RICHLAND CO. – Olney residents had their ire toward an accused murderer raised a notch when, on Friday, May 19, it was determined that there was actually going to be a fitness trial to determine, effectively, whether or not Glenn Ramey is able to stand trial in the murder case.
In a move that happens so infrequently that many people present declared they’d literally “never heard of such a thing,” the decision was made at the May 19 hearing, one of the ongoing continuances of Ramey’s case against him, wherein he’s accused of the sexual assault and murder of Sabrina Stauffenberg, 8 of Olney, back on November 23, 2016.
Tried – and succeeded – before
The issue of Ramey’s fitness to stand trial is what’s prompting the case to go in the direction it currently is.
Ramey, 53, most recently of Olney, had managed to convince his court-appointed attorney, Jim Lane, that there was a question about his mental status and the question should be raised to the judge for formal deliberation on it.
In Illinois, if a person exhibits behavior that calls their mental fitness into question, the matter can be raised for determination. An accused person, according to the law, has the right to have his or her mental fitness considered if they are charged with a crime, with the premise being that if the person was legally “insane” at the time of the commission of the crime (not responsible for his actions because he was in such a state that he didn’t know right from wrong), that person cannot aid in his own defense and the case cannot move forward.
As outlined in great detail in previous issues, Ramey had successfully pulled this in Crawford County when he was charged with felony theft in 2011.
Ramey spent a couple of years in Choate Hospital, the mental health facility in Anna, after that…and at the end of his “treatment,” he was discharged and the counts against him in Crawford were dismissed.
That ridiculous action was conducted by appellate prosecutor David Rands, who was in the case on some sort of conflict.
So while a theft case doesn’t begin to rise to the level of seriousness of a rape/murder case, depending upon how convincing Ramey has been with the examining psychologists, the same might occur.
How it works
Generally speaking, in less serious crimes, “treatment” (meaning simply that the suspect is placed in a mental health facility for a period of time until they’ve done everything they can do as opposed to the suspect languishing in the local county jail), whether it has a positive outcome or no outcome, is merely a stepping stone on to the next stage, which is determination as to whether a person can face a judge and jury and go through a trial on the crime in which he’s accused.
In very serious crimes such as murder, arson, sex offenses, etc., once a suspect is discharged from the mental health facility, there are a few options available: They go back to the court and the court can determine – based on the facility’s findings – that the suspect can, or cannot, stand trial.
If he can, things go forward.
If he cannot, he can be remanded to the care of the mental health facility or a division of Illinois Department of Corrections’ mental health facility for treatment until he can stand trial – or for the rest of his life.
The latter happened with Tamara Williams in Williamson County last year, who was accused of stabbing a neighbor, Barbara Beers, to death in November of 2013. Fitness was raised, she was sent to a facility, the facility determined that Williams was clinically insane, and Williams is now in the custody of the Department of Human Services (the fancy name for what passes as mental health facilities in Illinois, such as they are.)
Williams was found “guilty but insane,” meaning the judge believed Williams killed Beers, but she wasn’t aware that her actions would lead to Beers’ death.
This might be the direction Ramey is hoping his case will take.
Ramey seems lucid
Gumming things up, however, are some phone calls Ramey made, and apparently, there are some in which he sounds completely lucid, and some, not so much. That conclusion can be drawn by the fact that both the state (represented by Richland County State’s Attorney Brad Vaughn) and the defense want the judge to hear them.
This was pointed out during the May 19 hearing.
Ramey seemed lucid enough on that day. Appearing as though he had just been brought in from the showers, the scruffy-looking Ramey had slicked his hair back (it appears it’s not been cut since his arrest in late November) and, while he hadn’t shaved, he appeared clean enough.
He also offered a bit of a smile to at least someone in the courtroom sitting in the gallery. Seated at the defense table, Ramey turned to his right and, spotting someone he apparently either knew or believed he knew, he grinned and waved with a cuffed hand.
No one on the west side of the courtroom waved back. It was unclear who it was that Ramey was acknowledging…but nobody returned the acknowledgment.
Ramey seemed to pay careful attention to the proceedings, the first statement made by Judge Larry Dunn being that Dr. Jerry’s Boyd’s report – that which contained the assessment as to whether, in Boyd’s opinion, Ramey was mentally fit to stand trial – had come in early that week (May 14-20).
But Dunn abruptly left that topic to contend with a motion that had been filed that morning.
