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State’s attorney O’Brien claims that Lee Robin was faking insanity at the time of his acquittal, but now claims that the mental illness that caused Robin to decompensate 13 years ago will happen again. Well, which is it? Is he a sane and calculating killer or someone who, because he decompensated, killed two people he loved very much?
If the state’s attorney actually believed that Robin was faking insanity, then it had a legal and ethical obligation to oppose his commitment to a mental hospital and to advocate vigorously for his release. It violates Illinois law and the United States Constitution to commit someone who is not mentally ill to a mental hospital. Unless the state’s attorney believes that all of the other persons in our psychiatric hospitals are “monsters,” it is incredible that they would allow a supposed “monster” like Robin to prey upon these innocent but mentally ill persons. Of course, Robin has not “preyed” upon anyone during his confinement at Elgin because his horrible acts 13 years ago were caused by his mental illness and that illness has been successfully treated.
Clinical Professor of Law
