Court: Judge can’t drug defendant to make him competent

By: Associated Press//June 20, 2018//

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Supreme Court says a judge improperly ordered the state to medicate a convict until he was competent to help his attorney with his appeal.

Andre Scott was convicted of battery, disorderly conduct and kidnapping in 2009. His attorney in 2015 raised concerns about Scott’s ability to help with an appeal. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Kremers issued an order concluding Scott was incompetent to proceed and ordering him to be medicated to the point of being competent. An appeals court upheld the order.

The Supreme Court unanimously reversed the appellate court on Wednesday, ruling that Kremers’ violated procedure by tacking an involuntary medication order onto his incompetency finding. Justice Shirley Abrahamson wrote that forced medication for appeal purposes should be rare and Scott’s case doesn’t support the need for it.

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