A former Army sergeant’s defenders say he truly believed he was protecting fellow soldiers from a Taliban bomber when he emptied 24 rounds at police and firefighters responding to a fire in his apartment.
Psychologists testified that Joshua Eisenhauer returned from Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress that made him a paranoid, hyper-vigilant insomniac, and so delusional that he drew his 9 mm handgun whenever anyone came to his door in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
They say untreated PTSD could scramble his mind beyond repair if he spends the rest of his sentence, up to 18 years, in Raleigh Central Prison.
“The only place where he belongs is one where he can get treatment for his PTSD,” said Eisenhauer’s father, Mark. “That was what caused all of this. This never should have happened in the first place.”
North Carolina is now considering enabling judges to consider PTSD as a specific mitigating factor when sentencing military veterans like Eisenhauer, despite criticism that such measures are unnecessary and could end up harming people with the disorder.
As many as one in five veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan develop post-traumatic stress disorder each year, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
“I would hope the public policy of our state would be that we care about our veterans enough to do this for them,” said state Rep. Billy Richardson, whose district includes more than 57,000 military personnel at Ft. Bragg, one of the world’s largest military complexes.
Richardson’s bill was approved by the House Judiciary Committee this session.
Most states lack such a law. Among them is Texas, where the well-documented PTSD of Eddie Ray Routh did not save him from life in prison without parole in the killing of “American Sniper” Chris Kyle and another veteran.
California, Kansas and Oklahoma do allow a court to consider post-traumatic stress disorder as a mitigating factor when sentencing a veteran in a criminal case. North Dakota lawmakers ordered a study of the issue last year.
Critics say the law is misguided, because PTSD already is among the many mental conditions that can reduce culpability in North Carolina and many other states. They worry about adding to the stigma veterans face, and leaving out others with PTSD, such as victims of war, domestic abuse and gang violence.
Dr. Allen Frances, an Army veteran and expert on combat-related stress disorders who calls himself a “PTSD skeptic,” told the trial judge that Eisenhauer “is an absolutely classic case of unmistakable and extremely severe PTSD.”
But Frances, who chaired the committee that revised the American Psychiatric Association’s recommendations on PTSD treatment, said a law associating veterans and PTSD with criminality would be a big mistake, partly because the condition is self-reporting and easy to fake.
“I can’t imagine someone facing a long sentence who wouldn’t have PTSD, under the circumstances,” Frances said. “Whenever there’s a reward for a diagnosis, rate of that diagnosis go up very suddenly and rapidly.”
The North Carolina bill would enable but not require judges to cite PTSD when issuing lesser sentences or ordering specific treatments, as long as the veteran was diagnosed before the crime.
The U.S. Army Surgeon General in 2012 recommended specific treatments for veterans with PTSD, including cognitive behavioral therapy, an intensive program in which participants are encouraged to identify, challenge and restructure negative thought patterns.
At Eisenhauer’s sentencing, prosecutors said he neglected to actively seek out treatment for his worsening PTSD and consciously chose to drink heavily before he opened fire on the first responders.
Judge Jim Ammons found Eisenhauer guilty of 15 counts of assault on law officers, none of whom were seriously injured. He said Eisenhauer belongs in prison because he could endanger innocents if he experiences another flashback.
Eisenhauer apparently still believed he was under fire in Afghanistan when he awoke in the hospital, nervously asking the nurse treating his four gunshot wounds to tell him, “who’s got the roof?!”
Later, behind bars, hearing gunfire from a nearby shooting range caused him consistent flashbacks and distress. He was moved to Raleigh Central, where he remains heavily medicated.
The judge strongly recommended psychiatric treatment, but sent him to prison despite a warning from Raleigh Central’s chief of inpatient services, Dr. Michael Larson, that staffing limits and security concerns in the state prison system would prevent any semblance of the trauma-focused psychotherapy recommended by the Surgeon General.
Fayetteville neuropsychologist G Martin Woodard also advised the judge, saying prison can lead PTSD sufferers to shut down emotionally while amplifying their the numbing, guilt, nightmares and flashbacks “to the point of potentially psychotic symptoms.”
But some experts worry about the unintended consequences of legislating treatments in criminal cases for a certain class of defendants.
“It’s ambiguous whether we are doing this because we’re concerned about PTSD or whether we are doing this out of our natural, appropriate sympathy for our vets,” said Betsy Grey, an Arizona State University law professor who specializes in neuroscience.
Grey, who published a paper on PTSD and mitigating factors in 2012, said the legislation communicates social leniency, falsely suggesting that afflicted veterans are more deserving than others with PTSD.
Other experts say the justice system shouldn’t consider PTSD alone, since other factors, since substance abuse, financial instability and other factors put veterans at greater risk for criminal behavior.
A “PTSD diagnosis is relevant, but it’s the tip of the iceberg,” said Duke psychiatry and behavioral sciences professor Dr. Eric Elbogen, who coordinates the recovery of veterans at the Durham VA Medical Center.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
DO So for all Vets with PTSD nationwide & save prisons for those who NEED prisons.
