Some 4,500 Indiana prisoners mentally ill\nFORT WAYNE -- When Judi L. Noe was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty but mentally ill for the drowning of her 2-year-old daughter, she joined about 4,500 other Indiana inmates who have mental illnesses, officials said.\nIn Indiana, about 19 percent, or 4,560 prisoners, have been diagnosed with a mental illness, said Dean Rieger, director of medical services for the Indiana Department of Correction.\nWhen the insanity defense is raised in Indiana, jurors can decide whether to find the person guilty, not guilty, not responsible by reason of insanity or guilty but mentally ill. The finding of guilty but mentally ill is an option in a dozen or so states, but critics say the plea is no different than a normal guilty finding.\nThe verdict is problematic because it gives the perception that defendants will be treated differently, said Larry Landis, executive director of the Indiana Public Defender Council.\n"Guilty but mentally ill really means nothing," Landis told The Journal Gazette for a story Sunday.\nThe finding does not change potential prison terms nor does it guarantee offenders will receive treatment, said Ron Honberg, legal director for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.\nThat is true in Indiana, as not all offenders found guilty but mentally ill are treated because the prison system evaluation finds they do not to have psychological problems, Rieger said.\nSome prisoners diagnosed with mental illnesses are medicated, others require counseling or therapy, and yet others might require intensive inpatient treatment.\nAllen Superior Court Judge John F. Surbeck Jr. ordered Noe to be treated while in prison for five years for drowning her daughter in a bathtub last year.\nThe number of mentally ill Indiana prisoners is similar to figures compiled across the country.\nOne in five violent offenders in state prisons were mentally ill, according to a 1998 study published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Six of 10 mentally ill prisoners were treated while incarcerated, and offenders with a mental illness were more likely to re-offend, according to the study.
Health care, economy top concerns for Indiana offficials
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana's elected officials consider substance abuse, the economy and soaring health care costs the most challenging problems facing their communities, a survey found.\nDespite those challenges, a majority of the 1,219 officeholders surveyed said they are optimistic about the future of their communities.\nSeventy-four percent who responded to the survey conducted by the Indiana Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations said they were optimistic. Those findings, though a slight increase from 2003, show officials are generally less optimistic than they were in 1999, 2001 and 2002.\nIn this year's survey, 14 percent of respondents said they were pessimistic, and 12 percent said they had reason for neither optimism nor pessimism.\n"It suggests that things are getting better, but they're not there yet," said Commission Director John L. Krauss.\nForty percent of the legislators, township trustees, mayors and other public officials who were mailed the panel's seventh annual survey questionnaire last fall responded.\nKrauss said the latest findings show that elected officials have been consistent in their views of what challenges their communities face.\nWhat has changed, however, is a growing sense that communities are being asked to provide more services.\n"They believe their local responsibilities are growing, but with the stagnant or changing local economy in some areas, the revenue just hasn't been there to support those services," Krauss said.
Woman run over after crawling \nunder own car
INDIANAPOLIS -- A woman who often crawled under her car to get it started was killed when the vehicle ran over her, police and neighbors said.\nAn autopsy performed Sunday on Audrey L. Duncan, 36, confirmed that she died of asphyxia after being run over by her car.\nAuthorities said Duncan had crawled under the front of her parked 1993 Chrysler LeBaron to fix a malfunction. But the car, which was in gear, rolled, pinning her head under the right front tire, according to police reports.\nWitnesses told Marion County sheriff's deputies that the car had a faulty starter, and Duncan often crawled under the car with a wrench or hammer and hit the starter to get it working.\nA neighbor tried to use a jack to lift the car off Duncan after the accident Wednesday. Firefighters were unable to revive her.