(It should be pointed out at this juncture that the hearing had originally been set for 8:45 a.m. that day, but shortly after 9 a.m., an announcement was made over the new public address system in the courthouse that the hearing was being moved back to 1 p.m. that afternoon.)
It’s unknown as to whether the filing of the motion Dunn was referencing was what delayed the hearing, but it may have been: The motion was for a change of venue based on pre-trial publicity.
Richland County is one of the only ones in the area that generally makes a decision on venue change prior to selection of a jury. In general, most venue changes will be requested and granted only after it’s been determined, through the questioning of the potential jury panels, that an unbiased jury cannot be found.
Richland, however, gets a venue change at the drop of a hat it seems. Over the past decade or so, the “Witchcraft Murder” trials were moved (one to Clinton County, one to Franklin); a major exception was the Brandon Jenkins trial five years ago. An unbiased jury was found for Jenkins after voir dire (questioning) of three and a half jury panels, but apparently, both Vaughn and Lane believe that in the case of Ramey, there would just be no way.
Vaughn supported his argument for change of venue by pointing out a trial in which he appeared as defense attorney in Crawford County some years back, wherein a member of the military was accused of crimes against his family, and “we went through 300 potential jurors,” Vaughn told Dunn. In Ramey’s case, Vaughn said with obvious resignation, “I don’t know how we’ll try it here.”
Vaughn also added, “A speedier trial is more beneficial than arguing change of venue; that’s why we’re not contesting it.”
Dunn later in the hearing noted to the attorneys that he would make his decision on venue change at a later date. The item of importance he seemed focused on that day was a civil fitness jury trial.
The civil fitness jury trial
Dunn brought it up to the attorneys.
“We’d have to have one on that issue,” Lane opined, and Dunn agreed. Having had a bona fide doubt as to fitness raised in December, Dunn said that a civil fitness jury trial was how to handle the matter.
“That’s now the state’s burden, to prove fitness,” Dunn said. “How soon can you be ready?”
Lane advised that there were about a hundred DVDs to view, and “several reams of paper in discovery to get ready for the regular trial, but we do have more than one evaluation,” he added, not elaborating; but apparently, Dr. Boyd wasn’t the only psychologist to assess Ramey over the past several months. “It’ll be a week for a fitness trial; I don’t need that much time to get ready.”
With many in the audience displaying puzzlement on scowling faces – indicating that they weren’t exactly sure what was going on – Dunn asked the attorneys, “I have a week available in August. Would that be agreeable to you?”
Both Lane and Vaughn gave their assent, and a June 8 2 p.m. conference date to further schedule the fitness trial was set.
Dunn spoke again about the change of venue for the “regular” trial (which is what they were referring to the murder trial as), noting that he needed the attorneys to put forth suggestions as to what county they’d like to see the murder trial moved to.
“We’ll start with the Second Circuit,” Dunn said, speaking of the judicial circuit in which Richland sits; the Second encompasses, from north to south, Crawford, Lawrence, Richland, Wabash, Edwards, Wayne, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, White, Gallatin and Hardin counties.
Dunn indicated that if an agreement couldn’t be reached on a county within the Second Circuit, counties outside the circuit – the Fourth to the north and west, the Fifth directly north, and the First directly west of the southern Second Circuit counties – would then be considered.
Public sentiment against Ramey
The entire hearing took about 18 minutes, and Ramey was walked back over to the jail…leaving about two dozen people in the courtroom somewhat confused about “two trials.”
The Vaughn and Stuaffenberg families and supporters were outside the courthouse, raging about what had just happened and opining that Ramey didn’t need a trial at all, just stood up against a wall with a blindfold on to meet with a firing squad.
When Disclosure later explained on the website that Ramey has the right to have his fitness determined by a civil jury trial, the outrage was palpable and the sentiment was the same…which, by and large, is the whole reason why the murder trial must be moved, as public sentiment against Ramey is high.
There was no mention made at all of having the fitness trial moved, so it appears that both Lane and Vaughn are willing to take their chances with a local panel of jurors for fitness.
It might be a cut-and-dried thing: The calls that were recorded of Ramey speaking with others from the jail phone will be played during the fitness trial for the jury to use in their deliberations.
Other than Boyd’s – and presumably whatever other psychologist(s) have been involved – assessment of Ramey’s fitness or lack thereof, it’s unknown what kind of evidence will be presented at trial.
A definite date for the fitness trial will likely be selected during the June 8 conference.