Activism Quickly Becomes Family Affair

Eight degrees of extra heat may be just what it takes to add a dose of common sense to our state’s mental-health laws.

In this case it’s the eight members of the Orange County- based DeGree family.

They’ve been moved to political action over frustration that their brain-damaged daughter and sister Annie, 37, was arrested and jailed four months ago for scuffling with a deputy sheriff at a Riverside hospital.

Riverside prosecutors have taken a beating in the media for trying to convict Annie of felony assault despite her 19-year history of living in lock-down mental-health facilities. She wound up pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to time already served in jail, 2 1/2 weeks.

The Riverside prosecutors’ argument has been that the law required her criminal prosecution.

Nonsense, critics say. But the DeGrees question whether the law shouldn’t be changed, to knock a leg out from under such narrow interpretations by prosecutors.

“There’s just something missing in the law now,� said Annie’s brother, Mike of Costa Mesa, a manufacturing consultant. “To put Annie in jail is like scolding a 7-year-old who doesn’t understand what’s happening.�

Altercation With a Deputy

Her case in a nutshell:

Living at lock-down mental-health facility in Riverside County, she was sent to a hospital emergency room in March for a chemical imbalance. While there, she swiped a pack of Life Savers and a soda from the gift shop. When a deputy sheriff went to her hospital room to retrieve them, she became angry and tried to stop him. She was charged with three felony counts of assault.

The DeGrees tried unsuccessfully to reach prosecutors before Annie’s arraignment to tell them her medical history. Instead, the judge heard none of that, and she stayed more than two weeks in jail before the family could arrange to get her released on bail.

Annie has since been at the UCI Medical Center in Orange, being treated for complications the family says she’s suffered since her arrest. While the family is concerned about her future, Annie’s arrest was a wake-up call to them that more needs to be done for people like her in the criminal justice system.

“We were so politically naive when this happened; but we’re learning fast,� said Becky Yourex of Costa Mesa, Annie’s sister, who is a registered nurse.

Fighting back has been a family affair.

Annie’s parents, Otis and Helen of Huntington Beach, and their other three adult daughters and three adult sons have all engaged in letter-writing campaigns or meetings with political figures to get the law to address the handling of those suffering from severe brain damage.

Their most immediate target is SB 1769, a pending mental-health bill heading for committee next month. It’s sponsored by Sen. Wes Chesbro (D-Arcata), who chairs a select committee on mental health and developmental disability issues.

Essentially, the bill would encourage those in the criminal justice system to seek out “mental-health courts� rather than criminal courtrooms for the mentally ill arrested by police. It would also include funding to expand these mental-health courts to all parts of the state.

But the bill does not include California’s brain-damaged. The DeGree family is lobbying to get that bill expanded to make sure those people get proper help instead of a cold jail cell.

People like Annie.

Otis, her father, says it’s been gratifying to see so many in his family rally to help Annie. Among the eight of them and their spouses, they’ve written, called, or met with every member of mental-health committees of the Assembly and the Senate. As well as many of the political candidates running for legislative seats.

“It’s something that’s important to all of us,� he said. “You need someone with a mental-health background to deal with people like Annie.�

It’s possible their message has already found a friendly ear.

Peggy Collins, a policy consultant to Chesbro’s committee, has been overseeing the bill. She’s been on vacation and the DeGrees have not made contact with her directly yet.

But Wednesday, she told me she was looking forward to hearing from them.

“The whole idea behind our bill is to keep people out of jail who really don’t belong there,� she said. “People with histories of brain damage would certainly fit into that category in many instances. We’ll certainly take another look.�

I’m convinced that if Annie DeGree had been arrested in Orange County, prosecutors here would have handled her case with much greater sensitivity than what happened in Riverside.

But it always helps to have laws friendly to your cause.

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Jerry Hicks’ column appears Monday and Thursday. Readers may reach Hicks at (714) 966-7789 or [email protected]