Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship. Award Recipient. Other Information. Criminal Defense Articles. The judge is James Bianco, who our office has appeared before many times in Department 95 at the Los Angeles Metropolitan Court and regard as an excellent judge who is careful, patient and smart.
In , Armando Ford pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity NGI to attempted kidnapping and was found legally insane at the time of his offense. Kory Knapke for the defense and Dr. Gordon Plotkin for the People. The judge then set the matter for a pre-trial hearing on April 25, and ordered to the state hospital Patton to transport Ford to court for the hearing. Defense counsel advised the judge that Ford would likely demand a jury trial. Knapke, opining that Ford lacked the capacity to decide whether to waive his right to a jury trial and describing a meeting the doctor had with Ford wherein Ford told the doctor he hoped a jury would agree with his new evidence that he intended to introduce at trial.
Based on Dr. At trial, Dr. Plotkin testified that he had interviewed Ford about six weeks prior to trial and concluded he posed a substantial danger of physical harm to others and could not control his impulses due to his mental disorder. For the defense, Ford testified, acknowledging he had a mental disorder, but that the medication he was taking was helping and he no longer heard voices. With the medication, he testified, he was able to be coherent with his peers, talk to his doctor and attend all his group meetings.
He then testified as to what his plans were after release, which first and foremost included obtaining Medi-Cal to get his medications. The judge did not get an opportunity to directly observe Ford in accepting such a waiver. We read this published opinion with empathy for both Mr. Ford and Judge Bianco. Handling an NGI defendant must be one of most difficult responsibilities for a judge because the defendant can present himself or herself in different ways at different times.
Armando Ford 2d App. For more information about the right to be present in court, please click on the following articles:. Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity?
