Lawrence, Massachusetts (The Weekly Vice) -- Eric Falardeau, a 29-year-old Massachusetts man accused of beating a father of four to death, has been freed after a judge determined he wasn't intelligent enough to understand the charge against him.
Judge Howard Whitehead released Falardeau Tuesday on the grounds that his low I.Q. rendered him incompetent to understand the charges he faced. Unlike defendants who are found incompetent to stand trial due to a mental illness, Falardeau's release was based on based purely on an I.Q. that reportedly borders on mental retardation.
Prosecutors object to the ruling, arguing that the suspect graduated from Lawrence High School #208 out of a class of 300. He also received many B and C grades on his report cards.
William Beal, a 39-year-old Salem man, was beaten outside the Calumet Tavern in Lawrence. Eric Falardeau was arrested on October 24, 2000 and charged with second-degree.
The case continued for nearly a decade, outlasting two previous judges. Each hearing on the case was stalemated over the issue of his competency to stand trial. Experts at Falardueau's pre-trial hearing testified that the suspect would be unable to tell the difference between murder and manslaughter.
"If there is no quote 'mental illness," I don't have any choice but to release him," stated judge Whitehead.
The impasse was reached when the court determined that because there was no known way to raise a man's I.Q., he would likely never be able to stand trial.
The Weekly Vice Opinion:
Our condolences to Lisa Carter, who lost her husband to an alleged murderer who seems to have gotten away with his crime. You are not alone in your disbelief and outrage.
To Massachusetts lawmakers I have one question. Why have you not addressed this issue in the 8 plus years this case has been ongoing? If this man graduated 208 out of 300, the legal conclusion would be that 1/4 of all graduating classes could potentially commit crimes they will never stand trial for.
Defense attorneys across the state have now been given the ammunition they need to get hundreds of violent offenders off the hook - and what have you done to close up this asinine loophole?
Is the state of Massachusetts simply wishing to take the fast track to lunacy? Are Massachusetts voters going to just let this nonsense slide? Why?
Danny Vice
The Weekly Vice
http://www.theweeklyvice.com
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10 comments:
That is bull! If he is not smart enough to stand trial, he is not smart enough to be in the general public. Isn't there some institution, where they round up all the intellectual juggernauts of this caliber? That man would get the Chair in Texas. Could we make the arguement he is too stupid to live?
Sorry but us TEXANS dont use the chair anymore, its lethal injection that he would get, but then again he'd probably still be too stupid to understand that he would be going to hell.
Well that's sad. Now my ex has a reason to commit wrong-doings and avoid prosecution.
It's a sad day for us all.
When did we get rid of the chair?
If he supposedly didn't know the difference between murder and manslaughter, then why not at least try him for manslaughter? There's no way I'm going to believe he graduated high school, but didn't know hurting someone is wrong. I thought there was a law that basically states that ignorance of the law is no excuse.
Not knowing something is against the law doesn't get you off the hook for doing it.
texas got rid of the chair along freaking time ago, honestly whens the last time you heard of the chair being used in texas
Lawrence High School must be the worst school in the galaxy
Yeah I agree this is crazy! If he got Bs and Cs then he is smart enough to know right from wrong. Shame on this judge! What an idiot! He could have at least forced the guy to live in a retirement home since he obviously can't live like the rest of us and apparently needs supervision. I wonder what this judge is going to say when this guy ends up right back in jail for killing someone else because he thinks he can get away with it now...
this is REALLY REALLY ridiculous.. now u mean to tell me we cannot prosecute stupid people? does this judge realize 1/2 the population in this country is borderline retarded?!
this esp. makes me mad because I remember seeing a couple of years ago a story of this kid who accompanied two friends on a robbery.. his friends shot and killed the clerk while this kid STOOD OUTSIDE as a look out.. in his trial he was proven mentally retarded, not borderline, not just slow, MENTALLY REATARDED.. guess where he is now?? death row, go figure..
sadness...this is my home state....
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