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By CHRIS WAGNER T R Staff Writer A Port Washington area man was found innocent by reason of insanity on Friday, a year after beating his father with an exhaust pipe. Jeffrey Lynn Hines, 25, of AD 2 was ordered to undergo treatment and rehabilitation at the state’s maximum security mental health in stitution — the Timothy Moritz Center in Colum bus — by Judge Roger Lile after a short trial in Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court. The ruling came in the wake of public outrage over the uneaning verdict rendered for John Hinckley Jr., who attempted to assassinate President Reagan last year. In the Hines’ case, however, both the defense and prosecuting attorneys agreed on the verdict. Only one witness, a psychologist, testified at Hines’ trial. Hines’ only defense for the crime was that he was insane. Hines was charged with felonious assault and aggregates robbery. In May 1981, he beat his father, Dalton Hines, 68, of RD 2, Port Washing ton, with an exhaust pipe. He then stole his change purse and car, and drove to the sheriff department where he surrendered. Dr. Charles Szabo, a state psychologist from Columbus, said Hines suffered at the time of the incident — and still suffers from — psychosis. The mental disorder, he said, does not allow Hines to know right from wrong, and he is incapable of refraining from wrong behavior. He said Hines has a history of mental illness and has been in mental institutions in Texas, Louisana and Ohio following convictions for other crimes, including one related to drugs. Each time he was determined to be psychotic, and each time he was released after receiving treatment. Szabo said Hines believes one of his eyes is “evil’’ and that he has, on several occasions, emp’ around on all fours and barked like a og. When Hines surrendered to deputies, he said he beat his father because his father was “beating the dog for chasing the horses.... That's self-defense, isn't it?’’ SZABO RECOMMENDED treatment for Hines at the state hospital in Cambridge, noting that only the ‘‘most severe cases’ are ordered to the Timothy Moritz Center. Lile, who sent him to the Moritz Center anyway, will participate in any decisions to release or move Hines. Szabo said he doesn’t know how long it will take to rehabilitate Hines. First, he said, Hines will be given anti-psychotic medications before cearency mental rehabilitation by so. He then will be taught skills necessary for him to get a job and return to society. At one point, he may be transferred out of Moritz to a medium security facility, such as the one in Cambridge, Szabo added. Public defender Terry McGonegal said his client was not found innocent of any wrongdoing. “He actually was found guilty, but insane,” the public defender said, addressing the current outcry against insanity pleas. “The insanity defense is necessary to maintain morality in the legal process. Punishing a person who is guilty, but insane, is equivalent to punishing a machine that malfunctions.”’ Assistant Prosecutor Scott Mastin also said he thought “‘the right thing happened in this case.’ He said his decision to not oppose the insanity approach taken by Hines was made after conferring with deputies and Hines’ mother. Both, he said, believed that Hines has serious mental problems that can be corrected only by sending him to a mental institution. Dalton Hines is recovering from his injuries. He was in guarded condition in Aultman Hospital at Canton for about a month before being transferred to the Good Samaritan Hospital in Zanesville last year.
Newspaper Details
Dover Times Reporter
Dover, Ohio, US
Sat, Jun 26, 1982
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USA 18 Jun 2026
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