Man declared mentally incompetent to stand trial
A 20-year-old Woodland Hills man has been declared mentally incompetent to stand trial for charges of repeatedly stabbing his own mother.
Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Bernard J. Kamins agreed with a panel of psychologists Tuesday that Tyler Hurricane Ehrlich should be admitted to Patton State Hospital until doctors deem him mentally fit to stand trial.
Ehrlich is charged with attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, robbery and attempted car jacking.
At the hospital — which is approximately 80 miles east of Santa Monica in San Bernadino County — doctors will treat Ehrlich for at least 90 days before issuing a report determining whether he is competent to stand trial at that time.
Doctors have to believe that Ehrlich understands the charges against him and that he is able to assist his lawyer in his own defense in order to declare him fit for trial.
However, if after 90 days Ehrlich is still not well, he will remain at the hospital until his mental condition improves and he is able to understand the charges against him.
“I want to be very clear that these charges are not going away,” said Deputy District Attorney Wendy Moss. “He is in state custody at a state hospital but the charges still remain.”
Ehrlich was arrested on April 30 by Santa Monica police officers after allegedly stabbing his 51-year-old mother in the arm and torso with a folding knife following a dispute over her purse on a sidewalk on the 600 block of Ashland Avenue. The pair had traveled from Los Angeles to visit a friend in Santa Monica.
Residents who witnessed the attack initially called police about an apparent car-jacking. When police arrived on the scene, Ehrlich was taken into custody after a brief foot chase. After officers spotted him hiding on a roof of a nearby home, Ehrlich jumped off the roof and tried to run-away.
About a dozen of Ehrlich’s family members and friends attended the sanity hearing to support sending him to a hospital. After Judge Kamins ruling, Ehrlich’s mother broke out into tears and thanked the judge for being “so kind.”
Ehrlich’s family does not blame their son for the stabbing incident and they want to see him in a hospital rather than a prison, said attorney Stephen D. Sitkoff.
“There is no question that he never intended to hurt his mother,” Sitkoff said. “This is a really sad case. He needs help, not prison.”
“There is no question that he never intended to hurt his mother. This is a really sad case. He needs help, not prison.” — — STEPHEN D. SITKOFF Attorney
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 31, 2002. Read the original PDF.