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Nationwide — Cane Madden, a white man from Louisville, Kentucky who was accused of raping and killing an 8-year old Black girl in 2019, has been found incompetent to stand trial. As to be expected, many people of color are upset with the judge’s ruling.
Now, as they feared all along, some who live in the neighborhood where the incident happened — and elsewhere — worry Madden could also fall through a gap in the system and avoid mental health treatment too because of problematic state law WDRB News has exposed repeatedly since 2019.
Last month, a psychiatrist from the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center (KCPC) in La Grange testified that Madden is mentally competent to stand trial.
Dr. Timothy Allen argued that Madden, who's been repeatedly institutionalized and hospitalized throughout most of his life, has learned to "manipulate the system," and much of his bizarre behavior documented by evaluators was just to draw a reaction from his caretakers.
Allen said Madden has a "sufficient" IQ, has shown some understanding of the case against him
However, Dr. Allan Josephson, a witness for the defense who has previously testified that Madden is not competent, said in February that it would be "virtually impossible" for Madden to work with his defense attorney and understand what was happening during a trial. Josephson said Madden still can't name the defense attorney, Steven Harris, he's worked with since 2019.
Madden, Josephson testified, has "profound" mental issues, like severe social incompetence, intermittent explosive disorder, brief psychotic disorder, learning disorder and PTSD-like symptoms from being abused as a child. He described Madden's decision-making skills and impulse controls as unpredictable as a game of "pin the tail on the donkey."