

Deputy District Attorney Robert Eacret said the rifle raised by Nandin at the officer wasn't loaded.
read more here

Man charged in attacking others for second time in two weeks

Police: Man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after stabbing 2 in Bellingham
Bellingham Herald
Posted by SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL
February 8, 2014

BELLINGHAM — For the second time in two weeks, a former U.S. Marine suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder was arrested in a violent episode after stabbing two men in the common area of their home Saturday, Feb. 8, according to police.

Police say Jonathan L. Pablik, 24, stabbed two men, ages 63 and 53, in an unprovoked rage around 5 p.m. Saturday evening while the men were playing a dice game and “minding their own business” at their home in the 1800 block of Alabama Street, Bellingham Police Lt. Bob Vander Yacht said. It was not known if Pablik also lives in the home, which is rented by the room and has shared common areas.

Pablik was booked into Whatcom County Jail late Saturday night on suspicion of two counts of second-degree attempted murder, according to a police news release.
read more here

Military sniper links his string of armed robberies to PTSD

Military sniper links his string of armed robberies to PTSD
After serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gabriel Brown came home to an emptier life in Florida.
At his sentencing for a two-week crime spree, he pleaded for clemency.
LA Times
David Zucchino
February 3, 2014

Gabriel Brown, who served as an Army sniper in
Iraq and Afghanistan, pleaded guilty in Florida
to a string of robberies and cite
 post-traumatic stress disorder.

TAMPA, Fla. — As an Army sniper in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gabriel Brown craved danger. Combat satisfied what he called his "adrenaline addiction."

When he returned home to Florida, nothing in civilian life provided the sense of invincibility that made combat so alluring and vital. The sniper was now a nursing student. There was a hole in his life, but he found a way to fill it: robbing banks.

He robbed with a military flair. On Feb. 5, 2013, Brown whipped out a gun and tossed an M83 military smoke grenade during a robbery of a TD Bank branch in Auburndale, Fla., that netted $19,000. It was his final crime in a two-week string of robberies that targeted banks, a cellphone store and an insurance company.

Brown was arrested the next day on federal charges that carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 32 years to life. He quickly confessed.

"It was extremely hard for me to find a way to go from being in highly threatening situations, risking my life every day, to sitting at home watching TV alone," he wrote later. "The adrenaline I got from committing robberies was some kind of weird addiction I so desperately needed to get myself out of this depressive state I was in."

Like thousands of other combat veterans, Brown was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. And like thousands of PTSD veterans seeking reduced sentences for crimes, he blamed the condition, in part, for his actions.

Increasingly, veterans across the U.S. have cited stress related to their combat experience as the reason for civilian misdeeds, a tactic that often reduces or even eliminates sentences for minor crimes, especially in special veterans' courts.

"It's a growing trend, with the stigma of PTSD largely eliminated and the condition more widely understood," said David Frakt, a law professor and Air Force Reserve military legal officer.
read more here

PTSD on Trial: Tampa Green Beret with Bronze Star

Special forces sniper Gabriel Brown given short prison term after citing PTSD in series of robberies
ABC Action News
By: Carson Chambers
January 23, 2014

TAMPA - "He wasn't just a soldier. He was a super soldier - an elite fighter," said defense attorney Jose Baez.

Gabriel Brown is a highly decorated combat war veteran. He is a former Special Forces Green Beret awarded a bronze star for serving as a sniper in Afghanistan.

A hero until he came home.

"Because of his illness, he had a downward spiral," said Baez.

Brown pleaded guilty to robbing four Tampa Bay businesses while tossing military flash grenades and carrying a gun. He faced a maximum of 32 years in federal prison for his crimes.

"I do believe that veterans do need treatment. Instead of being incarcerated, they need mental health treatment and drug abuse treatment," said ex wife Maria Suarez.

Suarez says post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD and an addiction to adrenaline took over her ex husband's life. Brown failed out of nursing school, lost money at poker tables, cheated on his wife, abused drugs and became suicidal.

Still Suarez voice support on the steps of the federal courthouse.

"He's a loving man, very caring, great father, always involved with his childrens' life, very family oriented, just fell into some depression or PTSD," she said.
read more here