CA hospital backlog leaves mentally ill defendants in legal limbo

A month after a judge declared him mentally incompetent to stand trial, accused strangler Adam Cary still hadn't been admitted to a state hospital for his treatment. So his attorney, Jim Royer, filed a motion to have the Department of State Hospitals held in contempt of court. "It doesn't help him to stay in jail," Royer said. While incompetent defendants waiting to get into state hospitals already face long waiting lists, Cary's case was further complicated because his alleged crime had occurred at Atascadero State Hospital — the closest place for him to go for competency restoration. So he lingered in jail until Royer's motion forced the department of hospitals to find a bed.