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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    1

    Default Simple Battery and Bipolar Disorder

    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Louisiana
    My wife was recently arrested for 2 charges of simple battery against her parents. Long story short. She had got into an argument with her mother and stepfather and she snapped and attacked them. Slapping her mother and scratching and ripped her step dad's shirt off. She has suffered with Bipolar for over 10 years. She has been hospitalized 3 times. Twice when she was younger and the last one was about 2 years ago. She has been under constant care by a doctor and takes her medication. Over the years they have been trying different meds to find the right one for her. So far they have not found one that completely stops the symptoms. Her parents have forgiven her and know that it was caused by her mental illness. She remembers parts of what happened but does not remember most of it. She knows she did wrong but doesn't feel like she could control herself at the time. That whole day she was not her usual self and her parents also agreed. This is all new to us and don't know what to do. She has never been in any kind of trouble before. We also cannot afford an attorney. Any advice would be really appreciated.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    OH10
    Posts
    17,019

    Default Re: Simple Battery and Bipolar Disorder

    Though a judge might consider her disability, I know for a fact many people suffering from such diagnosis fair better in prison where they are in a controlled environment and taken off most of their medications. A friends daughter is in an OH prison for shooting her boyfriend after a breakup, her mother said she is doing so well there it is like her daughter is a new person.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Tacoma, WA
    Posts
    1,534

    Default Re: Simple Battery and Bipolar Disorder

    Your wife really needs an attorney. If she cannot afford one, she needs to request a public defender at the earliest opportunity. Two counts of domestic violence assault is not something that she wants to mess around with or try to handle without competent legal assistance. All the more so if she intends to claim diminished mental capacity and was unaware of the nature of her actions. For such a defense, the burden of proof is on her. In other words, she will be admitting to committing the criminal actions she is accused of (relieving the state of its burden of proof), but claiming she was unaware of the criminal nature of her actions due to her mental health condition. She will be assumed to have been competent to control her actions by the court and the burden of proving otherwise will be on her. That is not an easy burden to overcome.

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