Re; North Carolina bill for PTSD vets which is intended to lessen prison sentences for vets , with judges legislating ” treatments” in cases of certain defendants , actually likely shall CAUSE worse symptoms or the ones evident to worsen.. The ROOT factor ignores the psychotropic deadly and toxic chems rx’d to the veteran and the ” side effects” they CAUSE including suicide, homicide, unexplained anger and violence, sudden death fro acute heart failure, organ failures such as kidney and liver, seizure, stroke, permanent diabetes ( Seroquel has this list including depression which its rx’d to help) or suicide, desire for death, permanent nerve disease and another litany of “side effects” deadly.. Gabapentin aka Neurontim has this list including gross confusion, disorientation, hallucinations and these are just two.. Many vets are on between five to sixteen of these deadly chemicals that actually list these effects.. They don’t say how likely one is to have them nor the class action civil lawsuits paid off for $1.5 billion in Seroquels case nor fact of many more deaths over the 15 years a corrupt FDA allows them to remain profiteering off deadly drugs our vets and some Drs trust will help not harm.. The US Surgeon General and US dept of Veteran Affairs and Pentagon and FDA all have ignored the fact more is spent on ” mental health” and psychiatric labelling than on all arms in military and going up not down as say one in five has PTSD, a bogus label by a pseudoscience..psychiatry .. Veterans discover quickly the battle fatigue and distress from war is amplified and symptoms out of control FROM the chems which even state they cause those side effects.. Look up seroquel and gabapentin and others online.. The military has been a mega trillion dollar testing ground for chemical lobotomies often ordered or ” suggested” for benefits and “help” when in fact they often harm and kill, even worse, to get off them must be done slowly carefully medically supervised for stopping them suddenly, according to expert Dr Peter Breggin, can be often more dangerous to come off them than taking them and must be done gradually very carefully.. Judges who are not doctors nor pharmaceutical experts could have the power to order so- called treatments that harm believing from those who benefit financially that they will help the vet who likely is already on a couple of psychotropic deadly chems causing probs to magnify or on a combo soup of them and benzos, all more addictive and tolerance building than any are told.. With “postal” episodes and suicides of vets at an ALL TIME HIGH, the very first thing looked at SHOULD be the rx’d meds vet taking AND So-called Side Effects, the FDA is corrupt and has betrayed us, First Do No Harm.. Thousands, tens of thousands dead from Seroquel n AstraZeneca paid $1.5 billion yet still on market!! They ALL are.. FDA head from 2008-15 in civil RICO trial in DC April 2016 for a toxic yet popular antibiotic n an opiate all but 2 on committee disapproved yet she approved it, she n husband made quarter billion dollars known in his NYC hedge fund(lied in appt hearing cuz illegal conflict interest) Her no 2 now is no 1, so business as usual.. There’s trail of blood from big Pharma goes round the globe, FDA allows death as side effect for toenail fungus yet nobody does anything, these are our soldiers, heroes, young men n women with young children getting labels that make them ” mental” cases from a pseudoscience that has diseases created by them without any provable tests.. They thrive on opinions on behavior for social control, power, profit.. No MRI nor EKG nor ERG or blood tests nor lab tests prove their theories or opinions.. Real diseases have medical tests.. A mental label often forces that vet to take deadly chems or lose benefits, bet loses good name, rep, credibility, believability, employability, as they get worse m worse from the rx’d chems that now can be ordered by a North Carolina judge.. It opens the door for more deaths, failures and abuses.. Just wait until nationalized healthcare assigns a doctor ordered by govt or state or court to give you a “chemical lobotomy” and take your rights away while the chems poison the body.. Most battle-scarred vets respond well to proper true medical care with prosthetics for example and a great group of seasoned veterans who can help the others work thru emotional n spiritual issues by counseling, talking thru it, along with spiritual support and ” being there” to discuss how to go forward, to work thru it.. This process seems to work best, chemicals worst, and labelling is flatout destructive and arbitrary. It can be done to ruin entire families in ten minutes. Google Fr Peter Breggin and also Dr Thomas Szasz and CCHR citizens commission of human rights which Dr Stasz, a Prof of Psychiatry at New York University in Syracuse, NY co- founded.. These med labels n files are now difficult for even vet to see, often used to blacklist for life whether or not any bad or illegal action, all theory on behavior. Once labelled, your human n civil n constitutional rights are gone, trampled by a pseudoscience used mainly by Russia and Nazi Germany until after WWII when many fleeing German Scientists and Medical Doctors were inserted into high places so Russia would not ” get them”. They were given newIDs and put in charge of several top corps govt positions and military hospitals and bases.. They have taken over Intel from the inside out, decimating our defense forces thru old” fitness for duty” exams while promoting each other into top positions, it is not accidental it’s gone global but planned policy.. It’s gone mainstream, but if you are a veteran, get a lawyer, your own primary dr and second n third opinions, research well ANY medicine you are prescribed and research class actions on same and deaths, etc.. If you see deadly side effects assume common and you are likely to have them, they are not rare, check out all the lawyers advertising for deaths, cancers, heart failures for meds… They are as frequent as big Pharma commercials for everything.. Read the fine print, get counseling from veterans with good rep for helping other vets, one without profit as a motive… This ugly evil done to our military and veterans needs to be stopped and yesterday, it is heinous to treat America’s troops like this and a pseudoscience should not be given weight nor the last word, they are the ones in pockets of big Pharma that push this garbage to our finest.. Look into those two Psychiatric experts who expose the pseudoscience of psychiatry and the CCHR just for starters.. Get online n research a little.. A real eye opener in this Information Age